EuroWire March 2015

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Transatlantic cable
March 2015 43
Steel and aluminium
† Three months in, some 10 to 15 per cent of the steel made
at the Faircrest plant of TimkenSteel Corp (Canton, Ohio)
is running through the company’s new continuous jumbo
bloom caster, unique in its being completely vertical.
As described by manufacturing reporter Rachel Abbey
McCa erty in Crain’s Cleveland Business (29th January), the
270-foot caster – 180 feet above ground and 90 below –
“does create a striking image.”
TimkenSteel invested about $200 million in the caster,
believed to be the largest of its kind in the world. It is
certainly the sole example of the design in North America.
The poured molten steel is extracted slowly from the tundish
at the top and split into three strands. When the steel
reaches the bottom it is cut into blooms. According to the
company, the process yields cleaner, higher quality steel.
The caster is still in the hot commissioning phase but it is
expected to handle about 60 per cent of the plant’s melt
by the end of the year. By 2017, TimkenSteel plans to be
running 85 per cent of the melt through the caster, the rest
through an ingot pour. At full capacity the vertical caster has
potential to raise shippable capacity at Faircrest by 25 per
cent, or 165,000 tons per year.
† According to Alcoa, global sales of aluminium wheels are
expected to increase from 30 per cent of the total market
in 2010 to 50 per cent in 2018. Positioning itself to meet
anticipated European demand for its lightweight aluminium
truck wheels, the New York-based aluminium manufacturer
on 30th January announced the completion of a $13 million
expansion that doubles capacity at its wheels manufacturing
plant in Hungary.
Demonstrating support for the project, the Hungarian
government agreed to contribute $4.4 million through its
Regional Operative Program, a government-led economic
development initiative. Under a pilot programme, a number
of buses in the regional Székesfehérvár city transportation
system are to be out tted with Alcoa wheels.
Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products (AWTP),
headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is part of Alcoa’s
downstream business, serving the commercial vehicle,
automotive and defence markets. The company projects its
own revenues from wheel products to rise to $1 billion in
2016 from $700 million in 2013.
The USA economy
A strong dollar helps consumers
but hurts American corporations
doing business overseas
While the American public enjoys the bene ts of a swiftly
growing domestic economy – lower oil prices, rock-bottom
interest rates, a greatly improved employment picture, a strong
dollar – big US-based companies with business abroad are
experiencing the bad e ects. The strong dollar, in particular,
is hitting a wide swathe of corporate America, slicing sales
and pro ts and reviving a concern for cost-cutting. On 27th
January, the machinery maker Caterpillar, which exports many
of its products, cited a too-strong dollar as contributing to its
disappointing earnings for fourth-quarter 2014. A day earlier,
the multinational computer software giant Microsoft had also
blamed its lacklustre results on the robust dollar.
While the United States is not an export-driven economy, many
of its largest companies rely heavily on overseas sales. Because
these multinationals will inevitably su er from the combination
of a stronger dollar and a sluggish global market, analysts say
they expect many other rms to see a weaker bottom line
this year.
The disparity of outlook between American consumers and
multinationals was underscored by a report from the Conference
Board, a private research group, that its index of consumer
con dence jumped to 102.9 in January from a revised 93.1 in
December (originally reported as 92.6). Economists surveyed by
the Wall Street Journal had forecast a rise in the latest index to a
more modest reading of 95.1.