THE DOMESTIC STEEL producers' 2001 malaise has spread to the domestic scrap industry With steel production running much lower than last year and more than a handful of steel mills going out of business, the need for raw materials has dropped accordingly The decline has affected U.S. scrap suppliers generally and regionally.Last year, the domestic steel industry produced 112,240,000 net tons of iron and steel, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. In the first half of 2001, the industry produced 50,199,000 tons; there are few expectations that this rate will change notably for the balance of the yean As a result, the industry seems on course to produce about 12 million tons less steel in 2001 than in 2000.
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