Steel Market Production Cuts – Russian coking coal and steel producer Mechel will additionally suspend production at two billet plants, Mechel Targoviste and Ductil Steel Otelu Rosa, on Saturday, February 18^th, after severe snowfall and freezing temperatures halted scrap and other raw materials deliveries to the sites.

Steel Market Production Cuts – The Serbian steel industry is lowering production after the government imposed tough measures to curb power consumption and the harsh weather conditions disrupted main transport routes.

Steel Market Production Cuts – German wire rod producer Trierer Stahlwerke (TSW) stopped production yesterday after the decision was made during a meeting with the board members of the Pampus Group, owner of TSW, on Wednesday.

Steel Market Production Increases – Italy’s Marcegaglia is aiming to double the output at its welded tube plant in Kluczbork to 100,000 tpy in 2012.

Steel Market Production Increases – Gerdau is resuming operations at a meltshop in Colombia that was closed and liquidated in 2009 by its previous owner, Siderurgica del Pacifico (Sidelpa). Furthermore, Gerdau will be adding 80,000 tpy of rolling capacity to its operations located in Tuta and Tocancipa, Colombia.

Steel Market Production Increases – Production at pickling line No.2 with a capacity of 750,000 tpy at Tata’s Llanwern rolling mill in the UK is expected to restart in March.

Steel Market Production Increases – Japanese mini-mill Kyoei Steel is to start producing bar and wire rod in March at the north Vietnamese longs re-roller Tam Dien Rolling Mill (TDR), which has a capacity of 300,000 tpy, and the company also plans a 500,000 tonnes/year meltshop and matching rolling facilities at the works.

Sources: Steel Business Briefing and American Metal Market.

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802:”I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property – until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

In a bit of good news for the steel market, the U.S. unemployment rate slightly declined from 8.5% in December 2011 to 8.3% in January 2012, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 243,000 in January, primarily as a result of 257,000 new jobs in private sector areas such as professional and business services (70,000), leisure and hospitality (44,000), and manufacturing (50,000). The number of new manufacturing jobs added more than doubles the 23,000 added in December. The most recent previous months where manufacturing gained roughly 50,000 or more jobs were January 2011 (49,000) and August 1998 (142,000). Almost 154.4 million people participated in the civilian labor force, up from about 153.9 million in December, and 140.8 million people were employed, up from about 140.6 million in December.

Close to 13M Unemployed

A total of 12.8 million people were classified as unemployed in January, down 2% from about 13.1 million in December. Of these, 5.5 million, or about 43%, were long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more without a job). The remaining 7.3 million either lost a job or completed a temporary job.

Participation Rate Falls Slightly

In January, the civilian non-institutional population age 16 and older measured about 242.3 million, up from about 240.6 million in December. The civilian labor force participation rate fell slightly, however, in January from 64% in December. . Meanwhile, the employment-population ratio held steady at 58.5% and has changed little since September 2011 (58.4%).

Part-Time, Marginal, Discouraged Workers (please compare with December)

There was little month-over-month change in the number of people employed part-time for economic reasons (up 1%, from 8.1 million in December to 8.2 million in January). However, a more substantial increase occurred in the number of people marginally attached to the labor force (up 12%, from 2.5 million to 2.8 million), and discouraged (marginally attached people not currently looking for work, up 16%, from 945,000 to 1.1 million).

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics