TPT September 2013

Global Marketplace

The source further said that evading Buy America rules is not particularly hard for a mill willing to do its research. “Here’s what you do,” he told AMM. “You buy so many tons of American-made steel every year so you have the paperwork, and then you go out and buy cheap foreign. You run it through the mill and tag it with American-made [heat numbers]. You pull the foreign tags out and throw them away.” A second source concurred that violations appeared to be taking place. “Purchasers are actively engaged in creative approaches to not complying with the law,” he told AMM. “Blatant, fraudulent non-compliance has been rampant in the industry.” Elsewhere in steel . . . › The steelmakers’ association Eurofer said 4 July that Europe’s steel industry will not be able to cut its carbon dioxide emissions by the amounts recently postulated by the European Commission. But it should, Eurofer said, be able to reduce them in an economically viable way by an estimated 15 per cent by 2050, compared with levels in 2010. The EC document “Roadmap for Moving to a Low-Carbon Economy in 2050” calls for a reduction of 80 to 95 per cent by 2050, from levels in 1990, for European industry including steel. “The European Commission’s reduction targets [are] beyond reach of the steel sector,” said Eurofer’s general director Gordon Moffat in a statement. “The steel industry cannot stay in Europe if the commission’s targets are imposed on the sector without further adaptation.” A Eurofer report sees a possible “economic scenario” of only 10 per cent emissions reduction per metric ton of steel between 2010 and 2030, and 15 per cent between 2010 and 2050. This would be brought about by the use of best available technologies, process optimisation, and a greater use of steel scrap, Eurofer said. › Scottish artist Rob Mulholland has completed a new sculpture in the Russian industrial town of Vyksa, whose commission to the Aberfoyle-based artist stipulated the use of materials from the local steelworks. With the assistance of two local welders the new work from Mr Mulholland, known principally for larger-than-life-size stainless steel mirror figures, was completed and installed in just five days. The artist said that the piece, in the design of a 13-foot tower, which has collapsed into an arch, had gone down “incredibly well”. “This is very much a steel town,” Mr Mulholland told BBC Scotland (3 June). “Everything including the roofs of garden sheds is made of steel and 75 per cent of the local workforce makes steel products. I think this is partly why they have taken to the sculpture.” Mr Mulholland said that the authorities in Vyksa, which has one of the largest steelworks in Europe, also asked him to submit a plan for a permanent sculpture for a new municipal park.

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September 2013