ANNUAL REPORT

110
riod in 2015, they continue to drive global prices lower and add to
the already flooded U.S. steel market. 160 U.S. hot-rolled band
prices stood at $636 per metric ton as of September 12, 2016, down
34.4 percent from March 2011 and 47.1 percent from July 2008. 161
As a result of the global steel glut and declining prices, dominant
U.S. steelmakers were under pressure to shutter capacity for much
of 2016. 162 Total U.S. steel production declined 10.6 percent yearon-year
in 2015, falling from 88.2 million metric tons in 2014 to
78.9 million metric tons in 2015, and U.S. firms’ capacity utilization
rates declined 9.5 percent year-on-year to an average of 70.1
percent in 2015. 163 In the first half of 2016, U.S. steel production
remained nearly unchanged compared to the same period in 2015,
decreasing just 0.2 percent, while utilization rates increased slightly
to 71.3 percent in July 2016. 164 U.S. steel producers posted a net
loss of $1.43 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 and $233 million
in the first quarter of 2016 (see Figure 6). 165 U.S. firms Nucor Corporation
and U.S. Steel, which were the world’s 13th- and 15thlargest
steel firms in 2014, respectively, were among the companies
struggling to remain competitive. 166 U.S. Steel, which dropped to
number 24 on the list of world’s largest steel firms in 2015, reported
a net loss of $386 million in the first half of 2016, a 14.9
percent increase from the $336 million net loss in the first half of
2015, and laid off 1,300 workers in January 2016. 167 Nucor, meanwhile,
announced a deterioration of its operating performance in
December 2015 as a result of global excess capacity and high imports.
168 In testimony to the Commission, Nucor CEO John Ferriola
referred to overcapacity as a ‘‘crisis,’’ warning that ‘‘[the U.S.]
steel industry—and the more than one million jobs it supports—
will continue to disappear’’ if China’s excess capacity is not removed
from the market. 169 According to Leo W. Gerard, international
president of the United Steelworkers, nearly 19,000 U.S.
steelworkers and iron ore miners are facing layoffs as a result of
Chinese overcapacity. 170 U.S. steel companies’ profitability has increased
notably in recent months, however, with Nucor reporting
that net profits rose 87 percent in the second quarter of 2016 compared
to the same period in 2015, aided by new tariffs imposed by
the U.S. government on steel imports. 171
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