Pasadena, California-based Ameron International Corp. has reported that fiscal second quarter profit plunged 42% due to sharply lower earnings at its steel minimill and a decline in public works spending in the western states. Revenue of USD 132.9 million for the quarter ended May 31 was down 17% from USD 159.8 million in the year-ago period. The drop in earnings was due principally to what the company said was a significant decline in earnings at TAMCO, its 50%-owned steel minimill, as a result of the collapse of infrastructure spending in Arizona, California and Nevada. Minimills can be shut down and restarted more quickly than traditional blast furnaces to adjust for weaker demand. Ameron said sales at TAMCO declined 83% in the second quarter due to falling public works spending and reduced selling prices for steel rebar, or stainless steel reinforcing bars used in construction. Ameron’s share of TAMCO’s net loss totalled USD 1.6 million, after taxes, in the second quarter of 2009, compared with net income of USD 6.7 million in 2008.