Most likely to beef-up As rebar demand seemed ready to follow an upward trend in early 2013, many industry insiders predicted that Gerdau Long Steel North America’s Rancho Cucamonga-based mini-mill was well poised to ramp up production. Construction on the West Coast had finally started to show some improvement, and many within the rebar sector felt that beefing-up production was inevitable. At the end of 2012 government data showed that single-family residence starts in California rose 21 percent year-onyear during the six month period ending in October. Construction spending and other related data also pointed decidedly up, leaving an opening for supply to catch up to demand. Gerdau, of course, declined to comment on the status of their capacity utilization, saying that because they are a publicly-traded company, they only provide production numbers for the company as a whole (which would include all US mills plus the company’s South American operations). But Southern California fabricators said they haven’t seen anything that would indicate production has increased. “ey never seem to have any inventory, and I have a hard time getting steel from there,” said a California-based fabricator purchasing manager. “And they certainly haven’t given me any indication they intend to ramp up, although it would be about time.”
www.steelorbis.com
Others say that for the most part, the rebar that’s produced at the Rancho Cucamonga facility—which used to be Tamco Steel before Gerdau acquired it—is funneled to San Diego-based Pacific Coast Steel. Gerdau transitioned their general partnership with the company, one of the largest reinforcing steel subcontractors in the US, into full ownership in the spring of 2012. A representative from PCS said they have
Jan -13
seen an uptick in activity in the past 12 months, and their need for rebar has expanded. But in terms of the who, what, when, where, why and how of these tonnages, “mum” is still the official word. It won’t be hard to find Gerdau’s minimill at the reunion dance. He’ll be standing along the back wall, wearing sunglasses and dark clothing in hopes of maintaining his mysterious façade. SO \
USConstructionRoundup Housing Starts*
Housing Completions*
Buliding Permits*
Total Spending*
890,000
724,00
925,000
$863.1 B ↑ 4.9%
↓ 1.6 points
↑ 3.3
15.71%
54.9
Difference y-o-y
↑ 23.6%
↑ 33.6%
Feb -13
↑ 35.2%
Unemploy- Architecture ment Rate Billings Index 16.10%
54.2
917,000 ↑ 27.7%
711,000
946,000
$869.9 B
Difference y-o-y
↑ 7.7%
↓ 1.4 points
↑ 3.9
Mar -13
14.70%
51.9
↑ 24.3%
↑ 33.8%
1,036,000 ↑ 46.7%
800,000
902,000
$869.1 B
Difference y-o-y
↑ 6.2%
↓ 2.5 points
↑ 1.5
Apr -13
13.20%
48.6
↑ 36.3%
↑ 17.3%
853,000 ↑ 13.1%
689,000
1.017,000
$878.4 B
Difference y-o-y
↑ 6.8%
↓ 1.3 points
↑ 0.2
May-13
10.80%
52.9
↑ 3.3%
↑ 35.8%
914,000 ↑ 28.6%
690,000
974,000
$896.1 B
Difference y-o-y
↑ 6.8%
↓ 3.4 points
↑ 7.1
Jun-13
836,000
911,000
$897.1 B ↑ 6.5%
9.80%
↓ 3.0 points
51.6
Difference y-o-y
↑ 10.4%
755,000
↑ 5.7
Jul -13
896,000
943,000
$902.9 B ↑ 7.2%
9.10%
↓ 3.2 points
52.7
Difference y-o-y
↑ 20.9%
744,000
↑ 4.0
Aug -13
9.10%
53.8
↑ 12.6% ↑ 20.2% ↑ 15.0%
↑ 20.8% ↑ 16.1% ↑ 12.4%
891,000 ↑ 19.0%
769,000
918,000
$903.8 B
Difference y-o-y
↑ 6.8%
↓ 2.2 points
↑ 3.6
----
----
$901.2 B ↑ 4.7%
8.50%
↓ 3.4 points
54.3
↑ 2.7
9.00%
51.6
↑ 12.1%
↑ 11.0%
Sep -13
----
Difference y-o-y
----
----
----
Oct -13
----
----
$908.4 B**
----
----
1,034,000
Difference y-o-y Nov -13
1,091,00
823,000
1,007,000
$934.4 B**
Difference y-o-y
↑ 29.6%
↑ 21.6%
↑ 13.9% ↑ 7.9%
↑ 4.2% ↑ 4.7%
↓ 2.4 points 8.60%
↓ 3.1 points
↓ 1.2 49.8
↓ 3.4
*annualized rate ---- e lapse in federal funding affected the data collection schedule for the Survey of Construction, the source of data on new housing units started and completed. Data Jan.-Nov. includes revised figures ** Preliminary Sources: US Census Bureau, Associated General Contractors of America, American Institute of Architects
Volume 7; Issue 1
Prime
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41
SteelScope
is expected to reflect an approximate 15 percent increase in vehicle production in the next 10 years. e other alumni of 2013 won’t have a hard time spotting the mill formerly owned by yssenKrupp—she’ll be busy bouncing from table to table showing off the rock on her ring finger that’s nowhere near large enough to brag about.