Economy
May 4, 2014
April - What a Month!
Written by John Packard
April turned out to be a month where supply disruptions squeezed the life out of non-repentant steel buyers: flat rolled steel buyers who had run their inventories too lean or who hesitated when U.S. Steel Great Lakes went down, only to be ambushed by steelmaking curtailments at USS Gary Works (and elsewhere) due to iron ore shipment issues on the Great Lakes.
It’s surprising what a few feet of ice can do to slow down an ore vessel. US Steel admitted on their earnings conference call late in April that two of their vessels were in repairs due to punctures in their hulls from icebergs. At the end of the month, U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard ice breakers were still leading convoys of ships across Lake Superior.
