The year’s winner of the international Swedish Steel Prize is Kiruna Wagon from Sweden on whom we ran an article on earlier in May.   The prize was awarded for the company’s innovative wagon solution, the Helix Dumper. Kiruna Wagon has used high-strength steel to develop a highly durable and far more efficient wagon solution than other ore wagons on the market.​ “Kiruna Wagon has successfully updated a good idea and used high-strength steels to turn it into a brand new, superior wagon solution,” says Eva Petursson, Chairman of the Swedish Steel Prize jury and head of SSAB’s Strategic R&D. This…

The first three months of 2017 have brought several surprises that can possibly impact the global transformer industry. These article series will examine the possible impacts that these events could have on the global transformer industry. Only time will tell which if any of these events will come to pass. January 2017 saw the inauguration of a new president in the United States and a major shift in how the U.S. will look at the world as stated by President Trump in his inaugural address, ‘Buy American & American Made’ being a prime focus. ABB announcing the close of a…

A number of US steelmakers are expanding capacity and upgrading mills in the same region where Australian company BlueScope Steel operates its highly profitable North Star mill. According to BlueScope, its North Star mill in Ohio achieved a profit of $211 million in the first half of 2016-17, which accounted for 35 per cent of its overall profit. This is double the profit from the year prior. With rivals getting wind of this, a number have announced expansions and upgrades of their Ohio plants, supported by new policies from US President Donald Trump designed to stimulate local manufacturing. For example,…

Seismic grade steel reinforcing bar that is not as strong as it should be has been sold in the New Zealand market according to a  RadioNZ report aired earlier today. The report voiced the concerns of a Wellington builder who  grew suspicious about the quality of the bar he was using when he found it to easy to bend. Imported by Euro Corp and distributed by Bunnings the product, according to this report, originates from Amsteel in Maylaysia. You can read the full report here        

According to a report from China’s central government, production of steel and aluminium by producers in over two dozen cities will drop significantly over the winter months. The move is seen as another salvo in the ongoing battle against smog. The document, which is a joint statement from the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), Finance Ministry, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Bureau, in conjunction with local governments, carries a date of February 17, also includes plans to limit coal use in Beijing as well as pulling back on coal transport to northern China. According to…

AutoInformed.com on Chinese Steel DumpingThe Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) announced at its National Conference that it will take legal action against Chinese steel dumping. Newly elected national secretary Daniel Walton said that the union would lodge a complaint with the government’s Anti-Dumping Commission. The resolution calls on the Commission to impose a significant tariff on Chinese steel. “Dumping is cheating,” it says. The Commission has the power to impose tariffs to address dumping. However, in 2004, Australia became one of only two major developed economies to grant market economy status to China (after New Zealand), severely hampering its policy options…

The SMS group has received an an order rom Shandong Iron & Steel SMS group www.sms-group.com for the supply of a continuous caster for ultra-wide slabs. The single-strand caster is designed for an annual production of 1.5 million tons of steel slabs with widths of up to 3,250 millimeters and 150 millimeters thickness. On the caster, structural steel grades as well as micro- and low-alloy steel grades will be produced. Peritectic grades will make up more than 45 percent of the overall production. Commissioning is scheduled for the end of 2018. In the future, Shandong Steel will measure and align…

In the highly competitive world of fabricated structural steel, some local producers and advocates now actively promote reducing the labour component by rationalising building design to enable them to reduce their price and deliver simplicity, says Challenge Steel chief executive Suresh Nagaiya. “However, Challenge Steel achieves its competitiveness by dealing with one of China’s largest and highly renowned steel producers. Therefore, we can deliver both design complexity or simplicity cost-effectively for the likes of signature buildings. “The fact that Challenge Steel is now involved in some major rebuilds in Christchurch post its devastating earthquakes shows the level of assurance, absolute…

The Commission has now completed its seismic steel mesh investigations into five of the companies under investigation. Three companies, who cannot be named at this time, have been advised that the Commission intends to issue criminal proceedings under the Fair Trading Act. Two other companies have been issued with lower-level investigation outcomes. Fletcher Steel Limited (Fletchers) has been issued with a warning and United Steel Limited (United Steel) has been issued with compliance advice. Investigations are continuing into several other companies. The Commission began investigating seismic steel mesh in August 2015 after a complaint was laid that some steel mesh…

Steel & Tube Holdings boss Dave Taylor says a "dramatic upswing" in coking coal prices and higher iron ore prices meant there needs to be a hike in domestic steel prices in New Zealand next year. Taylor made the comments in a presentation at the company's annual meeting in Wellington. The price of premium hard coking coal reached US$307.20 a ton last week from US$85 a ton at the start of June, according to Reuters. Iron ore futures have also climbed to reach about US$70 a metric ton. Higher coal costs add about US$140 (NZ$200) to a tonne of steel…