Right Voices

To stimulate demand for the key commodity, a report said Friday.

Output of steel has plunged 50 percent since September after posting record profits as construction and auto production have fallen sharply amid a US recession and the global credit crunch, The New York Times reported.

Industry executives are pleading for a huge public infrastructure investment program — of up to one trillion dollars over two years — under president-elect Barack Obama’s proposed stimulus plan, the newspaper said.

“What we are asking,” said Daniel DiMicco, chairman and chief executive of the Nucor Corporation, a giant steel maker, “is that our government deal with the worst economic slowdown in our lifetime through a recovery program that has in every provision a buy America’ clause,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Top steel producers 2007 (note the U.S. makes the list only twice)

1. 116.4 Mton ArcelorMittal (Global)
2. 35.7 Mton Nippon Steel (Japan)
3. 34.0 Mton JFE (Japan)
4. 31.1 Mton POSCO (South Korea)
5. 28.6 Mton Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation (China)
6. 26.6 Mton Tata Steel (Global)
7. 23.6 Mton LiaoNing An-Ben Iron and Steel Group (China)
8. 22.9 Mton Shagang Group (China)
9. 22.8 Mton HeBei Tangshan Iron & Steel Group (China)
10. 21.5 Mton United States Steel Corporation (United States)
11. 20.2 Mton Wuhan Iron and Steel (China)
12. 20.0 Mton Nucor Corporation (United States)
13. 18.6 Mton Gerdau (Brazil)
14. 17.9 Mton Gruppo Riva (Italy)
15. 17.3 Mton Severstal (Russia)
16. 17.0 Mton ThyssenKrupp (Germany)
17. 16.2 Mton EvrazHolding (Russia)
18. 14.2 Mton Magang Group (China)
19. 13.9 Mton Steel Authority of India Limited (India)
20. 13.8 Mton Sumitomo Metal Industries (Japan)
21. 13.3 Mton Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (Russia)
22. 13.1 Mton Techint (Argentina/Italy)
23. 12.9 Mton Shougang (China)
24. 12.1 Mton ShanDong Jinan (China)
25. 11.7 Mton ShanDong Laiwu Steel (China)
26. 11.1 Mton Valin Steel Group (China)
27. 10.9 Mton China Steel (Taiwan)
28. 10.1 Mton Imidro (Iran)
29. 10.0 Mton Hyundai INI Steel (South Korea)
30. 9.7 Mton Novolipetsk (Russia)
31. 9.3 Mton ShanXi Taiyuan Iron and Steel Company (China)
32. 9.1 Mton Metalloinvest (Russia)
33. 9.0 Mton HeNan Anyang Iron & Steel (China)
34. 8.8 Mton Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel (China)
35. 8.7 Mton Usiminas (Brazil)
36. 8.3 Mton Hebei Handan Iron & Steel (China)
37. 8.1 Mton Celsa Group (Spain)
38. 8.1 Mton Kobe Steel (Japan)
39. 7.6 Mton Hebei Tangshan Jianlong (China)
40. 7.4 Mton Gansu Jiuquan Iron & Steel Group (China)

Let’s go back a few years:  How long has the US Steel Industry been in decline?