What stimulus projects? All three of the largest West Coast flat-rolled producers use foreign slab for feedstock, but so far very little ARRA-funded work has reached the region’s steel market.
West Coast steelmakers aren’t panicking about the clarification in “Buy American” regulations for federal stimulus projects, although buyers remain unsure of the ultimate impact.
| Natural gas | -1.44% |
| Gold | +0.04% |
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| Platinum | +0.72% |
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| Lead | +3.55% |
This time last year, the US steel industry’s capacity utilization was south of 50 percent and major markets were in full retreat. Twelve months have made a difference but ‘we still have a ways to go,’ says AK Steel’s James Wainscott, one of six executives who sat down with AMM at the AISI’s annual meeting in May to address a list of topics headed by the lack of a national manufacturing agenda.
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