LATEST NEWS
Steel
October 29, 2009
United States Steel Corp. posts third straight quarterly loss
PITTSBURGH
United States Steel Corp. which is mired in a legal battle with the Canadian government over the former Stelco, said it lost money for a third straight quarter as the global economic downturn continued to dampen demand for the metal.
But the company said its production and shipments rose significantly from the previous quarter, and that it expects a narrower loss in the October-December period as North American automakers order more steel for vehicles.
U.S. Steel’s products include sheet steel used in a wide range of consumer goods, from cars to office furniture.
Its tin is used in items such as food cans, while its tubular steel, or pipe, is used in oil and gas drilling.
The company recently launched a court challenge to the constitutionality of the Investment Canada Act, a response to Ottawa’s own allegations the company broke promises when it shut most of its Ontario operations this spring.
The Canadian government says U.S. Steel made committments to maintain certain production and employment levels when it acquired Hamilton-based Stelco in 2006, promises it later broke. Meanwhile, Welland, Ont.-based Lakeside Steel is looking to buy the former Stelco and has been granted intervenor status in the case.
U.S. Steel’s loss highlights an industrywide slump in demand that began when the world economy faltered late last year. That undermined key customers in the construction, auto and industrial equipment industries. Steel makers like U.S. Steel, based in Pittsburgh, responded by winding down production and laying off thousands of workers.
Although prices and production rose during the quarter as steel distributors scrambled to fill orders after depleting their stockpiles, the market for the metal remained far weaker than it had been a year earlier, when U.S. Steel notched record profits.
CEO John Surma said the company remains cautious about its outlook as order rates have dropped in recent weeks, partly due to seasonal slowdowns at factories.
“Despite these concerns and uncertainties, we believe that the U.S. and global economies are in the early stages of a gradual recovery, which has been aided by global stimulus policies and may be supported by continued improvement in credit markets and inventory restocking,” he said in a statement.
In April, U.S. Steel posted its first quarterly loss in more than five years. After reporting a second quarterly loss in July, the company said it expected all of its businesses to post operating losses for the July-September period.
The largest U.S. steel maker said it lost $303 million, or $2.11 per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares with a profit of $919 million, or $7.79 per share, in year-earlier period.
Associated Press
| MOST POPULAR STORIES |
- New technology allows concrete to come clean
- Ontario architects, general contractor associations issue joint HST bulletin
- Pursuit of LEED could result in professional negligence, insurance executive warns
- Ground broken on the Cathedral Centre in Toronto
- SNC-Lavalin subsidiary Profac under scrutiny over federal contract billing
- 20 Most Popular Stories
| TODAY’S TOP CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS |
These projects have been selected from 316 projects with a total value of $201,737,936,657 that Reed Construction Data Building Reports reported on yesterday.
$300,000,000 Toronto ON Tenders
$150,000,000 Port Hope ON Prebid
$50,000,000 Toronto ON Prebid
| CURRENT STORIES |
- Canadian Construction Association chair bids farewell
- Excavation underway for St. Gabriel Manor condos in Toronto
- Pursuit of LEED could result in professional negligence, insurance executive warns
- St. Marys Cement plant workers go on strike in Bowmanville, Ontario
- Construction continues on the Nautilus at Waterview condo project in Etobicoke, Ontario
- Search continues for sustainable architecture
- U.S. construction unemployment could get even worse
- WorkSafeBC issued record number of fines in 2009
- Canada job numbers up in February
- BC Hydro awards purchase agreements for 19 clean wind, run-of-river energy projects
- Concern over presence of hermit beetles delays Poland road job
- Russian official calls 2014 Winter Olympics protests “unconstructive”
- Construction moving forward on Ho Chi Minh City tunnel
- Government takes over Northwest Territories P3 bridge project
- Canadian construction experts visit earthquake-ravaged Haiti
- Winnipeg gets new water treatment plant
- Weighing in on the Tercon Contractors appeal decision
- Construction restarting on hospital in Fort St. John, British Columbia
- In new movie, Hamilton construction worker becomes ‘Defendor’ at night
- ‘Quality product cannot come from cutting corners on safety’
- Shop owner suing VANOC over pre-Olympics road construction disruptions
| ALEX’S ECONOMICS BLOG |

Reed Construction Data Chief Economist Alex Carrick discusses current developments in the North American economic environment with emphasis on the construction industry.
- A dozen incredible measurement sets on Canada’s changing ethnic mix (March 9, 2010)
- How fragile is recovery around the world? (March 3, 2010)
- The world financial crisis goes into extra innings (February 25, 2010)
- More







