Steel Products
August 25, 2019
New North American Steel Capacity: It’s Complicated
Written by Sandy Williams
The steel industry enjoyed a profitable first half of 2018 due to a strong economy and tariffs on imports that drove up domestic prices. The welcome windfall prompted several companies to commit large investments toward expansion and modernization of their facilities. In all, about 31 million net tons of new steel capacity could potentially come online in North America by 2022—27.2 million tons of flat rolled capacity (minus AK Ashland Works) and 5.8 million tons of long products capacity—in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Some feel all that new capacity will prove positive for the industry, modernizing aging equipment, supplanting foreign imports, providing new jobs and delivering next-generation products to customers.Others are convinced it will prove disastrous as overcapacity drives steel prices to new depths.
