Steel & Iron Industry Giants' Latest Readings

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, Apr 22 (MARKET WIRE) --
www.rothmanresearch.com -- There was a revolution with big consequences
in the steel and iron market lately, with the adoption of the quarterly
price mechanism to the detriment of the one year benchmark pricing
system. The three biggest iron ore miners, Vale, BHP Billiton and Rio
Tinto plc (NYSE: RTP), now have cartel like control over the market and
have already started increasing prices for iron ore on basis that China's
demand for metal is on an uptrend. Rio Tinto which announced
lower-than-anticipated readings for its first quarter 2010 operations
review, citing poor weather conditions in many areas where it has
operations going, also reported some positive figures for iron-ore
production that was up by 7.8%. The company, additionally, provided
positive iron ore production guidance for 2010.

*Direct & free downloadable report on Rio Tinto plc is available by
signing up now at
http://www.rothmanresearch.com/article/rtp/23464/Apr-22-2010.html

On Tuesday, AK Steel Holding Corp. (NYSE: AKS) reported a first quarter
2010 profit with revenue at $14.41 billion from $9.22.2 million in the
same time period in 2009. However, with fear of a price inflation soon
thumping the industry, the company abstained from providing a
second-quarter earnings forecast. "AK Steel has basically raised the
alarm of a possible inflationary cloud looming over the manufacturing
chain. The ambiguity with global iron ore prices is starting to gain
momentum in the industry, so we are expecting flat to below-average
outlooks from others in the industry in the couple of weeks as earnings
reports continue to flow," commented Jack Benassi of
www.rothmanresearch.com.

*Complimentary downloadable research on AK Steel Holding Corp. is
accessible upon registration at
http://www.rothmanresearch.com/article/aks/23463/Apr-22-2010.html

At this point, a few key elements are noteworthy of investors' attention,
first and foremost demand of iron ore from China; will this be a long
term trend? Secondly, the resilience of the U.S. economic recovery which
has been snail-paced until now; for the steel and iron industry recovery
focus in the U.S. will be on the construction markets and automobile
industry.

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information on the steel and iron industry; investors are encouraged to
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http://www.rothmanresearch.com/index.php?id=6&name=Register.

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