Financial Statement Analysis Project

AK Steel and United States Steel

1.
Global Steel Trends:

This analysis of two major fully-integrated producers of steel in the United States begins with an excerpt from the statement of Risaburo Nezu, the Chairman of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Steel Committee, at the organization’s Steel Committee meeting in Paris on 6-7 May 2010, to provide a broad perspective of the present state of the steel industry:

      “The global steel industry is experiencing signs of recovery from the recession. Worldwide, steel mills are now running at approximately 80% of capacity, after having slipped below 60% at the end of 2008. The recovery that began around mid-2009 has been supported by government stimulus spending and the rebuilding of inventories in some economies. The strength and timing of the upturn has varied across regions, however. Emerging markets in Asia are leading the recovery, supported by government stimulus spending on infrastructure and a rebound in manufacturing activity. Demand for steel in the developed economies started to improve at a later stage, the upturn has been slower, and the recovery is occurring from a lower base. Consumption of steel across much of the OECD is still significantly below the pre-recession levels of mid-2008.”

The following data sets are provided by research from the OECD website. The first set shows that apparent consumption of steel in the United States dropped dramatically between mid 2008 and Q1 of 2009. The fall was largely a result of low cost imports from China and the recession, which hit the global economy, including the United States, very severely at the end of 2008 and led to a steep decline in the manufacturing industries.

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The next graphs indicate that the demand for steel is surely recovering after the major slump at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009.

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Also in industrial production, where steel is heavily... [continues]

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