Magazine Issue: July 2012

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Cover Story

Columns

• Full of Scrap: Mixed heavy melt is no longer just an export

  Delivery of an 80/20 mix isn’t uncommon at domestic mills, and some actually seek a mix of heavy melt grades to charge their electric-arc furnaces.

• Parting Shots: ArcelorMittal’s continuous improvements impressive

  A series of unique steps at the steel company’s Burns Harbor, Ind., operation is pushing productivity—and profits—further upward.

From the Editor

• AMM Comment: The past still lives in our minds and actions

  When William Faulkner wrote that “The past is never dead. It’s not even past,” chances are he wasn’t thinking about the steel industry. But nevertheless, the idea applies quite well. Without an awareness of metals history and at least living partially under the shadow that it casts, forward progress would not be possible.

Features

• Steel production rolls along, albeit slower than hoped

  Transportation, energy and exploration are driving steel growth to new highs from 2008, but construction remains worrisome, executives say.

• Steel museums offer bridge to the past

  Steel is a modern marvel with a deeply rooted past. America’s love of iron and steel can be seen across the nation in museums dedicated to preserving, honoring and educating about the history and heritage of the molten metal that runs through the nation’s veins.

• Guilherme Gerdau Johannpeter: The man with the plan

  Guilherme Gerdau Johannpeter, president of Gerdau Long Steel North America and scion of one of the industry’s most illustrious families, discusses his company’s rapid growth, its sometimes surprising strategic decisions, and the advantages of a long-term perspective.

• Service centers fear a cloudy second half for 2012

  Recent declines in some steel prices and a still-stagnant construction market have some service centers worried that things might get worse.

• Steel starts to see benefits of financial trading software

  Commodity trading and risk management are starting to bloom across all metals, and while aluminum and copper were early adopters, some steel operators are only just beginning to look into the world of possibilities for their sector.

• Software makes inroads in scrap industry

  The scrap metals industry generally lags most of the large mill customers in information technology sophistication, but even small, family owned businesses have come a long way in how they use computers in their day-to-day operations.