b'2American Journal of Transportation ajot.comSteels pandemic outlook:breakbulk quarterlybetter than expectedDemand in China is increasing and the U.S. indus-try is holding its own amid a bleaker global out-lookandnegativeimplicationsofpossiblenew COVID closures.By Peter Buxbaum, AJOTGlobal maritime importsby the end of the yeardespite of metals and minerals fell bya 6.8% contraction in the first 8.3% this year, as of August,quarterfueledbyrealestate accordingtoarecentreportand infrastructure investments from Descartes. Yet steel vol- andthemachineryandauto-umesdidnottakeasimilarmotive sectors. Retail sales in hit, with iron and steel struc- China also began catching up tures and parts actually log- in August.ging a 32.8% increase duringTheChineseeconomy the same period. israpidlyapproachingfull Numbersliketheselednormality, said Al Remeithi. theWorldSteelAssociationIn the rest of the world, we (WSA) to conclude in Octoberwill see a sharp contraction of thatglobaldemandforsteelsteel demand.is decreasing less than it hadAsideshowtoChinas originallyexpected.Accord- (OUTLOOKcontinued on ingtoaWorldsteelreport,page 5) Astinger weighing 260 tons is lifted from a ship onto a barge for the German company Krebs Korrosionsschutzsteeldemandisforecastto shrink by 2.4% this year, com-pared to its June prediction of a 6.4% contraction.Increasingconsumption in China, which is expected to see an 8% increase on the year,isthemaincauseof Worldsteelsrosieroutlook, althoughthesteelindustry in the United States has also fared better than some other industriesduringthepan-demic.Worldsteelforecasts U.S. demand to drop 15.8% thisyear,beforerebound-ing by 6.6% in 2021. Global demandisprojectedto increase by 4.1% next year.Steelpricesacrossthe globeincreasedover30% duringthethirdquarterof 2020fromasecond-quarter troughthatsaweconomic activity tank across the board, thankstothepandemic. Steelscrappriceslike-wiseplungedinMarchand April, and then strengthened steadilythroughSeptember. DomesticU.S.scrapprice anddemandtrendsduring the third quarter were weaker than those that prevailed for exports,buttheyalsorose sharply in September. SteelcapacityutilizationMORE BIG CARGO in the United States increased during the third quarter, from 53% to 62% at the end of Sep-tember,andwasreportedtoPOSSIBILITIESreach70%inOctoberstill below the 81% utilization rate thatprevailedpre-pandemic. Thedomesticsteelindustry alsobenefittedfromsomeWhat happens when you combine two of Americas leading ports?COVID-specificfactorsincluding strength in construc-tion, autos, and e-commerce. The \x1fexibility to handle all of your diverse cargo needs.Theglobalsteelindus- Bene\x1et from heavy lift capabilities and deep water, on-dock rail, try passed the lowest demandand a dedicated and experienced workforce.point for this year in April and has been recovering since mid- Experience the future of big cargo.May, said Saeed Al Remeithi, chairmanoftheWorldsteel253-592-6792 The Northwest Seaport Alliance is now a major American shipping gateway formed through economics committee. Chinanwseaportalliance.com/bigcargo the collaboration of the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma.has shown a surprisingly resil-ient rebound.A ustrAliA , C hinA Ands teelChinasstrongrecoveryVisit us at the Breakbulk Americas Conference this September (Booth #531)suggests it will see GDP growth Breakbulk.indd 1 1/18/2017 4:13:08 PM'