In the American Metal Market magazine Commercial Metals Company’s (CMC) metal fabrication division noted a drop in earnings to a $’17.3 million LOSS in the most recent fiscal quarter (three months ending Nov 30) from a profit of $66.6 million in the same period a year ago. Tonnage is down 32% and prices are down 34%.
Most metal fabricators are seeing similar results. This highlights my previously stated point that our primary economic problem is not lack of credit but a lack of profits. Entire lines and companies are being mothballed until there is some uptick in construction and there is simply too much inventory to see this happening anytime soon.
For a few months I received auction notices for large fabrication shops about every week.
Imagine the impact of Commercial Metal’s report multiplied by thousands of companies. My eyes tell me unemployment is getting worse, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics tell me it is getting better; I believe my eyes.
This excess inventory of buildings and housing was created before this administration, and the hardest thing to do at this point is nothing, but this is probably the best long term solution. Efforts to prop up prices while inventory is still too high will only kick the problem down the road.
One idea would be tax credits for demolishing old buildings. This goes against my grain of economic common sense, but it would solve a problem of oversupply.
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