It really depends what you are looking at - strip production here in South Wales is currently flat out. We are selling as much as we can roll and regulalrly breaking production records. Interestingly almost half our strip now goes outside the UK. Structural section on the other side has been hit terribly and as a result production is well down. We are currently being hit by massive hikes in raw materials prices - potentially 80% in the next 6 months! The other big issue is the current security in the market. Where plants have been idled there is reluctance by manufacturers to reopen them in case we are simply seeing short term restocking demands and with suggestions such as a W shaped recession then companies are balancing risk of lost production against running a plant at a loss. The result - demand is high and so are prices. The redcar closure has had little affect on the market as it has been ticking over supplying Corus internal orders for the past year.
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