| Brief
Description of Locker Associates... |
Locker Associates is a New York City based business-consulting firm
that specializes in enhancing the competitiveness of businesses
and industries on behalf of corporate, union and government clients.
By combining expert business and financial analysis with a sensitivity
to labor issues, the firm is uniquely qualified to help clients
manage change by:
 Leading
joint labor/management business improvement initiatives
Facilitating
ownership transitionsto secure the long-term viability of a business
Conducting
strategic industry studies to identify future challenges and opportunities
Representing
unions in strategic planning and workplace reorganization
Formulating
business plans for turnaround situations
Performing
due diligence for equity and debt investors
Over
the last nineteen years, the firm has directed over 200 projects
spanning manufacturing, transportation, distribution and mining
industries. Typical projects involve in-depth analysis of
a firm's market, financial and operating performance on behalf
of a cooperative labor-management effort. Locker Associates
also publishes a widely read steel newsletter called Steel
Industry Update that circulates extensively
throughout the steel industry.
.
| Selected
U.S. Steel Industry Data, April and Year-to-Date |
| (thousand
tons) |
|
Year-to-Date |
| |
2008 |
2007 |
%
Chg |
2008 |
2007 |
%Chg |
| Raw
Steel Production..................... |
9,233 |
9,054 |
2.0% |
37,304 |
34,961 |
6.7% |
|
Capacity Utilization........................ |
90.3 |
88.3 |
-- |
90.5 |
84.3 |
-- |
| Mill
Shipments............................... |
9,403 |
8,849 |
6.3% |
36,871 |
35,143 |
4.9% |
| Exports.............................................. |
1,079 |
910 |
18.6% |
4,104 |
3,490 |
17.6% |
| Total
Imports.................................... |
2,979 |
2,849 |
4.6% |
10,700 |
11,505 |
-7.0% |
| Finished
Steel Imports..............,.... |
2,228 |
2,222 |
0.3% |
8,473 |
9,281 |
-8.7% |
| Apparent
Steel Supply*................. |
10,552 |
10,161 |
3.8% |
41,240 |
40,934 |
0.7% |
| Imports
as % of Supply*................. |
21.1 |
21.9 |
-- |
20.5 |
22.7 |
-- |
| Average
Spot Price**($/ton)............. |
900 |
668 |
34.8% |
787 |
641 |
22.8% |
| Scrap**($/gross
ton)............................ |
461 |
342 |
34.8% |
408 |
308 |
32.5% |
Source:
AISI & Purchasing Magazine & US Geological Survey
*Excludes semi-finished imports
**Avg price of 8 carbon products #auto bundles
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