b'told the American Journal of Transpor- and that the bulk of the investment wassibly lead bigger companies to poach tation that after tariffs were raised onbased on producing greater high-mar- on the weaker ones, in the process of steel,aluminumandotherproducts,gin,value-addedproductsandnotconsolidation. prices had risen. However, the pricescommodity-gradesteel.ButFerriola had, meanwhile, fallen from those highalso acknowledged the uncertainties inPeterMarcus,managingpartnerat levelsforavarietyofreasonsacrossthe trade though he seemed, generally,WorldSteelDynamics,speakingat the industries; if the weakness contin- optimistic about 2019. theSSS-conference,saidthat Trumps ued, companies might struggle to makeUSA-China trade war is causing eco-moneyfromtheirnewinvestments.Thetariffsdidinitiallyreducesteelnomic apprehension, and that an eco-There were fears that such a situationimports,generatingmoredomesticnomic chill was devastating the global might lead to a steel glut.demand in 2018 and boosting profits.economy and the steel industry.With abundant cash in hand and added Butsteelcompaniesdisagree,ar- money coming from corporate tax cutsHe maintained that 50% of Chinas guing that the market can absorb theprovided by President Trump, US steel- exportingmanufacturersplannedoff-new capacity. Executives say they havemakersbeganaddingmorecapacityshore units, and Chinas manufacturing carefully considered their investmentsthan they would have done otherwise.prowessadvantagewaslessenedbe-and expect them to do well through theHowever, as the global economy coolscause of huge wage boosts since 2000, economys ups and downs.downanddemandfalls,electricarcand new technologies available to all. furnace companies, armed with higherChinas export armada is de-fanged, According to Ferriola, steel capacityprofit margins, want to have a biggerhe said.was not being added just to add tonsshare of the US market. This could pos-2019 Collection Breakbulk Shipping 17'