Katrina and Steel

The rebuilding of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina – as well as the broader restoration of the Gulf Coast’s transportation and industrial infrastructure – will require large quantities of pipe, tube, plate, bar, rod, and other steel mill products.

As a result, the sharp decline in prices and production that has been faced by Mittal USA and other steelmakers during 2005 may be eased, if not reversed, by the uptick in demand by business and government.

Katrina underscores the importance of maintaining an independent and progressive domestic steel industry. In the event of a future calamity, either natural or man-made, we should not get ourselves into a position where we are dependent on steel made in Poland or India or China because mill downsizing and profit-hungry investors have crippled our own industry.

As I wrote in an article published in the Chicago Sun-Times before Mittal Steel’s purchase of ISG:

“The future of steel isn’t just a matter of maximum shareholder value. It’s about guaranteeing a minimum level of investment and employment in our industrial infrastructure to keep this country strong. It is also about fairness to employees in times of rapid change and about the public obligations of private businessmen to return value to communities whose workforce and good will they depend on.”

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Send to Mark Reutter
P.O. Box 517
Urbana, IL 61803
e-mail: reuttermark@yahoo.com