Steel Industry Update/273

April 2012

Locker Associates, 225 Broadway, Suite 2625 New York NY 10007

Tel: 212-962-2980

Table 1: Selected U.S. Steel Industry Data, February & Year-to-Date, 2012
Month of February
2012
2011
% Chg
8,316
7,374
12.8%

(000 net tons)

Raw Steel Production ...............

2012
16,811

Year-to-Date
2011
15,301

% Chg
9.9%

Capacity Utilization .................

80.7

75.4

--

79.1

74.2

--

Mill Shipments ..........................

8,407

6,967

20.7%

16,905

14,496

16.6%

Exports .....................................

1,211

951

27.3%

2,473

2,011

23.0%

Total Imports.............................

2,721

1,845

47.5%

5,536

3,962

39.7%

Finished Steel Imports ............

2,080

1,438

44.6%

4,284

3,138

36.5%

Apparent Steel Supply* .............

9,276

7,454

24.4%

18,716

15,624

19.8%

Imports as % of Supply*..........

22.4

19.3

--

22.9

20.1

--

Average Spot Price** ($/ton) ......

$833

$913

-8.8%

$835

$881

-5.3%

Scrap Price# ($/ton) ...................

$435

$432

0.7%

$451

$444

1.6%

Sources: AISI, SteelBenchmarker

*Excl semi-finished imports

**Avg price of 3 carbon products

#shredded scrap

Table 2: U.S. Spot Prices for Selected Steel Products, April & Year-to-Date, 2012

Hot Rolled Band....

Cold Rolled Coil........
Coiled Plate..................

Month of April
2012
2011
% Chg
688
879
-21.7%
792
960
-17.5%
936
1067
-12.3%

2012
711
810
937

Average Spot Price....

$805

$969

-16.9%

$819

$904

-9.4%

OCTG*

2,026

1,774

14.2%

2,028

1,758

15.4%

#1 Heavy Melt...
Shredded Scrap...
#1 Busheling.

390
430
441

400
442
471

-2.5%
-2.7%
-6.4%

400
443
469

406
443
447

-1.5%
0.0%
4.9%

($ per net ton)

Year-to-Date
2011
841
887
984

Sources: World Steel Dynamics, Spears Research, 3/12; *OCTG data is March, 2012

Email: lockerassociates@yahoo.com | Website: www.lockerassociates.com

% Chg
-15.5%
-8.7%
-4.7%

Steel Industry Update/273

Table 3: World Crude Steel Production, March & Year-to-Date, 2012

Month of March
Year-to-Date
(000 metric tons)
2012
2011
%
Chg
2012
2011
Region
European Union.
15,661
16,300
-3.9%
43,874
45,672
Other Europe.
3,344
3,055
9.4%
9,606
8,840

% Chg
-3.9%
8.7%

C.I.S.

9,695

9,900

-2.1%

28,161

28,343

North America

10,584

10,258

3.2%

31,207

29,246

-0.6%
6.7%

South America...

4,242

4,223

0.4%

11,898

11,729

1.4%

Africa/Middle East.....

2,924

2,975

-1.7%

8,686

8,659

0.3%

Asia..

85,174

82,373

3.4%

241,746

238,199

1.5%

Oceania......

575

725

-20.7%

1,581

2,089

-24.3%

Total

132,198

129,809

1.8%

376,760

372,777

1.1%

China.......
Japan...

61,581
9,324

59,279
9,113

3.9%
2.3%

174,218
26,567

170,037
27,704

2.5%
-4.1%

United States..

7,764

7,368

5.4%

23,015

21,248

8.3%

Russia(e).

6,400

6,014

6.4%

18,355

17,494

4.9%

Country

India(e).

6,200

6,124

1.2%

18,000

18,003

0.0%

South Korea.......

6,019

5,834

3.2%

17,232

16,561

4.0%

Germany...

3,900

4,026

-3.1%

10,846

11,388

-4.8%

Turkey

3,128

2,733

14.5%

9,025

7,934

13.7%

Brazil...

3,105

3,038

2.2%

8,694

8,489

2.4%

Ukraine(e)...

2,700

3,154

-14.4%

8,082

8,795

-8.1%

All Others....

24,777

26,280

-5.7%

62,726

65,124

-3.7%

Source: World Steel Association, 4/12; e=estimate

Graph 1: World Crude Steel Production, March 2012

Source: World Steel Association, 4/12; in million metric tons

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Steel Industry Update/273

Graph 2: World Steel Capacity Utilization, March, 2012

Source: World Steel Association, 4/12

Table 4: US Steel Exports by Country or Region, February & YTD, 2012

Country/Region
Canada
Mexico
EU
Other Asia
Brazil
Venezuela
Peru
Other W. Hemi
Africa
China
India
Colombia
Total World

Feb 12
639,598
351,783
42,307
25,437
21,719
20,427
17,566
17,097
13,127
8,813
7,964
6,447
1,211,177

Feb 11
534,150
232,578
40,292
18,199
5,626
2,522
1,947
13,569
15,143
13,863
9,861
6,703
951,284

% Chg
19.7%
51.3%
5.0%
39.8%
286.0%
710.0%
802.2%
26.0%
-13.3%
-36.4%
-19.2%
-3.8%
27.3%

YTD 12
1,302,152
718,102
81,827
51,224
34,313
29,394
19,155
44,273
22,986
18,069
14,883
20,995
2,473,290

YTD 11
1,100,918
456,193
82,507
43,502
24,904
9,179
24,876
28,198
24,999
36,777
21,133
10,826
2,010,648

% Chg
23.0%
57.4%
-0.8%
17.8%
37.8%
220.2%
-23.0%
57.0%
-8.1%
-50.9%
-29.6%
93.9%
23.0%

Source: AIIS, 4/15/12; in tons

Steel Industry Update (ISSN 1063-4339) published 12 times/year by Locker Associates, Inc. Copyright 2012 by Locker Associates, Inc. All
rights reserved. Reproduction in any form forbidden w/o permission. Locker Associates, Inc., 225 Broadway Suite 2625 New York NY 10007.

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Steel Industry Update/273

Table 5: US Exports of Steel Mill Products, February, 2012

Product
Heavy structural
HD galvanized sheet/strip
Cut-to-length plate
Plate in coils
Cold-rolled sheet
Hot-rolled sheet
Blooms, billets and slabs
Oil country goods
Line pipe
Total

Feb 12
106,263
104,449
101,872
71,928
70,128
68,908
57,825
38,372
6,659
1,098,761

Jan 12
115,214
113,621
105,822
66,628
68,000
63,897
99,225
32,720
10,626
1,144,970

% Chg
-7.8%
-8.1%
-3.7%
8.0%
3.1%
7.9%
-41.7%
17.3%
-37.3%
-4.0%

Feb 11
71,069
85,715
95,212
52,876
41,819
41,269
33,389
25,289
8,185
862,991

Source: American Metal Market, 4/19/12; in tonnes; total includes more products than listed in this table

Table 6: US Slab Imports by District, February, 2012

Region
Mobile, AL
Columbia-Snake
Los Angeles
Philadelphia
Houston-Galveston
Buffalo
New Orleans
Detroit
Total

Feb 12
261,434
84,703
71,704
64,631
30,320
7,875
2,943
758
532,869

Jan 12
220,083
66,136
72,009
86,596
52,092
7,587
4,503
21,762
533,857

Feb 11
196,514
44,029
0
54,009
0
17,348
0
30,961
344,559

Source: American Metal Market, 4/20/12; in tonnes

Table 7: US Appliance Shipments by Product, 2010 & 2011

Product
Ranges/ovens
Washers
Dryers
Dishwashers
Refrigerators
Freezers
Total

2011
6,942
7,567
6,200
5,535
8,981
2,016
36,540

2010
7,239
8,005
6,551
5,710
9,369
1,958
38,183

% Chg
-4.1%
-5.5%
-6.6%
-3.1%
-4.1%
3.0%
-4.3%

Source: Metal Center News, March 2012; AHAM is the Association of Home
Appliance Manufacturers; in 000s units

-4-

% Chg
49.5%
21.9%
7.0%
36.0%
67.7%
67.0%
73.2%
51.7%
-18.6%
27.3%

Steel Industry Update/273

Table 8: Blast Furnace Production of Crude Steel, 2001-2010 (% of total crude steel production)
Region
Europe Union (15)

2001
58.9

2003
59.3

2005
59.3

2007
57.2

2008
56.5

2009
53.8

2010
56.3

European Union (27)

61.3

62.2

61.3

59.4

58.2

55.6

57.7

Other Europe

32.6

30.1

29.2

25.7

29.2

31.4

30.0

CIS

55.7

57.8

57.1

54.8

55.5

64.5

64.6

North America

50.9

47.4

44.0

41.3

41.8

37.2

39.3

United States

52.6

49.0

45.0

41.9

41.9

38.3

38.7

South America

65.7

65.5

62.8

61.6

63.0

61.3

64.4

Africa

48.5

45.2

41.6

36.5

35.6

33.5

33.3

Middle East

18.6

16.9

16.2

11.7

11.9

11.3

12.3

Asia

71.0

72.2

76.3

79.3

78.8

80.4

80.0

China

83.1

82.5

88.7

91.9

90.9

90.9

90.2

Oceania

81.2

81.3

80.7

80.0

79.8

80.9

82.1

World Total

62.2

63.0

65.4

66.9

67.1

70.2

69.8

Source: World Steel Association, 4/12

Table 9: Electric Furnace Production of Crude Steel, 2001-2010 (% of total crude steel production)
Region
Europe Union (15)

2001
41.1

2003
40.7

2005
40.7

2007
42.8

2008
43.5

2009
46.2

2010
43.7

European Union (27)

23.1

21.1

25.6

27.3

30.5

31.2

31.5

Other Europe

67.1

69.5

70.6

74.3

71.9

68.6

70.0

CIS

12.6

13.3

16.0

19.9

22.4

21.3

21.1

North America

49.1

52.6

56.0

58.6

58.2

62.8

60.7

United States

47.4

51.0

55.0

58.1

58.1

61.7

61.3

South America

33.1

33.2

35.9

37.2

36.1

37.4

34.5

Africa

51.5

54.8

58.3

63.4

64.4

66.5

66.6

Middle East

81.6

83.1

83.8

88.3

88.1

88.7

87.8

Asia

27.9

27.3

23.8

21.3

21.1

19.4

19.9

China

15.8

17.6

11.8

9.2

9.1

9.7

9.8

Oceania

18.8

18.7

19.2

20.0

20.2

19.1

17.9

World Total

33.5

33.5

31.9

31.0

30.8

28.5

29.0

Source: World Steel Association, 4/12

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Steel Industry Update/273

Table 10: Top 20 North American Ferrous Scrap Processors, 2011

President or CEO

2011 Volume
(gross tons)

No of
Facilities

No of
Shredders

Deep-water
Port

New York, NY

Daniel Dienst

8.7 million

120*

N/A

Yes

OmniSource Corp

Fort Wayne, IN

Russell Rinn

5.9 million

70+

11

No

Schnitzer Steel Industries

Portland, OR

Tamara Lundgren

5.3 million

57

10

Yes

David J. Joseph Co

Cincinnati, OH

Keith Grass

5 million

69

17

Yes

Tube City IMS

Glassport, PA

Joseph Curtin

5 million

No

Commercial Metals Co

Irving, TX

Joseph Alvarado

3 million

42

No

Ferrous Processing Co

Detroit, MI

Howard Sherman

2.8 million

17

No

Alter Trading Corp

St. Louis, MO

Robert Goldstein

2.5 million

38

Yes

Triple M Metal, Inc

Bramton, ONT

Joe Caruso

2.5 million

15

No

GerdauAmeristeel

Whitby, ONT

Mark Mossey

2.1 mil (est)

20

N/A

American Iron & Metal

Montreal, QC

Herbert Black

1.8 million

40

N/A

PSC Metals, Inc

Mayfield, OH

Eddie Lehner

1.8 million

50

11

No

Azcon Corp

Chicago, IL

Ronnie Hirsh

1.7 million

Yes

European Metal Recycling

New York, NY

Colin Illes

1.6 mil (est)

80

Yes

AMG Resources Corp

Pittsburgh, PA

Allan Goldstein

1.5 mil (est)

N/A

Cohen Brothers, Inc

Middletown, OH

Kenneth Cohen

1.3 million

26

No

Miller Compressing Co

Milwaukee, WI

John Busby

1 mil +

N/A

Upstate Shredding

Owega, NY

Adam Weitsman

850,000

11

1**

No

Behr Iron & Metal Co

Rockford, IL

William Bremner

788,000 (est)

11

N/A

Liberty Iron & Metal

Phoenix, AZ

Marc Olgin

700,000 (est)

11

N/A

Company

Address

Sims Metal Management

Source: Recycling Today, March 2012; *includes SA Recycling; **second one under construction

Table 11: Evraz Steel Segment Sales & Shipments, 2011

Steel Sales
Construction products
Railway products
Flat-rolled

2011
$4,430
1,969

2010
$3,337
1,472

% Chg
32.8%
33.8%

2,763

2,007

37.7%

Tubular

1,322

1,309

1.0%

Semi-finished

2,235

2,340

-4.5%

Other steel products

Total
Steel Shipments
Construction products
Railway products
Flat-rolled
Tubular
Semi-finished
Other steel products
Total

592

411

44.0%

$14,717

$12,123

21.4%

5,515
2,098

5,090
1,913

8.3%
9.7%

2,872

2,573

11.6%

912

924

-1.3%

3,479

4,481

-22.4%

674

584

15.5%

15,550

15,565

-0.1%

Source: Steel Guru, 4/1/12; sales in USD million; shipments in 000 tonnes

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Steel Industry Update/273

Locker Associates Steel Track: Spot Prices

U.S. Flat-Rolled Prices

U.S. Scrap Prices

($ per ton)

500

1100

($ per ton)

#1 Busheling
Plate

1000

450

Shredded Scrap
900
400

CR Coil
800

#1 Heavy Melt
350

700

Rebar

HR Band

300

600

250

500

200

400
'07 '08 '09 '10 1q

2q

'07 '08 '09 '10 1q

2q

Locker Associates Steel Track: Performance

U.S. Raw Steel Production

10.0

(mil net tons)

9.0

2012

80%

7.0

70%

6.0

60%

5.0

50%

4.0

40%

2011

90%

8.0

3.0

U.S. Capacity Utilization

100%

2012
2011

30%

2012 8.5 8.3

2012 78% 81%

2011 7.9 7.4

2011 73% 75%

Steel Mill Products: US Imports, February & Year-to-Date, 2012

Imports: Country of Origin
(000 net tons)

Canada..
Mexico
Other W. Hemisphere..
European Union
Other Europe*..
Asia.
Oceania.
Africa..
Total
Imports: Customs District
Atlantic Coast
Gulf Coast/Mexican Border
Pacific Coast.
Gr Lakes/Canadian Border
Off Shore

Month of February
2012
2011
% Chg
470
398
18.1%
168
173
-2.9%
403
262
53.8%
382
258
48.1%
421
218
93.1%
843
458
84.1%
25
65
-61.5%
9
11
-18.2%
2,721
1,845
47.5%

2012
938
353
744
801
908
1,725
58
9
5,536

330
1,435
427
507
24

750
2,870
852
1,015
49

233
924
235
430
22

Source: AISI; *includes Russia

Update #273
-7-

41.6%
55.3%
81.7%
17.9%
9.1%

Year-to-Date
2011
% Chg
873
7.4%
524
-32.6%
460
61.7%
600
33.5%
297
205.7%
1,029
67.6%
150
-61.3%
27
-66.7%
3,962
39.7%
480
1,805
701
943
33

56.3%
59.0%
21.5%
7.6%
48.5%

Locker Associates, Inc.

LOCKER ASSOCIATES is a business-consulting firm that specializes in enhancing the
competitiveness of businesses and industries on behalf of unions, corporate and government
clients. By combining expert business and financial analysis with a sensitivity to labor issues,
the firm is uniquely qualified to help clients manage change by:

leading joint labor/management business improvement initiatives;

facilitating ownership transitions to secure the long-term viability of a business;
conducting strategic industry studies to identify future challenges and opportunities;
representing unions in strategic planning, workplace reorganization and bankruptcy
formulating business plans for turnaround situations; and
performing due diligence for equity and debt investors.

Over the last 28 years, the firm has directed over 225 projects spanning manufacturing,
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Industry Update that circulates throughout the U.S. and Canadian steel industry.

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RECENT PROJECTS
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