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Wire & Cable ASIA – March/April 2011
40
From the
americas
Sophia Koropeckyj, a managing director for Moody’s
Analytics, told
Business Week
that demand from Asia and
Latin America for tech products has resulted in new hiring
and is contributing to the US recovery. After slumping in
the first half of 2009, global shipments of PCs – the basic
product of Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Apple – should rise
14.3% for 2010, to 352 million units, according to consultant
Gartner. (“Tech Sector Adds 47,000 Jobs So Far in 2010,”
12
th
December). As noted by
Business Week
’s Olga Kharif,
billions in government stimulus funds have spurredpurchasing
by American agencies and businesses, such as those
building out broadband networks. Networking gear maker
Cisco Systems saw sales for its fiscal first quarter ended
30
th
October rise 19% from a year earlier, to $10.75 billion.
Corporate and government information technology spending
should rise 8.1% for the year, to $758 billion, according to
consultant Forrester Research. “The first wave of growth is
going through,” Ms Kharif was told by Andrew Bartels, a
Forrester vice-president.
Prospects have been improving on the trade front, as well,
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❖
with a narrowing of the US deficit with its trading partners
likely to lead to a revision upward in estimates of fourth-
quarter economic growth. The Commerce Department
on 11
th
December said that the trade gap totalled
$38.7 billion in October, the lowest since January 2010.
Imports declined 0.5%, to $197.4 billion, while exports
rose 3.2%, to $158.7 billion, the highest level in more than
a year. The increase in US exports in October reflected a
rise in sales abroad of a variety of goods, among them
industrial supplies andmaterials; and automotive vehicles,
engines, and parts. Exports swelled to record highs with
two important US trading partners. Exports to Mexico
hit a high of $15.4 billion. And exports to China reached
$9.3 billion, the highest on record and shrinking the
US deficit with China to $25.5 billion, from $27.8 billion
in September.
Steel
US Steel and Kobe Steel plan $400 million
auto sheet plant for Ohio
United States Steel Corp (Pittsburgh) and Kobe Steel Ltd, of
Japan, have said that their Pro-Tec Coating Co joint venture
in Leipsic, Ohio, will build a continuous annealing line to make
lightweight sheet for fuel-efficient vehicles. Construction of
the 500,000 tons-per-year facility is expected to begin this
year and be completed in 24 months, the companies said in
December.
Pro-Tec, formed by the two equal partners in 1990, has been
producing hot-dipped galvanised steel sheet for auto makers
since 1993, and has capacity of one million tons per year.
With the addition, Pro-Tec will now also produce cold-rolled
advanced high-strength steels and ultra-high-strength steels
for automotive structural parts. As reported by Malia Spencer
in the
Pittsburgh Business Times
, using coils purchased from
US Steel the $400 million line will employ advanced water
quench equipment as well as a rapid jet gas cooling system.
(“US Steel, Kobe Steel Expanding Ohio Plant,” 2
nd
December).
Demand for stronger but lighter-weight steel has been rising
as auto makers must strive for greater fuel efficiency while
also meeting tougher structural standards. In statements,
both USS and Kobe Steel professed optimism about adding
to their capacity at Leipsic. But steel industry analyst Charles
Bradford, of Affiliated Research Group LLC (New York),
was dubious. He noted that Germany’s ThyssenKrupp
and Russia’s Severstal also have projects to expand their
automotive capacity in the United States.
“I just wonder who is going to buy all this automotive grade
steel,” Mr Bradford told the
Pittsburgh Business Times
.
Elsewhere in steel . . .
Harsco Corp (Wormleysburg, Pennsylvania) has
❖
❖
announced a 25-year joint venture with China’s Taiyuan
Iron & Steel Co Ltd (TISCO). The two companies will look
into environmentally sound processing andmetal recovery
for the carbon steel slag byproducts of TISCO’s stainless
production. According to the
Harrisburg Patriot-News
(10
th
December),theventure–thelargestinbothcompanies’
histories – is projected to generate new revenues of
$30 million per year initially; $50 million to $60 million
when fully operational. The partners are expected to
finalise their agreement in the first half of 2011 and begin
operations in early 2012. Harsco is a global industrial
services and engineered products company. TISCO’s
location in Shanxi Province gives it ready access to
plentiful reserves of such resources as coal, iron, bauxite
and gallium.
Automotive
Whether the automotive industry in the US will justify the
❖
❖
addition of steel making capacity is a matter of conjecture,
but recent statistics are encouraging. Car sales ran at a
12.3 million annual pace in November, matching the
October rate that was the fastest since theUSgovernment’s
“Cash for Clunkers” programme of 2009. After averaging
16.8 million annually from 2000 to 2007, US sales plunged
to 10.4 million in 2009, the lowest since 1982. Now,
auto industry sales are recovering. The US sold about
11.5 million cars and light trucks in 2010. And IHS Inc
(Englewood, Colorado), a source for automotive standards
and technical information, forecasts sales of 12.8 million
vehicles in 2011, rising to 17.1 million by 2015.
Total light vehicle sales were up 11.1% through November,
with many brands beating the trend and gaining market
share. Buick was up 53.5%; Cadillac, 38%; Infiniti, 26%;
and Ford, Hyundai, and Jeep were each up 23%.
Hertz Corp has begun offering Daimler AG’s Smart Fortwo
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electric cars to New York City car-sharing customers as
part of a plan to add electric and hybrid vehicles to its fleet
worldwide. As reported by Richard Newman in the
North
Jersey Record
(7
th
December), the world’s largest car
rental company also intends soon to offer the electric cars
in Washington, DC and San Francisco. According to Mr
Newman, Hertz has ordered electric vehicles from Coda
Automotive (Santa Monica, California) and Nissan Motor
Co, of Japan; and has agreements with General Motors
Co (Detroit) and the Japanese car makers Mitsubishi
Motors and Toyota Motor Corp to provide electric cars
and plug-in hybrids. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the largest
rental car company in North America, said in July 2010
that it would buy 500 Nissan Leaf electric vehicles, with
deliveries beginning in January 2011.