EuroWire May 2016

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Transatlantic cable
May 2016 26
† In the USA, Ford Motor Co is carving out a speciality within
a speciality: a bicycle device for people who do not have full
use of their legs. The carmaker has taken out a patent for an
automatic kickstand, described as a “telescopically deployed
support arm,” that would mean cyclists would never need to
put their feet down. As reported on (1st March),
a disabled cyclist noted that the Ford kickstand could also
bene t the elderly and others with balancing problems while
stationary, who now depend on adult tricycles. “Trikes” are an
increasingly common sight in retirement communities.
Ford’s application to the US Patent O ce says its automatic
device could help as well with problems encountered by
able-bodied cyclists. For example, it reads, “A shoelace can
get tangled on a pedal shaft or a foot can get stuck in a toe
clip, causing the rider along with the bicycle to fall to the
ground.”
† Two British companies have teamed up to create the
world’s rst 3D-printed titanium bike frame. Renishaw, a
Gloucestershire manufacturer of additives, joined forces
with Empire Cycles (Lancashire) to build the titanium MX-6
Evo mountain bike. Empire already o ers a production
aluminium version of the MX-6.
As reported by Ben Coxworth of the technology site Gizmag
(8th February), the frame was built using a laser-melting
machine manufactured by Renishaw. A high-power
ytterbium bre laser selectively fused particles of a titanium
alloy powder. Layers of the fused-together particles were
then built up to form the nished sections of the frame. The
sections were bonded together with an adhesive. At three
pounds the nished Evo frame was reported as weighing
33 per cent less than an aluminium counterpart, for a very
high strength-to-weight ratio. When its seatpost bracket was
tested, it reportedly exceeded the EN 14766 mountain bike
strength standard by six times.
Steel
Anti-dumping action gives USA steel
producers a boost – and additional
help appears to be on the way
For the second time this year, the USA issued preliminary duty
orders on foreign steel producers following its determination of
unfair pricing on their cold-rolled steel sold in the United States.
On 1st March, the Department of Commerce (DOC) imposed
tari s of 266 per cent on those imports from China, with lesser
penalties on product from Japan (71 per cent), Brazil (39 per
cent), India, Korea, Russia and the United Kingdom. After the
announcement, AK Steel (West Chester, Ohio) led a domestic
steelmaker rally, surging 7.2 per cent to a seven-month high
while shares in Pittsburgh-based US Steel Corp (USS) climbed
6.6 per cent. But according to John Morgan, a contributor to the
investment newsletter Seeking Alpha, they are only the rst of
the USA producers set for “a renaissance of sorts” as a result of
the anti-dumping duties.
In Mr Morgan’s view, with the domestic steel companies already
trimmed down by extensive cost retrenchments and plant
closings, the entire “lumbering” USA industry stands to bene t.
Accorded relief from a surge of imports that helped push down
domestic prices to six-year lows, the steelmakers should see
improvement in their negative operating margins; their heavy
debts should ease. The optimism seems justi ed. According to
the United Steelworkers union, foreign producers captured an
estimated one-third of the US steel market in 2015. The gains
of the domestic producers – newly and suddenly competitive –
could be impressive.
And Mr Morgan noted that more anti-dumping protection is in
the wings. Even as the duties on cold-rolled steel were imposed,
a second steel trade case pending with the DOC alleges
dumping of hot-rolled steel by some of the same nations, with a
nal determination expected in late May. Yet a third case alleges
subsidisation and dumping of corrosion-resistant steel onto
the American market by foreign producers, also with a decision
set for May. (“It’s Not Too Late to Shop for a Basket of Steel,” 9th
March)
† In addition to USS and AK Steel, likely gainers mentioned by
Seeking Alpha include Steel Dynamics (Fort Wayne, Indiana);
Schnitzer Steel (Portland, Oregon); and Cli s Natural
Resources – not in fact a steel producer but a Cleveland,
Ohio-based supplier of iron ore pellets to the North
American steel industry. Steel Dynamics will be bolstered by
its emphasis on sales to the busy housing and construction
industries. As for Schnitzer, a recycler of scrap metal, the
disappearance of low-priced foreign steel should mean
a real boost to margins and customer demand. While AK
Steel should continue bene ting from its emphasis on sales
to the strong automotive market, USS may see shrinking
gains because of its heavier reliance on business from ailing
energy drillers and its larger percentage of sales in Europe.
† In another hopeful sign for the domestic industry noted by
Mr Morgan, in mid-March hot-rolled sheet prices in the USA
had apparently reversed their decline from a recent bottom
of $340 per ton.