EoW January 2010

Auto critic Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press wrote that Saab developed the sleek 9-5 to elevate the style and performance of its midsize model to compete with cars like the Audi A6 and BMW 5-series. But production was held up by about six months as Saab moves factory equipment from an Opel plant in Germany to the Swedish auto maker’s headquarters in Trollhattan. (“Saab to Show Concept Car That Will Define Brand,” 12 th November) Noting that Saab had planned to build the 9-5 alongside the Opel Insignia in Ruesselsheim, Germany, Mr Phelan said, “That plan was scuttled when GM, which owns Opel, decided to sell Saab.” It would appear that, whatever the future holds for Saab, as 2009 drew to a close the company’s US dealers had plenty of companionship in limbo.

Employing environmentally sound methods, and in collaboration with Scholz Recycling AG, of Germany, the US industrial services company will recover the slag’s high-value metallic content for commercial resale. The new treatment facility that Harsco will build in Austria is slated to go into operation toward the end of this year. Alcoa Inc in the third quarter of 2009 returned to profita- ❈ ❈ bility after three straight quarterly losses. The largest US aluminium producer earned $77 million for the three months ended 30 th September, for a 9% gain from the second quarter. The improved showing was attributed to rising demand, especially from auto makers, and rigorous cost-cutting. Pittsburgh-based Alcoa on 7 th October predicted an 11% increase in worldwide aluminium demand over the rest of the year. “We do clearly see growth, substantial growth, in China,” Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld told analysts and reporters after the company reported results. “The second half of the year is clearly better than the first half in many industries and many regions.”

Metals

Harsco Corp (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) said on 15 ❈ ❈ th October that, under agreements valued at up to $100 million over ten years, its minerals subsidiary will treat and recycle the metalmaking by-products of the two Austrian steel mills Bohler Edelstahl and Breitenfeld Edelstahl.

Dorothy Fabian – USA Editor

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EuroWire – January 2010