Ferrous Department

BRIDGE IMPROVEMENTS TO BOOST STEEL DEMAND

The need for infrastructure repair and replacement in the United States over the next few years could bode well for steel demand, according to recent data. The Federal Highway Administration’s 1997 National Bridge Inventory report compares 1996 data to 1995, indicating a 2.6 percent decrease in the number of deficient bridges in the U.S., meaning that some repair has already taken place.

“This modest decrease is only a small step in the right direction,” says Andrew Sharkey, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute, Washington. “It leaves a remaining 182,726 bridges across the country in urgent need of rehabilitation or replacement. Without a substantial increase in investment in our nation’s infrastructure, necessary improvements cannot be made, which, from both a safety and efficiency standpoint, would clearly be of great benefit to the traveling public.”

The steel industry is prepared to tackle the problem. “The structural advantages of using steel include its lighter weight, which means lighter foundations and lower erection costs,” he says. “Steel is ideal for short, medium and long span bridges because of its durability, ease of maintenance and ease of construction.”

Engineers of steel bridges have to be both resource and cost conscious, according to Sharkey. “At the same time, in areas where the industry has developed modern technologies that would have a tremendous impact on the bridge market, little or no money is available for in-the-field testing of such technologies,” he says.

STEEL IMPORTS CLIMB WHILE U.S. PRODUCTION STEADY

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), Washington, released its own summary of statistics, looking at the first six months of 1997. Based on U.S. Department of Commerce data, the AISI determined that the U.S. imported more than 16.2 million net tons of steel mill products in the first half of 1997, a 30 percent increase over the 12.4 million net tons imported in the first half of last year.

Steel imported from Russia was up a staggering 390 percent over last year’s pace, with nearly two million tons shipped so far this year versus just 395,000 tons during the first six months of 1996. The second largest percentage increase in imported steel came from China, with shipments up 63 percent over last year. Steel shipments from Japan and Canada were down from last year’s pace.

U.S. mills remained just ahead of last year’s pace in steel shipped, up 3.2 percent over the first six months of 1996. June was a strong month, with shipments up 7.6 percent over June 1996. The construction and contractors’ products segment (up 11.9 percent) and the machinery, industrial equipment and tools segment (up 10.6 percent) have helped drive the increase, while auto shipments are relatively flat

1997 GLOBAL STEEL PRODUCTION UP 5 PERCENT

The world’s steel makers produced 5.4 percent more crude steel in the first seven months of 1997 than they did in the same period in 1996, according to the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) Brussels, Belgium. Much of the more than 20 million metric tons of added steel was produced in western Europe and Asia, while the output of North American steel makers has remained more level.

Asian and western European steel producers have posted greater than 7 percent gains in total output in 1997, while North American steel makers are showing only a 1.6 percent output gain year-to-date. Asia’s steel industry produced nearly 170 million tons of crude steel in the first seven months of 1997, while western Europe’s industry shipped 100 million tons and North America’s mills produced 73 million tons.