The steel business is trying to stay strong
With the economy still recovering, and the chaos with the stock markets and China, business is tough in the U.S. Lisa Goldenberg, president of the Delaware Steel Company, says things “could always be better. We’re still in recovery period…. Recovery, good recovery, takes a long time, years, 10 years.”
In addition to that, Goldenberg has to keep her eye on the ups and downs happening in China.
“China is the largest steel producing market in the world, so you know I’m watching it every day,” she says. However, she says that the most recent upset with the yuan devaluation hasn’t directly hurt business.
What has hurt her business is the strong U.S. dollar. Goldenberg explains: “For my daily business, I’m a proponent of a much weaker dollar…. For my business, it rocks my world.” When the dollar is strong she has a tough time exporting anything. “I have zero business, not a little, zero when the dollar is strong.”
The strong dollar isn’t the only thing affecting business. There’s also the cost of shipping and freight.
“In the United States, there are so many other factors to shipping across this country than the cost of fuel,” Goldenberg says. “We want our drivers to be insured, we want the roads to be safe, we want drivers to be certified and have proper resting times, and have weigh stations, and all the things we’re used to in a developed, sophisticated economy. And those things are very, very expensive.”
It’s hard to conduct business in this hectic economy when everyone is just trying to stay afloat. “It’s very, very stressful. It wears you down. And keeping your employees motivated, keeping their families safe and secure and confident is a full-time job. This economy is not for the faint of heart,” she says.
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