Steel Industry Experts Agree: U.S. Must Increase Efficiency and Quality to Remain Competitive

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The topic of the Town Hall Forum held Wednesday, May 4, at the AISTech 2011 steel industry conference and exposition in Indianapolis, Indiana, was "Moving Past the Recession...on the Road to Sustainability." Several expert panelists discussed trends in the U.S. steel industry.

Jon Delano, political analyst and adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University acted as moderator for the second year in a row. Panelists included George Babcoke, senior vice president for European & Global Operations Services at U.S. Steel (NYSE:X); Keith Busse, chairman and CEO of Steel Dynamics Incorporated (NASDAQ:STLD); James R. Darsey, executive vice president for bar products at Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE); Theodore Lyon, the managing director for Hatch Associates Consultants (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania); Louis L. Schorsch, president and CEO of Flat Carbon Americas and executive vice president for ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT).

Louis Schorsch sees more dramatic and rapid change occurring in the steel market. "In the old days, the changes to our market were slow in coming and took place over a two- to three-year period. Now changes are measured in months." He explained that he saw some softening of the market over the last month or so, but continued growth. While Schorsch doesn't see production rates reaching pre-recession levels in the near future, the trend is definitely on an upward trajectory.

James Darsey and Ted Lyon both agreed that consumer construction demand remains down. Due to local, state and federal infrastructure lagging in the necessary rebuilding, the market will remain a challenge. The panel concurred that the truck and heavy equipment market is fairly strong and will continue gaining strength.

When asked if the U.S. market needs to increase steel production capacity when the country is producing at reduced rates, Steel Dynamics' Keith Busse said technology with increased efficiency was what was needed in the future.

Louis Schorsch said "Coming out of this crisis after 2009, we closed things down, we shut down operations. We are bringing back some online; some may never come back. We had a near-death experience. We have to be careful now."

With demand from developing economies driving much of the demand growth for steel, panelists cautioned that the U.S. needs to increase efficiency and quality to maintain a global competitive edge.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.