John Surma Quotations

We benefited from a positive global economic market and there is a positive environment at least through mid-year. We intend to operate as near to full capacity as we can in the second quarter.

I think it is in our interest to continue that process.

Typically in a developing economy, the demand for steel goes up exponentially.

We had a strong first quarter with results significantly improved from the previous quarter, reflecting robust demand and continued firm prices across all business units.

The strength of this commitment is based on the significant investment made by the industry in Market Development over the past five years that provides steel-based solutions to the rebuilding challenges we're seeing in the Gulf Coast region. The $1.1 million funding for the Gulf Coast Steel Initiative is in addition to more than $7 million already contributed to the disaster relief effort by North American steel companies on an individual basis.

So we have no problem with imports. Our position is what it's always been, we're in favor of free trade as long as it's fair trade, whether it involves our NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) colleagues or any others around the world. So we're committed to maintaining full trade law enforcement.

This 50 percent increase in our quarterly dividend rate, the third increase since the beginning of 2005, reflects our confidence about our financial outlook and our commitment to increasing shareholder value.

It shows we've developed, made ourselves competitive and we're attractive compared to where we were in 2001 when nobody would want to talk to us.