by Gary S. Meyers and L. Steven Platt

June was not a good month for the local steel industry. The word on the street in (Northwest Indiana) the mills is that they are out of orders. They are going to complete their projects and then cutback again. Orders for raw production of steel simply dried up in June. Finished products, tube, pole, pipe and sheet still seems to be going okay for now, but we will see.

On another bad note, last week a mechanical accident at USS caused a break in the natural gas lines that fed their cauldrons causing an immediate unplanned shutdown. The result: the steel hardened and at least three facilities will have to be relined and will be out of action for 30 to 60 days, could be more.

More problems for steel and utilities. Coal fired power plants in the West cannot get enough coal to work efficiently. There is plenty of coal; the problem is the shipping coal to the users. There is only one railroad supplying the coal to the West and it is not American owned. Canadian National will not invest money to lay the needed track for more efficient shipping, because they don’t have to. The plants are at the mercy of the railroad. The railroad is a monopoly and not at risk of competition, and no one is going to start a railroad. “The Canadian National is buying up more and more of U.S. rail lines and they don’t give a damn,” said one industry expert.

In NW Indiana, the steel plants are at the mercy of the railroad too. There are three rail lines servicing them. Currently there is a “war” of non-cooperation going on between the Canadian National, Norfolk Southern and the Indiana Harbor Belt. These railroads have intersecting track and need each others’ permission to cross their tracks to deliver coal or just about anything else.

“If the Canadian National has to cross the Norfolk Southern’s track, they have to put in a request, which delays progress. In the meantime, the mills are the pawns and we all lose while trying to recover economically. This lack of cooperation is jeopardizing the security and welfare of our nation,” said our expert.