TPT July 2007

From the

AmericaS

uly

ugust

2007

European segment jumped 65 per cent. In comparison with

the same period of 2006, the steel maker said earnings grew

to $273 million from $256 million; revenue increased to $3.76

billion, from $3.73 billion; and income from operations fell to

$346 million, from $369 million.

Elsewhere in steel . . .

›

On April 5 Canadian producer Stelco Inc announced the transfer

of all hot strip processing to its Lake Erie mill. This followed

completion of an expansion there that will raise annual capacity

from 3 million tons of steel to 3.7 million tons. The $270 million

modernization project has already raised production at Lake Erie,

which reached a record of over 280,000 tons in March. Stelco’s next

step will be the shutdown of the 56" hot strip mill at its Hamilton Steel

plant, which has been operating since the 1940’s. The Hamilton,

Ontario-based steelmaker is working to transform itself into a low-

cost producer.

›

The United Steelworkers, based in Pittsburgh, announced April

18 that its membership was seeking a merger with two large

British unions, Amicus and Transport & General Workers, in a move

that would form the first transatlantic labour group. The three unions

would merge within a year, with the combined union expected to

have more than 2.6 million members. The president of the United

Steelworkers, Leo W. Gerard, told a labor convention in Ottawa,

“One of our tasks as trade unions is to defend working people and to

advance workers’ conditions, but that’s increasingly difficult within the

confines of national boundaries. It seems we’re no longer capable of

fully confronting and negotiating with these global companies unless

we ourselves are organised globally.”

Aluminium

Alcoa foresees years of growth

for the industry

If its unsolicited $27 billion offer for its rival Alcan, of Canada, is

successful, New York-based Alcoa Inc will have ended its brief

tenure as the world’s No 2 aluminium maker. And it will probably

have assured itself the top position in the industry for some time

to come. On the basis of its 2006 results, the two companies in

combination would have a value of $33 billion and sales of $54

billion. Between them, they produced 7.8 million metric tons of

aluminium last year.

The transaction will likely not move quickly. Any takeover by a foreign

company would be politically sensitive in Canada, particularly in the

province of Quebec where Alcan has its headquarters, in Montreal.

Moreover the merger will almost certainly draw intense antitrust

scrutiny. In the meantime, the US company has been busy on other

fronts.

Record aerospace industry demand and higher metal prices helped

lift first-quarter profits at Alcoa by nearly 9 per cent. Net income grew

to $662 million in the January-March period, highest in company

history, compared with $608 million a year earlier. Revenue jumped

11 per cent to $7.9 billion, from $7.1 billion in first-quarter 2006,

supported by higher metal prices and sales to the aerospace,

industrial products, and building and construction markets.