The U.S. steel industry reached an 81.9% plant utilization rate in the week to Feb. 23, breaching a threshold of 80% deemed necessary for long-term industry profitability by the U.S. section 232 tariff review. Yet it’s unlikely that shippers including ThyssenKrupp and Austria Metall will see a respite from the tariffs. Firstly while the utilization would represent a marked improvement from 75.8% in the third quarter it barely breaches the threshold and needs to be shown to be sustainable. Similarly aluminum – where duties have also been applied – only reached 69.9% utilization in 3Q. Sec...