Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The 2011 Import and Export Market by Research and Markets Adds Report

www.PhillipsSteel.com Blog staff presents Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "The 2011 Import and Export Market for Iron, Steel, or Copper Springs and Leaves for Springs in the United Kingdom" report to its offerings.

In a release, Research and Markets noted that report highlights include:
Related Results

    * BLADES OF STEEL
    * Flex Steel
    * Bonds of Steel
    * Man of steel
    * Die steel


On the demand side, exporters and strategic planners focusing on iron, steel, or copper springs and leaves for springs in the United Kingdom face a number of questions. Which countries are supplying iron, steel, or copper springs and leaves for springs to the United Kingdom? How important is the United Kingdom compared to others in terms of the entire global and regional market? How much do the imports of iron, steel, or copper springs and leaves for springs vary from one country of origin to another in the United Kingdom? On the supply side, the United Kingdom also exports iron, steel, or copper springs and leaves for springs. Which countries receive the most exports from the United Kingdom? How are these exports concentrated across buyers? What is the value of these exports and which countries are the largest buyers?

This report was created for strategic planners, international marketing executives and import/export managers who are concerned with the market for iron, steel, or copper springs and leaves for springs in the United Kingdom. With the globalization of this market, managers can no longer be contented with a local view. Nor can managers be contented with out-of-date statistics which appear several years after the fact. I have developed a methodology, based on macroeconomic and trade models, to estimate the market for iron, steel, or copper springs and leaves for springs for those countries serving the United Kingdom via exports, or supplying from the United Kingdom via imports. It does so for the current year based on a variety of key historical indicators and econometric models.

In what follows, Chapter 2 begins by summarizing where the United Kingdom fits into the world market for imported and exported iron, steel, or copper springs and leaves for springs. The total level of imports and exports on a worldwide basis, and those for the United Kingdom in particular, is estimated using a model which aggregates across over 150 key country markets and projects these to the current year. From there, each country represents a percent of the world market. This market is served from a number of competitive countries of origin. Based on both demand- and supply-side dynamics, market shares by country of origin are then calculated across each country market destination. These shares lead to a volume of import and export values for each country and are aggregated to regional and world totals. In doing so, we are able to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of both the value of each market and the share that the United Kingdom is likely to receive this year. From these figures, rankings are calculated to allow managers to prioritize the United Kingdom compared to other major country markets. In this way, all the figures provided in this report are forecasts that can be combined with internal information sources for strategic planning purposes.

Click HERE for entire article source.

Report information:

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/2924a8/ the_2011_import_an

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Phillips Steel: Stainless steel sheet buy goes under the microscope


By Tom Stundza
Escalating steel prices seen as a reason to reduce the supply base and seek out substitute materials.
Value analysis was initiated in late 2005 for the half-dozen metalworking companies under the United Technologies Corp. umbrella when it became apparent this year's corporate cost of stainless steel sheet was heading for an increase of 35% and maybe higher.
'There are lots of opportunities for value analysis within the commercial group that would both reduce future cost and increase the functionality of our metals buys,' says Troy McFarlane, commodity manager for commercial metals at UTC in Farmington, Conn. 'We decided to go with stainless steel, first, because of the volume of the total buy (around 20,000 tons/year on average) and the inflation rate our businesses were trying to handle individually. Also because of the possible use of duplex, martensitic and ferritic grades of stainless steels in which nickel plays a lesser role than in austenitic and precipitation hardening stainless steels.'
All metals are targeted

Over the past few months, a number of high-priced acquisitions have taken place in the steel industry. Investors are expecting more mergers or buyouts but service center executives and buyers have been uncharacteristically quiet in voicing their opinions. That’s probably because the jury still is out on the supply-side impact of the merger and acquisition frenzy in commodities. However, it’s already obvious that the M&A activity has triggered or, at least, bolstered the increases in prices since December for steel, aluminum, nickel, copper and other commodities. In theory, M&A activity could allow producers to curb supplies when necessary to keep prices up in the future. We’ll explain in this edition’s Cover Story where this latest round of consolidation has gone in steel. “This is an extremely active period in the steel industry,” says John Amodeo, the chief financial officer at Samuel Manu-Tech in Toronto, a value-added processor of various industrial products made from metals and plastics. He suggests that announced consolidations in the international steel market eventually should support stable-to-increased pricing—as metals companies seek the financial heft needed to compete globally. Actually, that’s a key reason why investors predict still even more marriages and takeover deals. But, some investors disagree: Rather than being a sign of the peak for commodity prices, some investors say the corporate deal-making could help put a lid on supply and put even more upward pressure on a host of commodity prices. Only time will tell.

Interestingly, it’s that kind of wait-and-see attitude that permeating the manufacturing marketplace—even though a new Federal Reserve Board report on industrial production shows an unexpected 0.7% rebound occurred in April by utilities, automotive and high-tech manufacturing. Capacity utilization at the nation's factories, mines and utilities was a slightly greater than expected 81.6% as manufacturing capacity use picked up. Still, industrial production has been mixed in recent months—and April's rise was only the third increase in the last eight months. A key gauge of future economic growth, the Index of Leading Indicators fell 0.5% in April, suggesting a slowdown in the months ahead, says the Conference Board. And, business conditions remain in a slow-growth mode this month, according to the latest Purchasing magazine buyers’ survey. Economists and bankers say the 2007 economy remains on track to have the slowest growth since 2002. So, in the Metals Chips segment, we’ll discuss why buyers aren’t arguing—or impressed with the fact that production of consumer durables, goods meant to last longer than 3 years, advanced by 2.1% in April.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Phillips Steel: Find a Steel Distributor in Los Angeles and Orange County



Phillips Steel has been working with clients all over Southern California and within the local community.  Contractors, Businesses, Procurement, Project Managers and Architects who are looking for a qualified and  professional steel and alloy distributor know that Phillips Steel is in Long Beach (San Pedro Los Angeles Port) and can deliver anywhere.  Please visit his website at www.phillipssteel.com.  



 Los Angeles Cities:

Agoura Hills steel brass aluminum
Alhambra steel brass aluminum
Arcadia steel brass aluminum
Artesia steel brass aluminum
Avalon steel brass aluminum
Azusa steel brass aluminum
Baldwin Park steel brass aluminum
Bell steel brass aluminum
Bellflower steel brass aluminum
Bell Gardens steel brass aluminum
Beverly Hills steel brass aluminum
Bradbury steel brass aluminum
Burbank steel brass aluminum
Calabasas steel brass aluminum
Carson steel brass aluminum
Cerritos steel brass aluminum
Claremont steel brass aluminum
Commerce steel brass aluminum
Compton steel brass aluminum
Covina steel brass aluminum
Cudahy steel brass aluminum
Culver City steel brass aluminum
Diamond Bar steel brass aluminum
Downey steel brass aluminum
Duarte steel brass aluminum
El Monte steel brass aluminum
El Segundo steel brass aluminum
Gardena steel brass aluminum
Glendale steel brass aluminum
Glendora steel brass aluminum
Hawaiian Gardens steel brass aluminum
Hawthorne steel brass aluminum
Hermosa Beach steel brass aluminum
Hidden Hills steel brass aluminum
Huntington Park steel brass aluminum
Industry steel brass aluminum
Inglewood steel brass aluminum
Irwindale steel brass aluminum
La Canada Flintridge steel brass aluminum
La Habra Heights steel brass aluminum
Lakewood steel brass aluminum
La Mirada steel brass aluminum
Lancaster steel brass aluminum
La Puente steel brass aluminum
La Verne steel brass aluminum
Lawndale steel brass aluminum
Lomita steel brass aluminum
Long Beach steel brass aluminum
Los Angeles steel brass aluminum
Lynwood steel brass aluminum
Malibu steel brass aluminum
Manhattan Beach steel brass aluminum
Maywood steel brass aluminum
Monrovia steel brass aluminum
Montebello steel brass aluminum
Monterey Park steel brass aluminum
Norwalk steel brass aluminum
Palmdale steel brass aluminum
Palos Verdes Estates steel brass aluminum
Paramount steel brass aluminum
Pasadena steel brass aluminum
Pico Rivera steel brass aluminum
Pomona steel brass aluminum
Rancho Palos Verdes steel brass aluminum
Redondo Beach steel brass aluminum
Rolling Hills steel brass aluminum
Rolling Hills Estates steel brass aluminum
Rosemead steel brass aluminum
San Dimas steel brass aluminum
San Fernando steel brass aluminum
San Gabriel steel brass aluminum
San Marino steel brass aluminum
Santa Clarita steel brass aluminum
Santa Fe Springs steel brass aluminum
Santa Monica steel brass aluminum
Sierra Madre steel brass aluminum
Signal Hill steel brass aluminum
South El Monte steel brass aluminum
South Gate steel brass aluminum
South Pasadena steel brass aluminum
Temple City steel brass aluminum
Torrance steel brass aluminum
Vernon steel brass aluminum
Walnut steel brass aluminum
West Covina steel brass aluminum
West Hollywood steel brass aluminum
Westlake Village steel brass aluminum
Whittier steel brass aluminum

Orange County cities:

Aliso Viejo steel brass aluminum
Anaheim steel brass aluminum
Brea steel brass aluminum
Buena Park steel brass aluminum
Costa Mesa steel brass aluminum
Cypress steel brass aluminum
Dana Point steel brass aluminum
Fountain Valley steel brass aluminum
Fullerton steel brass aluminum
Garden Grove steel brass aluminum
Huntington Beach steel brass aluminum
Irvine steel brass aluminum
Laguna Beach steel brass aluminum
Laguna Hills steel brass aluminum
Laguna Niguel steel brass aluminum
Laguna Woods steel brass aluminum
La Habra steel brass aluminum
Lake Forest steel brass aluminum
La Palma steel brass aluminum
Los Alamitos steel brass aluminum
Mission Viejo steel brass aluminum
Newport Beach steel brass aluminum
Orange steel brass aluminum
Placentia steel brass aluminum
Rancho Santa Margarita steel  brass aluminum
San Clemente steel brass aluminum
San Juan Capistrano steel brass aluminum
Santa Ana steel brass aluminum
Seal Beach steel brass aluminum
Stanton steel brass aluminum
Tustin steel brass aluminum
Villa Park steel brass aluminum
Westminster steel brass aluminum
Yorba Linda steel brass aluminum

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

McGuire Dental: ILWU Local 13 Dentist

Click HERE for original article:

The new kind of unionism born of the 1934 maritime strike was not confined to the docks. The warehouse workers, with their close ties to the waterfront that in the early days of the union came from working near the docks and handling cargo brought on and off the ships by longshoremen, also helped build the ILWU and they too shared in its achievements.

Today the Warehouse Division of the ILWU is a dynamic section of the union, tested and fortified by rank-and-file sacrifices and victories. Its members, men and women of all races and beliefs, are employed in public warehouses, coffee and spice warehouses, liquor and bottling plants, laboratories, open pit mines, hospitals, sugar refineries and chemical plants, flour and feed mills, food processing establishments and grocery and hardware warehouses. Some work in large establishments, others in companies with but a handful of employees.

Warehousing involves the storage, processing and distribution of goods, as well as some manufacturing. Though warehouse workers suffered low wages, high job insecurity and frequent speed-ups, the old AFL craft unions never considered organizing the men and women who earned a precarious living in the distribution centers up and down the West Coast. But under the impetus of the successful 1934 maritime strike, the warehousemen organized. In August 1934 new members of Weighers, Warehousemen's and
Cereal Workers Union Local 38-44 (later to become ILWU Local 6 in the San Francisco Bay Area) re-activated the local's ILA charter, which had been inactive since 1923, and immediately started a vigorous organizing campaign.

In addition to ILWU Local 6, there is our San Pedro or Los Angeles Port ILWU Local 13.  At McGuire Dental, our proximity to San Pedro Long Beach, we support our local ILWU Local 13.  One of our first ILWU Local 13 patients was Joe.  He initially came in as an emergency.  Apparently, he had a cracked tooth from a work related accident and rushed in.  He has been a loyal patient of ours for over 10 years now.  We also provide his entire family with their dental needs.  He has even referred us to other ILWU Local 13 coworkers and longshoremen of San Pedro.  Please visit us at McGuire Dental or visit us at our website, Click HERE. 

Monday, October 11, 2010

eHow Difference Between Hot- & Cold-Rolled Steel

Click HERE for Artile:

Hot rolled and cold rolled steel differ in three major aspects: rolling temperature, thickness and physical properties. Coil or sheet steel is initially hot reduced from slabs, either to a finished product or to produce strip steel for further processing. Cold rolled steel begins with a hot rolled strip product that, through the rolling process, is further reduced in thickness, a process that also changes the physical properties (primarily the crystalline structure) of the product.

      Rolling Temperatures
   1. Hot-rolling requires temperatures of 1,652 degrees to 2,012 degrees Fahrenheit (900 to 1,100 degrees Celsius), while cold-rolled steel is rolled at room temperature.

      Steel coming off the finishing stand at the hot mill is cooled by water spray and coiled at temperatures of 932 degrees Fahrenheit (500 degrees Celsius) and 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit (760 degrees Celsius). The hot-rolled steel is then cooled to room temperature. Once at ambient temperature, the steel can be cold reduced or cold rolled.
      Product Thicknesses:
   2. Coiling steel
      Lathe Turning Stainless Steel image by Stana from Fotolia.com
      Coiling steel
      Typically, hot rolling begins with a standard 10-inch (250 mm) thick slab, either directly from a continuous caster or reheated to the desired temperature. The steel moves through a series of mill stands that reduce the slab to a hot roll strip with thicknesses ranging from 0.071 inches (1.80 mm) to 0.350 inches (8.89 mm).

      Cold rolling through a second series of mills further reduces the hot rolled steel to a cold rolled product with a thickness range from .0126 inches (.32 mm) to .157 inches (3.99 mm).
      Physical Properties
   3. Ball bearings are used to test steel hardness.
      steel balls image by Igor Shootov from Fotolia.com
      Ball bearings are used to test steel hardness.
      Steel's physical structure varies by product; heating and cooling change the molecular structure of the metal. Steel coming off the hot mill will be softer and more ductile than material further processed through a cold mill.

      Ductility, measured by elongation testing, determines the amount of material deformation that occurs before the material fractures. Elongation (in 2 inches) for hot rolled is from 39 to 43 percent, while cold rolled ranges from 40 to 46 percent.
      Other Differences
   4. Because it is softer, hot rolled steel forms easily, while cold rolled has superior drawing quality. Cold rolled's tighter tolerances make it a better choice for highly engineered end uses.
      The blue-gray oxide that forms the finish on hot rolled is unsuitable for painting without further processing and surface preparation, while cold rolled's smooth gray finish is ready to paint.

      Each product can be produced with a variety of chemical and physical characteristics to meet specific applications.
      Applications
   5. Automobile body constructed of both hot- and cold-rolled steel
      car image by Tammy Mobley from Fotolia.com
      Automobile body constructed of both hot- and cold-rolled steel
      Hot-rolled steel is used in construction, industrial machinery, and shipbuilding as well as for unexposed automotive and appliance parts such as frames, brackets, wheels and clutch plates. Hot-rolled steel is a suitable product where thickness, strength and formability are important.

      Cold-rolled applications include refrigerators, stoves, washers, dryers and small appliances as well as a wide variety of exposed automotive parts. Cold-rolled applications often require tight tolerances and a smooth, paintable surface.

Friday, October 8, 2010

HVAC: A Simple Safety Culture: a Little Goes a Long Way to Reduce Costs

Click HERE for Article:

There is a difference between "unsafe" and "hazardous." The nature of work in the sheet metal and HVAC industry is inherently hazardous (tools and equipment, working from heights, chemicals, etc.) but it is only as unsafe as the employers and employees allow it to be.

What is the "culture" of safety at your company? Do you have a 100 percent mandatory eye protection policy? Or do your workers wear eye protection on a "hit or miss" basis? When an employee reminds a fellow employee to wear his safety glasses, is that considered negative feedback? Or does the fellow employee appreciate the concern being put forward?

The idea of establishing a safety culture versus simply following a safety program is not a new concept, although it appears that forming a company safety culture is recent trend. A very simple definition of a "safety culture" is described by Sue and Tom Cox in "The Structure of Employee Attitudes To Safety - A European Example."

"A safety culture is a term often used to describe the way in which safety is managed in the workplace, and often reflects the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and values that employees share in relation to safety."

Don't let a safety culture for your business get distracted by behavioral safety studies and complicated measurements. A safety culture can simply be established by management taking the attitude and belief that safety is a priority and working with employees to perceive and value safety at that same priority level.

As a result, every employee, including management, then takes the responsibility to ensure that safety remains a focus in daily operations. Moving toward a positive safety culture is not an "overnight" occurrence. It often takes many months, maybe several years, to promote safety at a very high level. But companies who have made a safety culture part of the business have seen many benefits including reduced workers compensation costs, higher employee productivity, and other positive outcomes.

For more information on safety cultures and how to improve your company safety and health efforts, go to the SMACNA safety web page.

Metals Prices

Metals and Commodities Prices - Page 1
Click HERE or Full Article:


Metalprices.com
Free LME and Comex price charts and tables in USD/LB for aluminum, antimony, chrome, cobalt, columbium, copper, germanium, gold, iron, lead, moly, nickelalloy, palladium, platinum, silver, tantalum, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium and zinc.


American Metals Market (AMM)
International daily news service covering the metals industries, with up-to-date prices of 1,400 industrial materials. Covers mining to production, distribution to manufacturing and reuse. Includes events, analysis and online marketplace. Subscription service with some free resources.


London Metal Exchange (LME) Prices
Get daily prices and stocks as well as historical prices and charts directly from the LME. The LME is the international standard for metal commodity pricing of copper, aluminum, zinc, lead, tin, nickel, silver and aluminum alloy.


World Carbon Steel Prices & Forecasts
Global steel prices from MEPS, the leader in steel price data. Monthly price chart of hot rolled coil, hot rolled plate, cold rolled coil, HD galv. coil, electro zinc, coil wire, rod (mesh), medium sections & beams, rebar and merchant bar.