Shares of the Cranbury, New Jersey-based company closed at$17.12 Monday on Nasdaq They rose to $18 in trading after thebell. (Reporting by Antonita Madonna Devotta in Bangalore; Editingby Jarshad Kakkrakandy) Stocks Global Markets. NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. steel industry, hard hit by the global recession, urged Washington on Monday to enforce trade laws against foreign dumping and warned THAT climate change legislation will further hurt domestic steelmakers.

China  |  Russia  |  Brazil"We need to make Washington stand tough on trade laws," said James Wainscott, chairman, president and chief executive of AK Steel Holdings."They must bring pressure to bear on China to live up to its WTO (World Trade Organization) obligations and (acknowledge) that market forces, and not the government, will determine the value of its currency," said Wainscott.He was speaking to reporters in his capacity as chairman of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), an industry lobbying group, during its general meeting in Phoenix, Arizona.Earlier this month, seven U.S. steelmakers and the United Steelworkers union filed a complaint with the U.S government alleging China is flooding the U.S market with subsidized steel products and damaging U.S. companies and jobs.Despite the world economic slowdown, Chinese steelmakers are producing at a faster rate than last year, spurred on by a $586 billion government stimulus plan.Wainscott said foreign steel imports and climate change were the top two priorities for the domestic industry."Steel shipments in the U.S. were 13 million tons in the first quarter and even if there was a modest increase, the 2009 figure will be significantly down from the 98 million tons shipped in 2008," he said.Capacity utilization at U.S. mills was down to around 43 percent in April, he said in comments monitored in New York.Steelmakers oppose a so-called cap-and-trade system that President Barack Obama wants to use to curb emissions. The cap-and-trade system allows firms emitting more carbon dioxide than the limit to buy credits from those that emit less."Climate change is a global issue that requires all producers, including China and Brazil and Russia to reduce CO2 emissions to agreed levels," said Wainscott."We urge the government not to add burdens like cap and trade.

We need the support of the government to get out of this mess," said Dan DiMicco, president and CEO of Nucor Corp, and an AISI vice chairman."We can compete in innovation, on costs and productivity but we cannot compete with governments," he said. "Law enforcement is the job of the government and we have to have a government that works with us and not against us."Ward Timken, chairman of the Timken Co, a maker of industrial bearings and specialty steel, said: "The national policy of cap and trade has serious implications for the competitiveness of American manufacturing and I urge Washington legislators to pause in the rush to approve cap and trade."DiMicco, an outspoken critic of dumping of cheaper foreign steel, noted April imports were over 1 million tons "and that is way too high. There is too much being dumped by China and other culprits."He said the current global downturn was "no doubt the worst recession since the Great Depression."We remain optimistic about the long term but it will be a long and slow recovery considering the amount of job losses and debt we have taken on."(Reporting by Steve James: Editing by Tim Dobbyn) China Russia Brazil. PHILADELPHIA--(Business Wire)--Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P. (NYSE:APL)("APL" or "Atlas Pipeline") announcesthat it has completed the sale of its NOARK natural gas gathering and interstatetransmission system to Spectra Energy Partners, LP for gross proceeds of $300million in cash. The net proceeds from the transaction will be used to reduceindebtedness and increase liquidity.