The US steel market and the economic situation of selected US steel companies

摘要

There are clear signs for a strong upswing in the US economy. For 2002 and 2003, GDP is anticipated to grow by about 2.5 percent and up to 4 percent, respectively. In the US steel market the closure of capacities and reduced imports accompanied by a rising demand have led to a squeeze on supplies and thus a sharp rise in steel prices. The main impetus for the steel market will come from restocking. Therefore, the market supply will grow faster than steel utilization. Despite the strong expansion of crude steel output at the beginning of 2002, the squeeze on supplies is very likely to continue in the USA. The downturn in revenues suffered by the US steel companies in the last few years ha even speeded up. In 2001 the total loss of the US steel industry amounted to some 4.8 billion US-dollars. Also the company figures published for the first quarter of 2002 do not indicate any general improvement in the revenue situation. Mean-while more than 30 companies have applied Chapter 11 Proceedings, including LTV Steel, Bethlehem and National Steel, three of the large integrated steelmakers. In the light of the restructuring process that has been postulated for a long time, in January 2002 U.S. Steel initiated merger talks with the aim of forming one single steel giant. However, with is announcement in early March 2002 to refuse to relieve the steel companies from the several billion dollars burden of legacy costs, the US Administration has postponed the consolidation of the steel industry to a very distant future.