Monday, April 25, 2011

Steel Production, Shipments Rebound

1. Crude Steel Production Rises in March -- "World crude steel production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association was 129 million metric tons in March 2011 and 372 million metric tons for the first quarter 2011. This is 7% higher than March 2010 and 8.8 % higher than the first quarter 2010.

2. Chinese To Build $1Billion Steel Plant in Texas -- The building of the steel plant in the U.S. is a strategy to avoid U.S. imposed anti-dumping duties of 32% and 98% on imports of Chinese steel pipe products.

3. Steel Leads Recovery at Antwerp Port --  First quarter 2011 volumes have improved over 2010 results at the port of Antwerp, particularly in breakbulk cargoes, hit hardest by the global recession. The best performer in this segment was steel, which rose 41.8% to 1.9 million metric tons.

13 Comments:

At 4/26/2011 10:43 AM, Blogger Buddy R Pacifico said...

China to build $1 billion steel plant in Corpus Christi, Texas:

Ten years ago Tianjin Steel was broke. Tianjin Steel Pipe appears to be part of China's "national champions policy".

Who owns Tianjin Steel Pipe?

The local communist party.

Who runs Tianjin Steel Pipe?

Local Communist Party Secretary Liu Yunsheng is chairman of Tianjin Steel Pipe.

 
At 4/26/2011 5:00 PM, Blogger Bloggin' Brewskie said...

Buddy R Pacifico,

Collusion between government and business runs rampant in China. SOEs (state-owned enterprises) dominate China's economy and make up a large portion of the biggest companies; they receive preferential treatment by government-controlled banks, over the private sector, and their top executives are appointed by the CCP. Even in the case of large companies in the private sector, the CCP still appoints high-ranking executives as many such companies, in reality, are former SOEs.

Thanks for the link about Liu Yunsheng, BTW.

 
At 4/26/2011 9:00 PM, Blogger VangelV said...

Ten years ago Tianjin Steel was broke. Tianjin Steel Pipe appears to be part of China's "national champions policy".

OK. So what are you suggesting?

Are you saying that the US would be better off if the steel plant was not built in Texas? Do you want steel prices to be higher so that the domestic steel plants could make higher profits? Why is this good for consumers again? And how does the US lose if the Chinese government invests in capital in the US?

 
At 4/27/2011 9:43 AM, Blogger Buddy R Pacifico said...

Bloggin Brewskie, thanks for your comments. The term Command Capitalism may apply to the Chinese economy at this time. The National Champions policy seems to pit competition between between party enterprises, with the party being guaranteed the ultimate winner.

VangeIV, do you want the Communist Party of China to control the steel pipe industry in the U.S.?

 
At 4/27/2011 2:56 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 4/27/2011 3:33 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

"VangeIV, do you want the Communist Party of China to control the steel pipe industry in the U.S.?"

Control may be too strong a word, but in any case, what difference does it make who the owners are? A large company is going to spend $1 bn in Texas, hire 600 American workers, and pay taxes and other expenses in the US.

That "cheap Chinese labor" argument won't apply anymore. Talk about a level playing field! You've got it in this case.

Who do you think benefits from this, and who do you think is hurt?

I can only imagine the doublespeak CCP officials must engage in trying to reconcile this free market action with their communist ideology. We would probably recognize some of it as being similar to what we hear from our own government officials.

I noticed this from your source:

"“The very existence of this company is due to massive subsidies through state banks which will bail out state firms favored by local and central governments endlessly,” says Victor Shih, a professor at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, who studies the Chinese financial system."

That sounds eerily familiar. It seems that some major US companies could be described in the same terms.

 
At 4/27/2011 6:03 PM, Blogger Buddy R Pacifico said...

Ron H, if you want to feed the party's drive for national and international champions then, that will be an awkward choice. Free enterprise is receding to greater party control with gains funded by purchases from free markets.

 
At 4/27/2011 7:10 PM, Blogger VangelV said...

VangeIV, do you want the Communist Party of China to control the steel pipe industry in the U.S.?

How does that happen? If China decides to subsidize American users of steel by selling at less than cost it undermines its own producers of products. If the costs are much lower than it should be it would be easy for American traders to take advantage of the arbitrage opportunity and capture all of the possible gains.

Once again, what is your problem with China creating jobs in Texas?

 
At 4/27/2011 7:12 PM, Blogger VangelV said...

Ron H, if you want to feed the party's drive for national and international champions then, that will be an awkward choice. Free enterprise is receding to greater party control with gains funded by purchases from free markets.

Free markets are a lot more resilient than you and your fellow protectionists imagine.

 
At 4/27/2011 7:35 PM, Blogger Buddy R Pacifico said...

VangeIV, I thought it would be awkward for you to support market crushing but I was mistaken. Your support of ephemeral market liberty at the expense of free market growth is disappointing and weak.

 
At 4/27/2011 8:05 PM, Blogger VangelV said...

VangeIV, I thought it would be awkward for you to support market crushing but I was mistaken. Your support of ephemeral market liberty at the expense of free market growth is disappointing and weak.

I don't see any 'market crushing.' If someone was stupid enough to subsidize my consumption and take the loss it is perfectly fine with me. It does not matter who that someone is and where the decisions are made.

As I wrote many of you protectionists seem to have little faith in the free market. I suggest that you reevaluate your belief system.

 
At 4/27/2011 9:37 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

Buddy,

"Ron H, if you want to feed the party's drive for national and international champions then, that will be an awkward choice. Free enterprise is receding to greater party control with gains funded by purchases from free markets.

I'm not sure I understand this, but if you are referring to loss of freedom in China, then I can only say that it's regrettable, but none of us has much control over what happens in China.

If the people of China are willing to continue subsidizing my purchases of steel pipe, then I should thank them. They are being harmed, not me, and it is up to them to change the situation if they are unhappy with it.

You still haven't explained how investing $1 bn in the US and creating 600 jobs is harmful. And, that's just the immediate benefit.

Again, I ask you: who is harmed and who benefits from this new pipe factory that will now be closer to its suppliers, and closer to its market?

Capitalism in action would seem to put the lie to the supposed superiority of a communist system. How can those involved defend their broken ideology?

Would you feel differently if this were a Peruvian company, or a Swedish company?

 
At 4/28/2011 3:44 AM, Blogger Ricky Addy said...

Such a great post......

Steel pipes manufacturer

 

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