Overall, the US sector is faring well despite supply chain issues and shortage of labor.
The country’s economy is strong and so is the Texas economy. Thanks to high prices of oil and gas the Texas economy, especially the Oil & Gas and energy services companies are thriving. Like the Oil & Gas companies, the stock prices have gone up substantially. Current high inflation rate is the biggest concern by creating uncertainties of near future growth of the economy.
Steel Tariffs
The steel tariffs continue to be in effect but improving. On October 31, 2021, the United States and the European Union announced that they had reached agreement on the lifting of US tariffs of 25 percent on imports of steel from the EU and 10 percent on imports of aluminum, from the EU that were imposed under Section 232, as long as the volumes are below agreed-upon levels.
The tariffs are still in place for Asian and South American countries. However, the Biden administration announced an agreement with Japan to temper a 25 percent Trump administration steel tariff that tested U.S. relationships with allies and close trading partners.
The Biden administration also mentioned that “American Made” Steel shall be used for infrastructure building and that gave “a shot in the arm” to the steel industry. The stocks of steel companies like Nucor steel and Steel Dynamics and many others went up, intraday price was 100% doubled from a year ago.
Epcon’s Business
Epcon is busy with projects in production on the shop floor, battling the supply chain and labor difficulties; despite that we are making headway. So far this year we were fortunate to have projects from Prime Contractors for the US Government, from a major steel manufacturer, as well as a major airline company.
The outlook for Epcon’s business is strong and we are very optimistic that 2022 will be a good year and 2023 will be even better. Epcon is activity hiring additional talent in various departments in anticipation of meeting the growth in business.
