Monday, May 11, 2009
Tax Funded Head-Start for Low Cost Country Tool & Die Makers
Joe Brown, in his blog, wrote an excellent, fictionalized (I presume) account of what it's like to be laid off, followed by an excellent analysis of why we're losing tooling money offshore and how the car companies are encouraging this.
What if we added that not only were taxpayer funds being funneled to China, the very recipients of these taxpayer funds, (GM, Chrysler and hundred’s of Tier 1 parts manufacturers) gave the Chinese competitors to North American manufacturers a 5-9% cost advantage by paying these Chinese suppliers on far better terms than they would pay say a company in Grand rapids, Detroit or Windsor.
What if we added that not only were taxpayer funds being funneled to China, the very recipients of these taxpayer funds, (GM, Chrysler and hundred’s of Tier 1 parts manufacturers) gave the Chinese competitors to North American manufacturers a 5-9% cost advantage by paying these Chinese suppliers on far better terms than they would pay say a company in Grand rapids, Detroit or Windsor.
Labels: auto, manipulation, manufacturing
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Ford Has No Plans to Match Rivals' Scaled-Back Production
I'm glad to hear someone is worrying about the supplier base (stampers amongst them)!
From the Wall Street Journal:
Bill Ford, Jr., the Dearborn, Mich. auto maker's executive chairman, said that the precarious state of auto parts suppliers remains the company's greatest concern after Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection
From the Wall Street Journal:
Bill Ford, Jr., the Dearborn, Mich. auto maker's executive chairman, said that the precarious state of auto parts suppliers remains the company's greatest concern after Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Canada warns U.S. Steel about temporary shutdown
When US Steel announced that the former Stelco plant in Hamilton would be shut down "temporarily", a lot of people were upset and called for action. This seems to be the first step in the action.
From the Canadian Press, via Yahoo Finance News
The Canadian government is warning U.S. Steel it must live up to production commitments at the former Stelco Inc. plants in Ontario.
Industry Minister Tony Clement said he has sent a 'demand letter' to the U.S. giant that it's temporary shutdown at plants in Hamilton and Nanticoke, Ont., may be in violation of commitments it made when it bought the Canadian steel producer in 2007.
[...]
In Clement's announcement, the minister said the demand letter is the first step in the enforcement process under the Investment Canada Act.
From the Canadian Press, via Yahoo Finance News
The Canadian government is warning U.S. Steel it must live up to production commitments at the former Stelco Inc. plants in Ontario.
Industry Minister Tony Clement said he has sent a 'demand letter' to the U.S. giant that it's temporary shutdown at plants in Hamilton and Nanticoke, Ont., may be in violation of commitments it made when it bought the Canadian steel producer in 2007.
[...]
In Clement's announcement, the minister said the demand letter is the first step in the enforcement process under the Investment Canada Act.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Lowered demand
This is the second in a series of discussions of developments over the last 6 months.
How is demand for manufactured goods holding up?
Here's the picture in Canada.
From: The StatsCan web site.
OK. So how are things doing in Britain?
Picture's not much different there.
From: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=198
And how about the US?
So, all other things being equal (lots of other things aren't), it's tough for a low-margin business like metal stamping to stay healthy in such a volume downturn.
How is demand for manufactured goods holding up?
Here's the picture in Canada.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) declined 0.8% in the fourth quarter, weakening progressively each month. This was the sharpest quarterly decline since 1991.
[...]
Declines in the production of goods (-2.4%) were widespread as domestic and foreign demand weakened. Except for agriculture, all other goods-producing sectors receded. Manufacturing (-4.3%) led the downturn, experiencing a sixth consecutive quarterly decline.
[...]
Business investment in machinery and equipment contracted 7.5% in the fourth quarter. All categories recorded declines, notably automobiles, trucks, and industrial machinery.
From: The StatsCan web site.
OK. So how are things doing in Britain?
Picture's not much different there.
Manufacturing output decreased by 6.5 per cent in the three months to February 2009 compared with the three months to November 2008 and was 12.2 per cent lower against the same three month period a year ago.
From: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=198
And how about the US?
The Canadian economy contracted at an annualized rate of 3.4% in the fourth quarter, compared with a 6.2% decline in the US economy.
So, all other things being equal (lots of other things aren't), it's tough for a low-margin business like metal stamping to stay healthy in such a volume downturn.
Labels: manufacturing, stamping
