Steel Products

Biden to Unveil Infrastructure Plan in Pittsburgh
Written by Michael Cowden
March 26, 2021
President Joe Biden will be in Pittsburgh next week to unveil his administration’s multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure spending plan.
The plan will focus on both physical and technological infrastructure, the president said in a press conference.
Spending on infrastructure is about both creating jobs and making the United States a more attractive place to do business, Biden said, according to a transcript of the conference.
“It (infrastructure) is the place where we will be able to significantly increase American productivity, at the same time providing really good jobs for people,” he said.
The president noted a litany of reasons as to why infrastructure spending is overdue. More than one-third of U.S. bridges need repairs, some in such bad shape that they pose a safety hazard, Biden said.
Approximately 20% of all flights in the U.S. are delayed, resulting in 1.5 million hours of lost production. And six million to 10 million U.S. homes are serviced by water lines that use lead service pipes, he said.
“China is investing three times more in infrastructure than the United States,” Biden noted.
Biden suggested a wide scope of projects beyond just roads, bridges and airports. Money could be devoted to upgrading heating and ventilation systems in schools and offices as well as to capping wellheads currently leaking methane into the environment, he said.
“There’s so much we can do that’s good stuff, makes people healthier, and creates good jobs,” Biden said.
Many in the steel industry have become cynical about infrastructure spending. “Infrastructure week” became a standing joke during the Trump administration. And the industry was disappointed by infrastructure spending under the Obama administration that focused on “shovel-ready” projects that tended not to be steel intensive.
The American Society of Civil Engineers gave U.S. infrastructure a C- in its 2021 report card. The group noted that rail transit and port infrastructure had improved, but that roads and highways continued to be underfunded and in mostly poor condition.
The White House said that Biden would travel to Pittsburgh on Wednesday, March 31, to deliver “remarks on his economic vision for the future.”
Pittsburgh is home not only to U.S. Steel but also the United Steelworkers (USW) union. And western Pennsylvania more generally is a swing area of a swing state that was key in delivering the presidency to Biden.
Some domestic steelmakers, meanwhile, have been lining up to tout their capability to melt and pour steel in the United States, a key capability to participate in government-funded infrastructure projects.
JSW Steel USA Director Parth Jindal noted earlier in the week that the company’s Mingo Junction, Ohio, electric-arc furnace (EAF) would allow it to participate in work requiring that steel be melted and made in the U.S.
AM/NS Calvert has broken ground in Alabama on a project to build a $775 million EAF on the site of what is currently a slab conversion facility.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
{loadposition reserved_message}
The new furnace will reduce AM/NS Calvert’s need for outside slabs and increase its ability to participate in publicly funded work–such as infrastructure projects–that require steel to be melted and poured in the United States.
Some market participants have questioned whether there is enough steel, or enough steel at reasonable prices, to accomodate an ambitious infrastructure plan.
“At the end of the day, is there enough supply in the United States? The short answer is, ‘yes,’” Nucor President and Chief Executive Leon Topalian said during a January conference call on the subject of infrastructure.
EAF steelmakers such as Nucor are expanding capacity, he said, pointing to the $1.35 billion plate mill Nucor is building in Kentucky.
“As we move forward, if we see something very substantial passed … you’ll see steelmakers also pick up and restart certain blast furnaces that have been taken offline,” he added.
By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Michael Cowden
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest in Steel Products

Market says cutting interest rates will spur stalled domestic plate demand
Market sources say demand for domestic plate refuses to budge despite stagnating prices.

U.S. Steel to halt slab conversion at Granite City Works
U.S. Steel said it plans to reduce slab consumption at its Granite City Works near St. Louis, a company spokesperson said on Monday. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker will shift the production and processing of steel slabs to its Mon Valley Works near Pittsburgh and its Gary Works near Chicago. Citing a United Steelworkers (USW) union memo, […]

SMU Week in Review: September 1-5
Here are highlights of what’s happened this past week and a few upcoming things to keep an eye on.

HR Futures: Market finds footing on supply-side mechanics
As Labor Day marks the transition into fall, the steel market enters September with a similar sense of change. Supply-side fundamentals are beginning to show signs of restraint: imports are limited, outages loom, and production is capped, setting the stage for a market that feels steady on the surface but still unsettled underneath.

Beige Book: US markets remain cautious amidst volatile pricing environment
Sluggish economic activity across the US was largely attributed to uncertainty caused by tariff policies and growing cost pressures, according to the US Federal Reserve’s (The Fed) latest Beige Book report. The Fed’s latest economic report, posted on Sept. 3, consists of economic findings from the six weeks preceding Aug. 25 throughout 12 districts. Economic […]