FEATURE | YEAR IN REVIEW
This comes at the same time as the Institute for Supply Management’s US manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) has consistently predicted future contractionary business conditions for over two years and continued to slip month on month in October to 48.7% from 49.1% in September. In fact, Susan Spence, chair of ISM’s manufacturing business survey committee, said that of the six largest US manufacturing sectors only two – food, beverage and tobacco products; and transportation equipment – saw month on month increases in October. But even with a general slowing in manufacturing activity and the potential for that trend to continue, Ronald Piso, sales manager for GW Becker, says that his company has still had a steady flow of orders for new cranes. He adds that not only have a number of manufacturing companies recently been very focused upon expanding their operations, but there has also been growing interest by companies to upgrade their existing operations. And those changes could also translate greater crane and hoist demand, says Piso, citing robust projections going forward, especially for 2026 through 2030. He adds that, for example, the final approval in June of Nippon Steel’s acquisition of US Steel will not only be positive for the US steel industry, but for crane and hoist manufacturers, including GW Becker, who had previously been a supplier to that company. That deal was first proposed in 2023 but
was delayed by a lot of political opposition (not just from Donald Trump but also from Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris, and many US steelmakers and union representatives until the US government was granted a “golden share” in the merged company. Philip Bell, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association, noted that as part of that acquisition Nippon made a $14bn commitment to invest in several of US Steel’s existing operations including Gary, Mon Valley and Big River, while also announcing additional capacity, including a new direct reduced iron (DRI) plant on the Big River campus in Osceola, Arizona, and a greenfield steel mill at a yet undisclosed US location.
In addition, Felix Bello, a North American
steel analyst for Fastmarkets, said Nippon’s offtake slab agreement with ArcelorMittal should help to improve the efficiency of US Steel’s operations and further investments. “Also, I believe that the Nippon-US Steel transaction opened a Pandora’s Box where some foreign companies, particularly Asian companies, which had not considered doing so before, might consider investing in the US,” Philip Gibbs, a senior equity research analyst for KeyBanc Capital Markets, adds. This comes at the same time as there are other mills either ramping up or to be built over the next several years. One notable example of
Predictions indicate future contractionary sector conditions for over two years.
Asian companies are now strongly considering investing in the US.
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