Happy New Year from Steel Strip World

The first day back after the holidays is always a shock to the system, and today is proving no exception. I have had a quick search around the various News sites and picked up a couple of interesting items, but in all honesty, my heart is not in it today.

Anyway I would like to take this opportunity to wish a Happy New Year to all our friends and business associates around the world and hope for a peaceful and prosperous year for all.

Bush says no to Chinese pipe import restrictions.

NEW YORK, January 2 (newratings.com) – US President George W Bush Friday rejected a request from US steel manufacturers to curb imports of steel pipes from China.The US President said that cost to American consumers would outweigh the benefit to domestic steel producers if imports from China were curbed. Any curbs on the import of Chinese steel pipes would be replaced by imports from other countries, since many other countries are also exporting steel pipes to the US, Bush added. Some steel-pipe producers in the US requested the Bush administration to curb steel pipe imports from China under a special provision of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which allows countries to restrict imports of manufactured goods from China. China welcomed the US decision on Monday.

WEIRTON, WV -- A union representative for West Virginia steelworkers says President Bush is turning his back on the industry by not imposing quotas on Chinese imports

German giant extends industrial reach in Canada

ThyssenKrupp AG, the German steel conglomerate vying for control of Dofasco Inc., is further expanding its business reach in Canada through the purchase of the Hearn Group of Companies, a Windsor-area industrial concern.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The purchase was made by ThyssenKrupp Materials NA Inc., a unit of ThyssenKrupp Services AG, a member of the ThyssenKrupp AG group of companies of Duesseldorf, Germany.
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Zisco on verge of collapse?

Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Zisco) is teetering on the brink of collapse with thousands of people who depend on it hoping that the giant Redcliff steel-maker does not collapse and lead to the creation of yet another ghost town. Fears gripping communities around Zisco and employees of one of Africa's largest steel producers are basically an extension of harsh experiences endured in other smaller settlements in recent times. Several mining towns around the country, which were a hive of social and economic activity in the 1970s and 1980s, have turned into ghost towns following widespread closures. In 1994, the country's only tin mine, Kamativi, collapsed. Seven hundred workers and their 6 000 plus dependents were devastated by the closure.
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