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***AMM STEEL SUCCESS STRATEGIES CONFERENCE:Yuan revaluation seen boosting US steel exports

June 21, 2010 - 22:53 GMT Location: NEW YORK

KEYWORDS: China , yuan , steel , exports

China's decision to allow the yuan to appreciate could boost U.S. steel exports. However, North American steel executives remain skeptical about when-or if-the change will be implemented.

"It's really too little too late to undo the damage that has been done," said Mario Longhi, president and chief executive officer of Gerdau Ameristeel Corp., Tampa, Fla. "Any revaluation of this type is a step in the right direction. But what matters is the whole package. It should help exports, but we'll see. I don't think it is enough."

The People's Bank of China has promised a stable and gradual revaluation of the yuan after deciding to free it from the fixed U.S. peg, but any appreciation will be managed within a floating band that has not been defined.

Steel executives gathering in New York for AMM's 25th annual Steel Success Strategies Conference essentially are taking a "wait-and-see" attitude with regard to the Chinese promises. Their attitude, almost without exception, is that they have heard the song before and they're not at all impressed with the way the...

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