australias bluescope steel ltd upgraded its firsthalf earnings forecast citing strong demand and prices for its steel especially in the us the company on thursday said it now expects underlying earnings before interest and tax to be between 21 billion australian dollars us16 billion and a23 billion for the six months through december bluescope earlier forecast ebit of a18 billion to a20 billion the business continues to benefit from strong spreads prices and demand said chief executive mark vassella spreads measure the difference between the price of raw materials and finished steel bluescope has enjoyed a surge in earnings because of a runup in steel prices thats led to repeated profit upgrades in recent years and allowed it to raise dividends to shareholders the company said the main reasons for its latest profit upgrade are strongerthanexpected hot rolled coil prices and spreads in the us where it runs the north star minimill that has been partly offset by higher alloy and conversion costs including labor bluescope said the company said its north america coated products business was also benefiting from ongoing high steel prices and continued strong demand while its australian steel products business has recorded a further increase in domestic volumes especially in higher value products for the building and construction sector