Commercial Metals Does Not Expect Improvement In Market Conditions Short Term

(RTTNews) - While announcing its financial results for the first quarter today, steel and metal products maker Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) said it does not expect market conditions to improve materially over the short term, due to ongoing pressure from steel import activity into the U.S. and continued weakness in the scrap markets.

The company noted that its second fiscal quarter has historically been seasonally slower as a result of holiday slowdowns and winter weather conditions, which reduce construction activities.

Further, the company said that the recent passage of comprehensive infrastructure spending legislation, Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, or FAST, marked a significant achievement for the future infrastructure in the U.S.

Joe Alvarado, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO said, "Although we expect the new legislation to provide meaningful upside from a demand perspective, we do not anticipate the new spending provision will translate into steel orders for 12 months or more."