美國鋼鐵行業(yè)的圣誕節(jié)旺季來得很早。

    在今年早些時候受美國經(jīng)濟復(fù)蘇停滯和歐洲債務(wù)危機加深的影響鋼鐵生產(chǎn)一度受挫。但因汽車和農(nóng)用齒輪銷售業(yè)績上升，現(xiàn)在鋼鐵廠正在抬高價格，擴大生產(chǎn)。

    蓋爾道股份有限公司（Gerdau SA）巴西總公司將投資6700萬美元用來為美國密歇根州門羅地區(qū)的工廠擴大生產(chǎn)。這家工廠生產(chǎn)的鋼鐵用于航天航空和國防工業(yè)。俄羅斯鋼鐵生產(chǎn)商謝維爾斯德海外有限公司（OAO Severstal）投資5.5億美元于上個月在美國密西西比州哥倫布市開了家新廠。如此一來，其鋼鐵產(chǎn)能翻了一翻，達(dá)到年產(chǎn)340萬噸。

    監(jiān)督安賽樂米塔爾（ArcelorMittal)公司在南美北美實施扁平化營運的婁朔施（Lou Schorsch）說：“如果你從等式中把歐盟移除，事情看起來就好多了。” 總裁安德烈蓋爾道約翰彼得（André Gerdau Johannpeter）上星期表示：擴建蓋爾道的密歇根工廠表明我們對北美市場的復(fù)蘇和成長有信心。

    安賽樂米塔爾，AK鋼鐵控股，紐柯公司(Nucor Corp.)及謝維爾斯德最近抬高了用于汽車業(yè)的冷軋鋼和熱軋網(wǎng)的基準(zhǔn)價格。 今年初鋼鐵價格一度下滑，但從11月2日以來，價格回升了25%。比如鋼廠原來收取熱軋鋼的費用是每噸600美元，而現(xiàn)在每噸收取750美元。這一價格變動給汽車、洗碗機等產(chǎn)品造成了漲價的壓力。

    安賽樂米塔爾北美副總湯姆.馬查克（Tom Marchak）說，之前持續(xù)了33個星期的降價，所以增長的需求可以支持這些價格上漲。

    2011年前10個月，從美國鋼鐵廠出貨的總量是7640萬噸，超過去年同期的6970萬噸。

    生產(chǎn)商仍保持謹(jǐn)慎，都知道美國尚未從經(jīng)濟衰退中恢復(fù)過來，如果公司和消費者信心不足收益很可能會延緩。包括建筑業(yè)在內(nèi)的一些市場仍很弱前景不確定。利潤很薄，很大程度上因為原材料能源成本高。一些生產(chǎn)商甚至警告說進(jìn)口的增加和產(chǎn)量的增加很可能沖擊到價格。紐柯公司上星期發(fā)布的一份價格預(yù)警指出進(jìn)口產(chǎn)品和國內(nèi)供應(yīng)的增加正在侵蝕價格和利潤。

    2011年前10個月美國鋼鐵進(jìn)口增加了14.5%， 而且如果中國的增長明顯變緩的話，明年美國的鋼鐵進(jìn)口會出現(xiàn)戲劇性的增長。目前中國生產(chǎn)的鋼鐵占全球產(chǎn)量的一半。歐洲的經(jīng)濟很可能遭遇更嚴(yán)重的崩潰，全球的銀行和商業(yè)都會受損。

    安賽樂公司的朔施先生說：“人們已經(jīng)被歐盟的經(jīng)濟嚇壞了，而中國經(jīng)濟很可能正在下滑”。

    朔施和其他人都說，在超越其他地區(qū)的進(jìn)程中，美國成了一個局外人。而AK鋼鐵公司的發(fā)言人艾倫麥科伊表示：“仍然有一線生機”。

    最強的市場：汽車。美國汽車制造商有望在2011年制造出1340萬輛車，而根據(jù)美國制造商生產(chǎn)和創(chuàng)新聯(lián)盟的數(shù)據(jù)，2009年的產(chǎn)量是1040萬輛。2011年前10個月用于汽車制造的帶鋼和盤繞鋼板出貨量比去年同期增長11.9%達(dá)到4410萬噸。

    其它市場尤其是能源市場也比較強盛。燃?xì)夂褪凸菊少徃嗟匿摴苡糜谟脧捻搸r中開采天然氣。位于芝加哥的研究公司鋼鐵市場情報（Still Market Intelligence）管理合伙人米歇爾阿普勒鮑姆注釋表示：2011年前10個月能源用鋼管出貨量上漲了24.3%達(dá)到260萬噸。她說：“這有利于幫助鋼材在美國保持比其它國家更強勢的價格。美國現(xiàn)在走在其他國家的前面，多虧了這些零星的活動?！?/p>

    位于內(nèi)布拉斯加州的諾?？虽撹F及金屬公司專門采購鋼鐵再分銷給汽車生產(chǎn)商和其它制造商。這家公司的總裁理查得羅賓遜說：“由于農(nóng)業(yè)綜合企業(yè)和上中西部地區(qū)對鉆探的推進(jìn)，平軋鋼的需求量很大，最近宣布的價格上漲有望在短期內(nèi)得以保持?！?/p>

    羅賓遜先生說，也有些負(fù)面的消息，現(xiàn)在公司銷售給冰箱、洗衣機和其它家用電器生產(chǎn)商的鋼材正在減少。而這些制造商通常是鋼鐵大買家。根據(jù)MAPI的消息，家用電器的生產(chǎn)在2011年降了4%。由于銷量減少，大型制造商如惠而浦公司和伊萊克AB都在裁減員工縮減生產(chǎn)。非住宅建筑與房地產(chǎn)業(yè)一起遭受了損失。2011年前10個月，螺紋鋼（用于支撐建筑物混凝土結(jié)構(gòu)的鋼鐵）的出貨量也減少了13%，下降到470萬噸。

    2011年公共工程建筑也減少了9%，而私有的非住宅建筑，傳統(tǒng)的耗鋼大戶基本持平。

    不來梅鑄造有限公司生產(chǎn)的鑄件、閥門和其它零件廣泛應(yīng)用于軍事、農(nóng)業(yè)和重型卡車行業(yè)。該公司打算訂購更多的鋼鐵，預(yù)計今年銷售額會在去年4700萬美元的基礎(chǔ)上上漲25%。增加的銷售額有助于抵消增加的鋼鐵成本。

    “我們看到鋼鐵價格已經(jīng)上漲了50元，到明年一月，有望再漲50元，”公司總裁J.B.布朗說。不來梅公司最近以564美元每噸的價格購買了一批兩英寸厚的板型鋼，“但價格還能接受因為今年是我們創(chuàng)記錄的一年?！?/p>

-------------------------------翻譯：中國鑄造網(wǎng) -----------------------------------------   

Christmas came early for the U.S. steel industry.
Buoyed by rising sales of cars, farm gear and oil-drilling equipment, steelmakers are increasing prices and expanding production after setbacks earlier this year when the U.S. recovery stalled and the European debt crisis deepened.

Gerdau SA, based in Brazil, will invest $67 million to expand production at a plant in Monroe, Mich., which makes steel for aerospace and defense industries. Russian steelmaker OAO Severstal last month opened a new part of its plant in Columbus, Miss., a $550 million project that doubled annual capacity to 3.4 million tons.

“If you take the [European Union] out of the equation, things look pretty good,” says Lou Schorsch, who oversees ArcelorMittal’s flat carbon operations in North and South America. Gerdau’s Michigan plant expansion came as a “result of our confidence in the recovery and growth of the North American market,” Chief Executive André Gerdau Johannpeter said last week.

ArcelorMittal, AK Steel Holding Corp., Nucor Corp. and Severstal recently have raised prices on benchmark hot and cold rolled steel used by the auto industry. After declining earlier this year, steel prices are up 25% since Nov. 2, with, for example, mills charging around $750 a ton for hot rolled steel, from around $600, causing upward price pressure on goods from cars to washing machines.

Tom Marchak, a vice president for Severstal North America, said that prices previously had declined for 33 weeks and that demand has reached a level “to support these increases.”

Total shipments by U.S. steel plants were 76.4 million tons in the first 10 months of 2011, up from 69.7 million tons over the same period in 2010.

Still, producers remain cautious, noting that the U.S. is still recovering from a recession and gains could stall, if companies and consumers get skittish. Certain markets, including construction, remain weak and their outlook uncertain. Profit margins remain tight, due largely to high raw material and energy costs, and some producers are warning that increased imports and higher production could erode prices. Nucor issued a profit warning last week saying increased imports and new domestic supplies were eroding prices and margins.

U.S. steel imports have risen 14.5% during the first 10 months of 2011, due to the strong markets and prices in the U.S., and could rise dramatically next year if growth in China, which produces half the world’s steel, slows markedly. The European economy could crash even harder, hurting banks and businesses around the world.

“People remain spooked by the EU, and China potentially slumping,” said Arcelor’s Mr. Schorsch.

The U.S., said Mr. Schorsch and others, has become an outlier in outperforming other regions. “There are some glimmers,” said Alan McCoy, a spokesman for AK Steel.

The strongest market: automotive. U.S. auto makers are expected to turn out 13.4 million vehicles in 2011, up from 10.4 million units in 2009, according to the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation. Shipments of steel, strip and coiled plate steel, used to make cars, were up 11.9% to 44.1 million tons in the first 10 months of 2011, compared to last year.

Other markets are likewise strong, energy in particular. Gas and oil companies are buying more steel pipes to tap natural gas in shale basins. Michelle Applebaum, managing partner at Chicago-based research firm Steel Market Intelligence, noted that shipments of energy pipe were up 24.3% to 2.6 million tons in the first 10 months of 2011. That has helped keep prices strong in the U.S. relative to other parts of the world, she said. “The U.S. is ahead of everybody right now, thanks to pockets of activity” Ms. Applebaum added.

Richard Robinson, president of Nebraska-based Norfolk Iron & metal, a company that buys and distributes steel to car makers and other manufacturers, said demand for heavier flat rolled steel is high “thanks to agribusiness, and the push for gas drilling in the upper Midwest.” As a result, he expects recently announced price increases to stick “at least for the short term.”

There are some bleak spots. Mr. Robinson said the company is selling less steel to makers of refrigerators, washing machines and other household appliances, which are typically big steel buyers. Household appliance production fell 4% in 2011, according to MAPI. Big manufacturers such as Whirlpool Corp. and Electrolux AB have cut jobs and output recently because of weak sales. Nonresidential construction has also suffered along with the real-estate market.

Shipments of rebar, the steel that supports concrete in structures, were down 13% to 4.7 million tons during the first 10 months of 2011.

In 2011, public works construction was down 9% while private non-residential construction, traditionally a big user of steel, was merely flat.

Bremen Castings Inc., which makes castings, valves and other parts used in the military, agriculture and heavy truck industries, is ordering more steel with sales set to increase 25% from $47 million last year. The higher sales are helping to offset higher costs for steel.

“We’ve seen steel prices go up 50 bucks, and we expect them to go up another 50 in January,” says J.B. Brown, the company’s president. Bremen recently paid $564 a ton for a shipment of two-inch thick plate steel kind of steel. “But that’s OK because we’re having a record year.”