TPT September 2008

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From the AmericaS
135 September 2008 ›
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Ad_Tube_&_Pipe_Techn._REB_260x87_07.08.indd 1 05.05.2008 13:19:25
fair value. The case opens a new avenue whereby American
manufacturers may seek protection against Chinese imports by
claiming that the Chinese government is unfairly subsidizing its
companies.
Elsewhere in steel . . .
› On 17 July, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc said that it had agreed to buy
the coal producer Alpha Natural Resources, for nearly $10 billion
in cash and stock, to bolster its position as a supplier to the global
steel industry. The combined company, Cliffs Natural Resources, will
own nine iron ore facilities and more than 60 coal mines in North
and South America and Australia. As one of the largest US mining
companies, it will also be positioned as a leading diversified natural
resources company.
Days earlier, Cleveland-Cliffs announced that – having acquired the
30 per cent stake of its joint-venture partner United Mining Co Ltd
– it is now full owner of the United Taconite iron ore mining and
pelletizing operation in Eveleth, Minnesota. The $100 million deal
obliges the Cleveland, Ohio-based producer of beneficiated iron ore
pellets to provide United Mining with 1.2 million tons of pellets over
the next five quarters, cost-free. United Mining is a subsidiary of the
Chinese steel maker Laiwu.
Automotive
Toyota, forced to cut back in the US market,
pushes a winner: the Prius
Shrinking demand for large vehicles in the US, where soaring fuel
prices are carving out a vastly changed auto market, is forcing
even mighty Toyota Motor into moves that would have seemed
inconceivable this time last year. Toyota stopped building its two
biggest models, the Tundra pickup and the Sequoia sports utility
vehicle, for the period August through September. Next spring, it will
permanently halt production of the Tundra at one of the two plants
that make it.
It is not uncommon for US automakers to shut down factories
for some weeks or even months, usually to shave inventories of
slower-selling vehicles. But it is a highly unusual move for Toyota.
The Japanese company introduced the Tundra only in early 2007
as its first serious entry into the full-size truck market, and built a
factory in San Antonio, Texas, specifically to produce it.
But Toyota is nimble for a giant. The shutdowns will also affect
a Tundra plant in Princeton, Indiana, and a plant in Huntsville,
Alabama, that makes engines for both cars. Toyota will consolidate
Tundra production in San Antonio and move other production to
Princeton instead of Mississippi, as originally intended.
On July 11, Toyota announced a related adaptive move. Starting in
2010 it will build its popular Prius in the United States for the first
time. The gas-electric hybrid sedan, which saves fuel by capturing
energy lost during braking to power an electric motor, will be made
at the factory under construction in Blue Springs, Mississippi.
Toyota said shifting production to Blue Springs will help ease acute
shortages of the Prius, which gets an average of 46 miles a gallon.
US sales declined 33.7 per cent over the six months through June,