The steel industry's ingot output last week hit a surprising total of 78.9% of capacity, or 2,233,000 tons. This was nearly 20% better than anticipated and close to the 2,252,000-ton output in the last pre-strike week. As the glowing ingots moved from soaking pit to rolling mill and out to customers, the glow spread through the U.S. economy.
First to be warmed was the railroad industry. Freight-car loadings jumped 14% for the week to 638,408 cars, the largest traffic since the 697,633 cars loaded in the last week of June. Even the steel industry's...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
