To understand the short-term supply position in the US steel market, imports of semimanufactures have to be followed as closely as the weekly report on utilisation rates at steelworks. It has been the strategy of US steelmakers to maintain crude steel or "hot metal" capacity to meet the needs of only a "base load" of downstream demand, and to accommodate booms and peaks in demand by buying in semi-manufactures. In this way steelmakers do not burden themselves with heavy investment charges on capacity that is needed for perhaps only half of the steel business cycle. The results show up in wide swings in the trade in semis.
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