The threat of a strike by the German steelworkers has receded now that a settlement has been reached. Under the terms of the deal, struck in the early hours of Wednesday morning, 85,000 West German steel workers will see their wages increased by 3.5 percent pay from September 1.

Corus announced it is opening a new continuous steel slab caster at its Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales.
The group said the new equipment, would increase the plant’s annual output of steel slab by a quarter.
It will mean Corus will be able to use Port Talbot to supply slab to its Welsh steel rolling mills for the first time in recent history, rather than having to ship it from Teesside.

UK Service Centres continue to hold high stocks which is keeping in check the upwards trend in prices experienced during 2004. It remains to be seen whether the producers will be successful in increasing prices to reflect the high cost of iron ore. The strength of the Euro and increased production capacity in China may mitigate the strong exports that partially fuelled last year’s increases.

Nearer home I visited Graham Perry Steels last week. Based in Wolverhampton, they are an independent cold roller and service centre who stock a wide range of strip mill products in drawing qualities, high strength low alloy and carbon grades. The company has an extensive processing facility comprising of, 7 precision slitting lines, 2 cold rolling mills and a decoil/cut to length line. They have a quality assurance system approved to ISO9001. The staff and management have years of experience in steel strip and an enthusiasm for their business that is refreshing. I found them very competitive on price, give them a call on 01902 490450.

Oh and if the brief appearance of the sun here in the midlands has you thinking of a barbeque this weekend check out the tin-basher blog where Paul has posted up plans for a solar oven !

Anyway, always one for a bargain, I’m off to Aldi to pick up a USB Bluetooth Adaptor for £9.99 before they sell out.