Stamping Out a Living

Bloomberg.com: Canada: "A shortage of nickel will limit production from stainless steel mills in the coming decade, said London-based industry consultant Andrew Mitchell.
Nickel demand will exceed production by 29,000 metric tons this year, said Mitchell, a consultant at the Addlestone, England- based company. The deficit will narrow to 2,000 tons next year as more stainless steel scrap becomes available before widening to 16,000 tons in 2006 as new mills start in China and Finland.
Stainless steel production may only increase by 3.5 percent a year until 2010 amid a lack of raw material. Some producers may produce Series 200 stainless steel, which contain less nickel than traditional austenitic grades of stainless. "

Labels: nickel

Sluggish Michigan Economy Pinned on Big Three Market-Share Losses, Crain's Detroit Business Analysis Shows"Why is Southeast Michigan lagging the rest of the country's economic rebound?
An analysis of economic trends by Crain's Detroit Business suggests the 14-point loss in market share among the Big Three automakers over the past decade is the primary culprit."

Yahoo! News - Steel-guzzling China puts world's auto industry on edge: "Nissan's unprecedented decision to temporarily cut output due to a lack of steel shows how extreme the world's supply problems have become as China's huge economy consumes more and more basic materials.
China last year accounted for more than 25 percent of the world's steel consumption and analysts believe the shortfall may not be solved until 2006 when the world's largest metallurgical coke factory begins operating in China.
The worldwide problem has become so severe that in Europe, where many had begun to view coal mines as historical relics, German conglomerate RAG said in September it was ready to open up a domestic mine.
Nissan said Thursday it would halt assembly line production intermittently at three of its four Japanese plants from November 29 to December 8 for a total of five days, resulting in a production loss of 25,000 vehicles for Japan's second largest auto-maker.
Nissan said its supply of steel could not keep up with its rising needs as the auto-maker races to launch six new models in Japan and four in the United States by March 2005.
The problem is not confined to Nissan. Analysts believe Toyota, Japan's top auto-maker and the world's number two after General Motors, and also Honda, number three in Japan, might sooner or later feel the pinch. "

This is potentially a huge story, although a complex one. I'm not sure I understand it as well as I might, but here goes. Use the comment buttons at the end of the story if you want to correct my understanding or otherwise comment on the story.

This is important to metal stampers because metals (I'm not sure yet which ones) are effected.

The Byrd ammendment "overcompensates" for any adjudicated trade imbalances ("dumping"). Since the awards are set so that import duties will fully correct the imbalance, the awards are quite large and the WTO sees the situation as already corrected. Since, in the US, the awards flow to the reporting company, it is rewarded twice, once when the tarifs do their job and fully correct the imbalance, and once again when all that reward money becomes a bonanza for the reporting company.

This creates 2 trade problems - not just the overcompensation but also the dogged determination of some companies to keep appealing forever even when they have a weak case, because the chance that they might win on appeal (or just wearing down the other side) carries such a large monetary award.

Yahoo! News - WTO to EU, Japan: Sanction U.S. Trade: "The World Trade Organization (WTO) gave final approval on Friday to the European Union, Japan and others to hit the United States with some $150 million in trade sanctions in a dispute over an illegal anti-dumping law.

The case, one of a number pitting Brussels against Washington, involves the so-called Byrd amendment, which the Geneva body has repeatedly said breaks trade rules by handing out duties raised in anti-dumping cases to U.S. firms.

The lion's share of the right to retaliate goes to the EU and Japan, because their companies are the most affected. Brussels has warned it could slap additional duties on U.S. goods early in 2005, if Washington does not repeal the measure.

Both the EU and Japan, given the right to additional levies of $50 million and $80 million, respectively, by the arbitrators, have already presented the WTO with a list of products they plan to hit -- ranging from sweetcorn to metals and textiles.

Canada, which along with Brazil, South Korea, India, Mexico and Chile is also involved in the complaint, said on Tuesday that it was studying whether to impose sanctions and on what.

The administration of President Bush has called on Congress to repeal the law. But it enjoys wide support among legislators, who see it as a way of punishing foreign companies accused of dumping, or exporting goods at below the cost of production. "

Canadian reaction is summarized in another story from the Detroit News: Canada may impose retaliatory duties on U.S. imports for the first time since 1986, exposing strains in the world's largest trading relationship.

Prime Minister Paul Martin's government published a list of about 128 imports, ranging from live swine to downhill skis, that it may tag with punitive levies totaling about C$10 million ($8 million) next year. Canada is responding to the U.S. failure to comply with a World Trade Organization decision.

From the some people never learn department ... Another senator is busy trying to do the same thing with an end run around the WTO ruling that will probably take another 2 years to sort out ...

U.S. senator's bill would give lumber duties to American companies

A powerful U.S. senator is set to introduce legislation next week to pay American lumber companies the more than $3 billion in softwood lumber duties the Americans have collected [...]
The money has been held until the outcome of the various trade litigations. If Canada wins on all fronts, the money is supposed be returned to the Canadian companies that paid it.
Under Baucus' bill, the collected tariffs would remain in U.S. Customs' escrow accounts and the cash to pay American lumber producers presumably would come out of the U.S. government's own funds.
B.C. Forests Minister Mike de Jong warned the bill could trigger a "full-scale crisis in the bilateral relationship between Canada and the U.S."

Meanwhile, this is what the WTO tarrif authorization could mean for Canadians:

Tactic could double cost of U.S. goodsCanadians could end up paying double the price for U.S. peanut butter, whisky, perfume, pearls, yachts, skis or dozens of other American imports if a high-level trade spat between Ottawa and Washington really heats up.
And in the ultimate Canadian insult, Ottawa is even threatening to penalize U.S. maple syrup imports.

Here's Canada's electronic consultation web page on the Byrd ammendment. Lots of good information and a feedback form. Here's a condensed list of potentially effected products (the real one is quite long and detailed).
Live Swine
various fish and seafood products
various dried peas and beans
selected hybrid citrus crops
pizza & quiche
various kinds of pickled vegetables and olives
maple syrup and maple sugar
peanut butter
condiments like mustard and mixed seasonings, salad dressings, mayonnaise
all sorts of bottled waters
beer made from malt (is there such a thing as beer not made from malt?)
various wines, whiskies, rums and vodkas
cigarettes and many other tobacco products
perfumes, toilet waters, manicure and pedicure products, hair products
suitcases and other carrying cases
selected clothing and foodwear
selected wood and paper products
air conditioners
selected office equipment
selected sound reproduction equipment like CD players
selected video equipment, including TVs
bicycles
cameras
pleasure boats
furniture
skis
exercise equipment
golf clubs

Gives new meaning to the phrase "Stamping Out a Living" -
Pulse24 - Toronto's News: "police and the T.T.C. unveiled the second big counterfeiting bust of the year.

After a long investigation and surveillance work by T.T.C. Special Constables, three men were arrested at a home in East York. A large amount of counterfeit tokens, raw materials and the tools used to make the tokens were seized during the search. Authorities also grabbed a homemade plaque that honoured the illegal minting of a 400,000th counterfeit token. "

www.katc.com: "HANNIBAL, Ohio About 13-hundred workers at bankrupt aluminum maker Ormet have walked off the job today over the company's plan to impose new labor agreements as part of its reorganization.
Chief executive Michael Williams says salaried employees will take over production and keep the two plants open in the southeast Ohio town of Hannibal.
Wheeling, West Virginia-based Ormet has about two-thousand employees at facilities in Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana and Louisiana.
A union official says the strike is limited to the Hannibal plants.
Steelworkers at the locals representing the two plants voted Thursday to strike today unless the company delayed a U-S Bankruptcy Court hearing seeking approval for the company's reorganization plan."

Yahoo! NewsWorkers at an aluminum smelter ended their 4½-month strike on Monday, accepting a five-year deal at a general meeting.
"This conflict is finally over and we can all look forward to the long-term sustainability of our aluminum smelter," said plant president Louis-Regis Tremblay.

Can anyone figure out what's happening at Stelco these days?

According to the union:
USWA: 22 NOVEMBER 2004 - Steelworkers Give Stelco a Lifeline: Stelco Throws it Back: "The United Steelworkers has expressed shock and dismay at Stelco Inc.’s apparent lack of interest in retaining the company’s business with General Motors.

At meetings last week, Stelco had asked the Steelworkers’ Local 8782 to provide it with certain assurances so that it could retain its business with General Motors.

The company had agreed to meet with the union Sunday night to finalize an understanding with the union that would address certain union concerns regarding proceedings under the Companies Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) and the proposed deal with Deutsche Bank.

Despite Stelco’s failure to show up as promised, the union provided the company and Deutsche Bank with written documents providing the requested assurances to GM and addressing the union’s concerns."

Meanwhile, back at the company web site:
Stelco announces failure to provide General Motors with security of supply
Expresses disappointment in union unwillingness to provide needed assurance
Stelco Inc. announced today that it had been unable to satisfy the conditions regarding the provision of security of supply required by General Motors, the Company's largest customer, through 2005. The critical requirement was assurances from the USWA that there would be no work stoppage to assure continuity of supply for General Motors throughout 2005.
General Motors required such assurance by 8:00 a.m. this morning. Stelco provided to Local 8782 the General Motors position on Friday, November 19 and had simply requested the union agree to General Motors' requirements. Unfortunately, the union placed unrealistic and unrelated demands on the Company as the price to maintain the General Motors business. As a result, General Motors did not receive by its deadline one of the two assurances it required as a condition of maintaining its business relationship with the Company.

Labels: stelco

Yahoo! News: "A slowdown in the Chinese economy would be good for the global steel industry because it would make over-investment in new capacity less likely, according to Aditya Mittal, president and chief financial officer of Mittal Steel. "When the Chinese government earlier this year tried to cool their economy, [steel] stocks went down, but in my view it should have been the other way around."
Like most other steel companies, Mittal has been buoyed by a big rise in demand from China. That has been the main reason for a 50-100 per cent increase in steel prices over the past year, swelling the sector's profits.
He said: "The fact that steel production and consumption in China are slowing reduces the possibility that China will be a sizeable steel exporter, and this will help the rest of the industry".

Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Owner has seen the reports - half of the automotive stamping plants may be out of business in six years, doesn't plan to be one of them.

Jagemann Stamping has made oil filter housings for Purolator. “In order for us to keep their business they wanted a 50 percent price reduction at a time when raw material costs were projected to go up 40 percent,� recalled Jagemann. “We said, ‘No, take the business.’"

The Globe and Mail: "Firms are enjoying record prices, but the race for global dominance points to a massive shakeout
Employees at Algoma Steel Inc. have seen some tough times. Twice in the past decade, the Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.-based steel maker has claimed court protection from creditors. Just 18 months ago, it laid off 600 people, roughly one-fifth of its work force. But last July, the remaining Algoma workers reaped the rewards of retrenchment. Flush with cash from booming steel prices -- up 2? times from 2003 levels -- the company distributed profit-sharing cheques worth up to $10,000 each to every one of its 3,000 employees.
But for Algoma, the bounty brings its own dangers. Small by global standards, the company has become a fat target for predatory investors who, tempted by its swelling cash hoard, could either run the company or find an international buyer for its efficient mills. Earlier this week, Algoma took defensive action -- announcing a shareholder rights plan designed to thwart anyone from gaining control at bargain prices."

The Detroit News: "Although new car and truck sales rose more than 2 percent during the first 10 months of 2004, many of the companies that supply parts to the big automakers have little to celebrate _ their profits are shrinking as raw materials costs rise and production falls at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.
Already, Delphi Corp. and Visteon Corp., the nation's two largest suppliers with combined sales of $45.7 billion in 2003, have warned of lower-than-anticipated earnings this year because of higher materials expenses, particularly for steel, and because top U.S. automakers GM and Ford plan to turn out fewer vehicles.
No. 2 Visteon, the former Ford division that counts on the automaker for most of its business, said Monday it has offered buyouts to its 8,300 U.S. salaried workers as a way to trim costs and become more competitive. The supplier, which lost $1.36 billion in the third quarter and last recorded a full-year profit in 2000, has been in constant restructuring since its break from Ford four years ago.
No. 1 Delphi also is restructuring and says it's on track to reduce its U.S. hourly work force by 6,000 by year's end. "

Northwest Indiana News: nwitimes.com: "Nationally, domestic mills produced 1.97 million tons of steel last week, a 3.6 percent increase from the 1.91 million tons during the same period last year. The nation's steel mills operated at 89.2 percent capacity last week compared to a capacity of 88.7 during the previous week.
For the year to date, U.S. steel mills have produced 91.0 million net tons of steel versus 86.2 million net tons produced during the comparable period in 2003."

Yahoo! News: "The industrial base where China's third-largest steel-maker is based, in Beijing's western suburbs, is the capital's worst polluter, with chimneys belching out thick clouds of smoke.
'We should not take care of the interests of some heavy polluters at the expense of the overall health of more than 10 million people living in Beijing,' said Wang Jirong, vice-director of the State Environmental Protection Administration.
'Shougang must be moved out of Beijing. The sooner the better,' he was cited as saying by the Xinhua news agency, as he viewed the factory's boilers with vice-mayor Ji Lin.
However, moving the company, also known as Capital Iron and Steel and once the pride of communist China, is easier said than done. "

The ultimate steel recycling ... recycle the site of an old steel mill works
The Brown and White: "Community members gathered Nov. 9 at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity for the first of three forums where they can share their visions of community development based on the reuse of historic portions of Bethlehem Steel Corporation's industrial plant."

Region's glass industry hit by ills similar to steel's: "Glassmakers here of all kinds are having trouble, beset by some of the same types of competitive forces that roiled the steel industry years earlier -- overcapacity, rising production costs and markets that are shifting to plastics and other alternative materials."

Northwest Indiana News: nwitimes.com: "Indiana's steel industry had stable employment, healthy growth and good output during 2004, but change could be on the way by the end of this decade.
Speaking at the IU Economic Outlook 2005 breakfast Friday, Don Coffin, associate professor of economics at Indiana University Northwest, said the fate of the local and domestic steel industry depends a lot on China.
China's incredible demand for steel has eliminated the world's oversupply of the commodity and turned the domestic steel market from disastrous to dynamic in the past year. Area steel companies have reported record profits in 2004 after they had significant losses in 2003."

The New York Times > Business > World Business > : "The excitement surrounding Stelco - a company that was, by its own lights, headed to the grave just a few months ago - has been prompted by a worldwide rise in steel prices driven by demand from China. That has left Stelco in the unusual position of reporting back-to-back quarterly profits, most recently a record 58 million Canadian dollars in the third quarter, while also claiming court protection from creditors.
Offsetting some of the bidding fever is the prospect that Stelco's current shareholders, who have seen their holdings fall into penny-stock territory, may overturn the company's bankruptcy. That could quash the bidders' hopes of getting the company at a discount, but might set off a rally in the stock."

Labels: stelco

AP Wire | 11/12/2004: "As many as half of the U.S. metal stamping plants which supply parts for the automobile industry could be out of business in six years, an industry attorney and trade group say.
'I think we are going to see some bankruptcies and quite a number of sales,' Craig Fitzgerald, a Southfield, Mich., attorney whose clients include automotive parts suppliers"

Milwaukee Journal Sentinal Online: "Up to half of the U.S. metal stamping plants that supply parts for the automobile industry could be out of business in six years, an industry attorney and trade group warned Thursday.
'I think we are going to see some bankruptcies and quite a number of sales,' said Craig Fitzgerald, a Southfield, Mich., attorney whose clients include automotive parts suppliers.
Some metal stamping plants are disappearing as their owners reach retirement age, said Bill Gaskin, association president.
"At least farmers can sell their land to fund their retirement," Gaskin said. Some metal shop owners have to keep working past retirement age because no one wants to buy their businesses.
Lately, rising steel prices have sped the demise of metal fabrication shops that are already operating on thin profit margins. As steel prices have more than doubled this year, the shops haven't been able to pass enough of the increases on to their customers.
"It's a collision course for disaster," said Marc Newman, a Rochester, Mich., attorney whose clients include automotive parts suppliers. Automakers are demanding price reductions for everything they buy, but their suppliers can't get relief from higher expenses.
Rising steel prices have already forced some companies into bankruptcy. The urgency of the steel crisis can't be overstated, according to the Precision Metalforming Association.
In 2003, 32% of the association's 1,300 member companies lost money. It could be worse this year as companies face even thinner profit margins and struggle to keep their contracts out of the hands of foreign competitors."

TheStar.com: "Russian-based OAO Severstal, a bidder for Stelco Inc., hurt the Canadian steel maker in the 1990s by illegally dumping production here.
'Yes, I think it's fair to say that was the case,' Don Belch, a senior Stelco official, said yesterday.
Canadian authorities also confirmed that Severstal and other companies from Russia, China and Mexico dumped steel and injured domestic producers from 1995 to 1998.
Belch, director of trade and market intelligence for Stelco, said in an interview it is difficult to assess whether Severstal's dumping actions significantly affected his company's financial performance.
Numerous North American steel companies, including Hamilton-based Stelco, have been fighting for survival in recent years because of a worldwide glut of production and falling prices. That led to extensive dumping of steel at below the cost of production into other countries."

Labels: stelco

Gee...for the longest time, no one wanted the little steel company down the road in Hamilton. Now suddenly everyone wants it!

Yahoo! News: "America's largest integrated steelmaker is ready to compete with a Russian rival as the bidding war intensifies for Canada's largest producer of steel, Stelco Inc., industry sources said Wednesday.
A day after an offer for Hamilton-based Stelco was made public by Russia's OAO Severstal, industry insiders said that U.S. Steel Corp. is one of several international players that have made "expressions of interest" in Stelco. "

Labels: stelco

The Globe and Mail: "Russia's largest steel maker touched off what is expected to be a bidding war for Stelco Inc. yesterday as the wave of consolidation that is reshaping the world's steel industry began washing over Canada.
OAO Severstal, controlled by Russian tycoon Alexei Mordashov, launched a bid of considerably more than $500-million for all of Stelco, which has been operating under creditor protection since January, but generated record profit in the third quarter.
The Severstal bid came as Stelco was scheduled to examine a proposal from Deutsche Bank AG that appeared set to give the German bank control of the insolvent steel maker."

Labels: stelco

Yahoo! News: "Russia's Severstal Steel has made an offer to buy Stelco Inc., in what's believed to be one of several competing offers emerging for the restructuring but profitable Hamilton steel producer.
Severstal - the largest Russian producer of steel and metal products - made its intentions public Tuesday, when Stelco's board was scheduled to meet to start examining offers for all or parts of the company. "

Labels: stelco

Yahoo! News: "The Canam Manac Group, maker of steel construction products, announced Monday a $5.2-million profit for the third quarter, reversing a year-earlier loss, thanks to higher steel sales and prices, and reduced costs after two years of restructuring.
'The work we have done in the past two years is starting to pay off,' said Marcel Dutil, chairman and chief executive officer, in a conference call. 'I think the bad times are behind us and we can see a bright future for the whole company.'
Dutil added that the company has restructured itself and cut costs so that even if the economy did not grow as expected, it would continue to be profitable. "

Yahoo Finance: "The European Union has asked the World Trade Organization to condemn U.S. antidumping duties that have hit a British steel firm, EU officials said Tuesday.
The EU maintains that the United States is breaching the rules of global commerce through its tariffs of almost 126 percent on imports of stainless steel bars made by Firth Rixson Special Steels Ltd."

Yahoo! News: "BcMetals Corp. and Finnish company Outokumpu Technology have signed a deal to build a copper plant in British Columbia.
The small B.C. metals company (TSXV:C) said late Sunday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Outokumpu to build an integrated copper production plant at the Red Chris copper-gold deposit in northwestern B.C. Financial terms of the deal were not revealed. Finnish-based Outokumpu is a major metals processing, research and technology company with 19,000 employees around the world.
The proposed plant is expected to produce 50,000 tonnes of copper annually. Outokumpu plans to use a new advanced technology to produce manufactured commercial copper directly from copper concentrate at the mine site. "

Labels: Copper

Yahoo! News: "Economists reckon a yuan shift could happen any time.
'The central will henceforth do its best to protect the stability of the yuan's exchange rate, laying the foundations for future economic development,' Wang was quoted as saying during a financial industry seminar in Beijing over the weekend.
Top financial officials have stepped up pledges recently to make the yuan more flexible, while stressing the need to head off volatility.
China has come under increasing international pressure to free up the yuan. Washington says the country derives an unfair trade advantage from an undervalued currency.
Beijing, meanwhile, has pledged to make the yuan more flexible through reforms -- but will do so in its own time and without bowing to pressure from outside. "

Yahoo! News: "Alcan delivered gleaming results for the third quarter, as the burgeoning global economy continued to bolster demand for aluminum. The firm seems well-positioned to keep up its performance in the near term, even as it lays the groundwork for a major transformation.
The Canadian-based company, the world's second-largest aluminum producer, posted per-share income from operations of $0.47 in the quarter, a nice 47% gain from the same period in 2003.
Alcan's showing looks all the more spectacular when compared with the recent disappointing performance of its chief competitor, Alcoa, which holds the No. 1 spot in aluminum production. Unlike its bigger rival, Alcan seems to be taking full advantage of the tight aluminum market. And future trends look bright -- Alcan is now projecting a wider deficit in aluminum production than it did in the second quarter."

JS Online: "Imports of steel products at the Port of Milwaukee are up more than 200% from last year as European steel pours into the Midwest for factories making everything from appliances to automobiles.
The port received 97,000 tons of foreign-made steel products from January through mid-October, up from 31,000 tons for the same period in 2003.
That pace of activity is expected to continue through December as companies rush to stockpile steel before the St. Lawrence Seaway closes for the winter."

Yahoo! News: "Tesma International, an autoparts company that makes engines, transmissions and fuel systems, said Monday that its third-quarter profit fell 22 per cent to $12.3 million US, mainly because of the high cost of steel.
The company, one of the spinoff companies that Magna International is seeking to take private again, said revenues in the three months ended Sept. 30 increased to $323.5 million US from $254.3 million a year earlier"

Recently, we've started to see metal stamping and forming jobs come back "onshore" from, amongst other places, Asia and Mexico. In one case, the issue was reliable supply chains (see the next 3 articles about bottlenecks at the major North American Pacific Ocean ports).
In another case, quality was an issue.
In a third case, the amount of supervision required to ensure quality wiped out the expected savings.

We also have heard recent news of interest rate hikes, infrastructure problems, energy shortages and potential econological problems in some of these areas (many of these issues were reported in this BLOG). Add to this the pressure China in particular is under to let their currency float, and we are left with a very unpredictable delivery and cost environment to be outsourcing production into.

Perhaps the jobs shouldn't have moved offshore in the first place.

We, like many suppliers, are under near-constant pressure to reduce the cost of our parts. We see many parts which make inefficient use of resources, either raw materials, post-processing, machine time or downstream resources like assembly time on the line.

Time and again, we see these parts, not redesigned to make better use of resources, but rather merely re-sourced to a place where wastefulness can be accomplished more cheaply.

That is, the scrap material or the wasted time is not reduced, it is merely achieved at a lower labour cost.

So it perked up our ears when we ran across this article in CRM Buyer:

Before You Move It, Improve It

Before you commit to moving a segment of your corporation overseas, pour your energy into significantly improving it. You may find that your efforts make the operation so cost-effective and so high-quality that you don't have to send it overseas. Either way, your improvement efforts will not have been wasted, says author Tom Devane.

Communication lapses, quality shortfalls, poor connection with customers -- these problems and others plague manufacturers who have taken the offshoring leap. And in the end, says a leading process improvement consultant, many companies discover that it would have paid to look a little closer before they leapt.

Terminals, infrastructures strain under labor problems, equipment shortages, and a staggering surge of box cargo

CalTrade Report: "One-by one, like a line of dominoes stretching from Long Beach to Vancouver to Port Kelang to Chittagong, major ports circling the Pacific Rim are struggling under a surge in container cargo and a combination of other disparate issues that have melded into a sludge clogging the most critical artery in the global logistics network - the transpacific ocean routes linking Asia and North America.
In Chittagong - the largest port in Bangladesh and the center of the Southeast Asian's country's export-dependent economy - labor problems, exacerbated by a severe shortage of rail cars, have cut the port's daily container throughput in half.
Malaysia's largest harbor, Port Kelang has been struggling with a devils-brew of infrastructure problems that could be compounded if a threatened work slowdown develops over the next week."

PortlandTribune.com: "the flood of goods has clogged the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., causing concern among importers looking for timely delivery. The New York Times in a story this week referred to it as ?the pinch of cargo caught in transit limbo.?
The congestion has been exacerbated by manpower shortages on the docks and by railroads and highways needing modernization and system upgrades.
A piece of the pie
Friedmann, meanwhile, told Propeller Club members that there will be another surge in imports from China after U.S. quotas on apparel and textiles are phased out at the beginning of 2005. Already, he said, there are ?unexpected volumes? of cargo arriving from China, with the weak U.S. dollar keeping export volumes up."

Ocala Star-Banner "Retailers gearing up for their annual sales push for the December holidays are being forced to wait longer than usual this year for Asian-made goods that - thanks to a backup of cargo ships, railroads and truck lines - are sluggishly making their way from ports to warehouses and ultimately, to shoppers.

Rapid growth in imports from countries like China and India, up as much as 20 percent from a year ago, has added to the congestion at major West Coast ports like Long Beach, Calif. At the same time, port officials say they are shorthanded when it comes to unloading containers, and others involved in shipping say rail lines and trucking companies are also overextended.

Some retailers will not discuss the situation, while others play down its impact. It appears unlikely that goods aimed at holiday shoppers will remain out of reach through the holidays, but costs may rise for retailers who resort to air freight or pay premiums on steamship lines to get those products to American shores and into their stores.

The peak season for holiday-focused importing lasts from July through mid-November.

Cargo handlers and retailers acknowledge delays of several days to several weeks. Shoppers, meanwhile, are receiving notices that advise, 'Your item is on back order,' with delivery indicated in late November in some cases. "

I'm glad to see people are starting to think more about recycling steel, aluminum, concrete, etc. ... and building deconstruction is a huge source of these materials.
The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: "Twenty-five hundred tons of concrete, 350 tons of steel and 9 tons of aluminum window frames will be left after a seven-story downtown building is taken down.
But instead of ending up in the scrap heap, the concrete will be ground up and used to fill the site, steel will be melted to create construction supports and the aluminum will be reused in cans and other products.
As companies become more environmentally aware, that attitude is reflected in the buildings they work in and the ones they renovate or tear down. "

Yahoo! News: "'Demand for our major products remains very strong, with worldwide and North American supply and steel prices from suppliers continuing firm. Our margins have been maintained,' chairman and CEO Milton Harris said. "

Bloomberg.com: Latin America: "Copper fell in London on concern that demand in China, the world's biggest consumer of the metal used in power cables and plumbing, may fall while output rises.
China raised benchmark interest rates on Oct. 29 for the first time in nine years to try to prevent economic overheating. BHP Billiton and Phelps Dodge Corp are among companies increasing production this year.
``I think we are probably at the top of the cycle,'' Maqsood Ahmed, an analyst at Calyon Financial in London, said in a telephone interview. ``There's probably more negatives than positives.'' "

Labels: Copper

FT.com / World / International economy: "China became a net exporter of steel in September, a striking turnround from the previous 12 months, when the country was importingthe metal at a rate of about 40m tonnes a year to keep pace with rising industrial demand.

Last September was the first month in nearly a decade, since July 1995, that China has been a net exporter of steel. Over the year, it is expected to be a net importer of about 19m tonnes. But in September, there were net exports of 80,000 tonnes, according to a report by Macquarie Securities broker in London.
The turnround has come about through the convergence of lower-than-expected demand at home because of a slowing economy and the strength of demand overseas, particularly in the US."