IRON AND STEEL1/

         (Data in million metric tons of metal, unless noted)

Domestic Production and Use:  The iron and steel industry and ferrous foundries
produced goods valued at about $70 billion.  The steel industry consisted of 79
companies that produced raw steel at 116 locations, with combined raw steel
production capability of 102 million tons.  Indiana accounted for about 22% of total
raw steel production, followed by Ohio, 16%, and Pennsylvania, 9%.  Pig iron was
produced by 15 companies operating integrated steel mills, with approximately 58
blast furnaces, of which about 41 were in continuous operation.  Integrated companies
accounted for about 64% of total steel production, including output of their electric
arc furnaces.  The distribution of steel shipments was estimated as follows:
warehouses and steel service centers, 25%; transportation (predominantly for
automotive production), 16%; construction, 15%; cans and containers, 5%; and other,
39%.  Ferrous foundries, numbering about 1,000, were importers of pig iron into the
United States, mainly from Brazil and Russia.

Salient Statistics--United States:1/   1991      1992      1993      1994      1995e/
Pig iron production2/                  44.1      47.4      48.2      49.4      51.0
Steel production:                      79.7      84.3      88.8      91.2      95.0
 Basic oxygen furnaces, percent        60.0      62.0      60.6      60.7      61.0
 Electric arc furnaces, percent        38.4      38.0      39.4      39.3      39.0
 Open hearth furnaces, percent          1.6        --        --        --        --
Continuously cast steel, percent       75.8      79.3      85.7      89.5      91.0
Shipments:                                                                 
 Steel mill products                   71.5      74.6      80.8      86.3      89.0
 Steel castings3/                       0.9       0.9       1.4       1.7       1.8
 Iron castings3/                        6.9       7.4      11.9      13.5      14.0
Imports of steel mill products         14.4      15.5      17.7      27.3      28.0
Exports of steel mill products          5.8       3.9       3.6       3.5       4.5
Apparent steel consumption4/           80.8      86.2      92.0     104.0     108.0
Producer price index for steel mill
 products (1982=100)5/                109.5     106.4     108.2     113.4     121.0
Steel mill product stocks
 at service centers, yearend6/          5.4       5.3       5.7       6.6       7.1
Total employment, average7/
 Blast furnaces and steel mills     199,000   187,000   175,000   172,000   171,000
 Iron and steel foundries           126,000   120,000   119,000   125,000   130,000
Net import reliance8/ as a percent of
 apparent consumption                    12        13        15        22        21

Recycling:  See Iron and Steel Scrap and Iron and Steel Slag.

Import Sources (1991-94):  European Union (EU),9/ 33%; Canada, 20%; Japan, 13%;
Brazil, 8%; South Korea, 7%; and other, 19%.

                                    Most favored  
Tariff:10/ Item         Number      nation (MFN)11/  Canada     Mexico   Non-MFN12/
                                      12/31/95      12/31/95   12/31/95   12/31/95
Pig iron             7201.10.0000       Free          Free       Free      $1.11/t.
Carbon steel:
 Semifinished        7207.12.0050       3.8%           1.2%       3.3%      20%.
 Structural shapes   7216.33.0090       0.8%           0.2%       0.7%       2%.
 Bars, hot-rolled    7213.20.0000       1.7%           0.5%       1.5%      5.5%.
 Line pipe           7305.11.1060       1.7%           0.5%       1.5%      5.5%.
 Tinplate            7210.12.0000       3.2%            1%        2.8%       6%.
 Sheets, hot-rolled  7208.24.5030       4.4%           1.4%       3.9%      20%.
   Hot-rolled, 
    pickled          7208.24.1000       4.6%           1.5%        4%    0.4/kg+20%.
   Cold-rolled       7209.22.0000       4.6%           1.5%        4%    0.4/kg+20%.
   Galvanized        7210.49.0090       5.8%           1.9%       5.2%      21.5%.
Stainless steel:
 Semifinished        7218.90.0015       4.7%           1.5%       4.1%      29%.
 Bars, cold-
   finished          7222.20.0075       9.5%           3.1%       8.4%      29%.
 Pipe and tube       7304.41.0045   13/ 6.8%       13/ 2.2%       Free      36%.
 Cold-rolled sheets  7219.33.0035       9.1%            3%         8%       29%.

Prepared by Iron and Steel Specialist (703) 648-4972.

                            IRON AND STEEL

Depletion Allowance:  Not applicable.

Government Stockpile:  None.

Events, Trends, and Issues:  Steel production and shipments by U.S. companies
continued at near effective capacity during 1995.  With demand strong, steel prices
continued the climb that began in 1993.  As a result, the industry continued to be
generally profitable. 

Strong market conditions, combined with the success of new thin slab continuous
casting technology, have led to a spate of new steel plant construction.  Over 10
million tons of new steel plant capacity, almost all of it for flat-rolled products,
was started up or under construction in the United States in 1995.

Imports of steel mill products continued at near-record levels.  Steel companies
themselves were responsible for importing an estimated 4 million tons of semifinished
steel for finishing in the United States.  This was in addition to about 2 million
tons of semifinished steel imported by companies that do not have steelmaking
capability.

Exports were primarily regular shipments to Canadian and Mexican customers.  At
midyear, domestic demand softened slightly.  In response, domestic companies
increased their export sales.  In particular, exports of hot-rolled steel to the Far
East reversed the usual trend of imports from that region.

World Production:
                              Pig iron           Raw steel
                            1994     1995e/   1994      1995e/
United States               49.4     51.0     91.2      95.0
Brazil                      25.2     25.0     25.7      25.0
China                       96.4    100.0     91.5      90.0
European Union (EU)9/       97.7    100.0    151.8     160.0
Japan                       73.8     76.0     98.3     105.0
Korea, South                21.2     22.0     33.7      36.0
Russia                      36.1     39.0     48.8      50.0
Ukraine                     20.0     18.0     23.8      22.0
Other countries             92.2     99.0    161.1     177.0
 World total (may be 
  rounded)                 512.0    530.0    726.0     760.0

World Resources:  Not applicable. See Iron Ore.

Substitutes:  Iron is the least expensive and most widely used metal.  In most
applications, iron and steel compete either with less expensive nonmetallic materials
or with more expensive materials having a property advantage.  Iron and steel compete
with lighter materials, such as aluminum and plastics, in the motor vehicle industry;
aluminum, concrete, and wood in construction; and aluminum, glass, paper, and
plastics in containers.

e/Estimated.
1/Production and shipments data source is the American Iron and Steel Institute
(AISI); see also Iron Ore and Iron and Steel Scrap.
2/More than 95% of iron made is transported molten to steelmaking furnaces located at
the same site.
3/U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Data for years prior to 1993 may
not be comparable due to changes in survey panel. 
4/Defined as steel shipments + imports - exports + adjustments for industry stock
changes + adjustment for imports of semifinished steel products.
5/Bureau of Labor Statistics.
6/Steel Service Center Institute.
7/Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Blast furnaces and steel mills: SIC 3312; Iron and
steel foundries: SIC 3320.
8/Defined as imports - exports + adjustments for Government and industry stock
changes.
9/Data are for the expanded European Union, which, as of Jan. 1, 1995, was joined by
Austria, Finland, and Sweden.
10/All tariff percentages are ad valorem.
11/No tariff for Israel and certain Caribbean and Andean nations.
12/See Appendix B.
13/No tariff for use in civil aircraft.

                              Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 1996