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Auto slump Dings tool steel: the automotive slowdown has cooled off the tool steel sector after a hot three-year run, but suppliers remain optimistic about the long-term health of the market.

Publication: Metal Center News
Publication Date: 01-SEP-07 		Format: Online
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Full Article Title: Auto slump Dings tool steel: the automotive slowdown has cooled off the tool steel sector after a hot three-year run, but suppliers remain optimistic about the long-term health of the market.(TOOL STEEL)

Article Excerpt
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AS WITH MANY SEGMENTS OF THE METALS MARKET, tool steel's luster has been dulled a bit in 2007, notably by the slowdown in automotive production. Executives from North American tool steel companies say demand remains fairly solid, though not on par with the outstanding three-year run tool steel enjoyed leading up to this year.

"Our industry reached long-awaited highs in volume and value in 2004 and 2005 and has flattened since then," says Thomas Bell, vice-president of business development for Bohler-Uddeholm, Rolling Meadows, Ill. "Actual consumption of tool steel is difficult to determine, but we believe 2007 will be less than 2006."

Other tool steel executives agreed that demand has eased in 2007, which did not come as a surprise. "We've had lower expectations, but we've met our quotas," says Brian Cincinnati, vice president of operations for Cincinnati Tool Steel Co., Rockford, Ill. "We're down 5 percent from last year, but 2005 and 2006 were probably the two best years in the history of the company, so a 5 percent slip is OK."

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