TPT November 2009

G lobal M arketplace

Ottawa’s decision in July to impose visa requirements on Mexican visitors, as part of an overhaul of Canada’s immigration policies to reduce the number of bogus claims for refugee status. Mr Calderón said Mexicans feel “very bad” about the new measure; and that “it certainly gets in the way of a good relationship” between Mexico and Canada. Here again, the emphasis was on amity rather than discord. The Mexican leader asserted that Mexico City and Ottawa will continue to cooperate on bilateral issues. But at the end of the summit Mr Harper, the Canadian head of state, made plain that he will rely on that assurance. Repeating an assertion first made after a private meeting with Mr Calderón, he said that the Mexican government “continues to work with us” to stem the flow of refugee claimants from Mexico. › Even if the leaders of the US, Canada and Mexico had found themselves in perfect accord at their summit, all three are elected officials with markedly opinionated constituents. On his return home Mr Obama, in particular, was quickly reminded that many Americans hold strong views of their own on matters discussed at Guadalajara. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey published on 12 August found that a majority of Americans would deny Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s request for elimination of the Buy American measure. 52% of respondents are against lifting the provision that bars Canadian construction companies from competing for projects under the US economic stimulus plan. Only 15% would accede to Mr Harper’s wishes. One in three adults was unsure. The poll results were even more unfavourable as to a request of Mexican President Felipe Calderón. The survey found just 19% of American adults willing to permit trucks from Mexico to cross the border and carry their loads on American highways. Some 66% of respondents opposed lifting the current congressional ban on Mexican trucks operating in the US. Only 15% expressed no opinion. Given the rapidly growing numbers of Latin Americans among the population of the US, another poll published by Rasmussen Reports at the same time produced some curious results. The electronic publishing firm – specialising in the collection and distribution of information on public sentiment – found that only 54% of Americans view Mexico as an ally of the United States. Some 86% were found to view Canada as a US ally. Steel › Uttam Galva Steels Ltd, the Indian steel maker in which ArcelorMittal is seeking a controlling stake, expects great things from its connection with the world’s largest producer. As reported by Bloomberg News (5 September), Uttam Galva’s director Ankit Miglani was ebullient about the prospective deal. “It will ensure [US] raw material security, the supply of high-grade hot-rolled coils,” Mr Miglani told reporters in Mumbai. “It will get us the Midas touch of the Mittals.” As noted by Bloomberg ’s Thomas Kutty Abraham, ArcelorMittal’s first Indian acquisition may also help India-born chief executive officer Lakshmi Mittal to benefit from surging demand for steel in Asia’s third-biggest economy. When results are compiled, Indian demand is expected to show a gain of as much as 10% through March 2009 on increased government spending on infrastructure. According to India’s steel ministry, growing demand for steel could enable domestic companies to double their combined capacity to as much as 124 million metric tons by 2012.

› Chairman Zhu Jimin of Shougang Iron and Steel Group said on 2 September that the group expects its annual steel output to reach 30 million metric tons by 2012, two years after its Beijing facilities are shut down. As reported by Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, Shougang is moving all production to a mill in Caofeidian, an islet 137 miles east of Beijing. Speaking at an event to commemorate the group’s 90 th founding anniversary, Mr Zhu said that the new plant will be producing 9.7 million mt of steel per year by the end of 2010. Shougang Group, the parent of Shougang Iron and Steel, is China’s eighth-largest steel maker. › South Korea’s POSCO, the biggest stainless steel maker in Asia, announced price rises as of September to reflect improving global prices and rising raw material costs. According to a company statement reported in the Korean daily JoongAng (28 August), the world’s sixth-largest steel maker said that its prices for hot-rolled stainless would rise by 13% to $2,732 per metric ton, while cold-rolled stainless would go up by 12% to $2,948. These were the third consecutive monthly increases for POSCO, which said it had no plans to raise prices on carbon steel products. POSCO’s smaller domestic rival, Hyundai Steel Co, said that it would raise carbon steel prices by up to 6.9%. This was the first increase in a year for South Korea’s second-largest steel maker. › The price of steel for use in construction in Saudi Arabia fell 55% in the year through June 30, when it stood at $601.6 per metric ton; but a rise of nearly 9% was recorded since the start of 2009. The data, cited by ArabianBusiness.com (23 August), was supplied by the Central Department of Statistics and Information. Its publication, a first by a government body in Saudi Arabia, followed moves earlier in 2009 to end some bans on steel and cement exports. These have lasted almost a year after construction costs surged in 2008. Steel prices in Saudi Arabia hit a record high of $1,345.5 per metric ton in July of that year. Aviation Under suspicion in an Air France disaster, sensors are to be replaced on tens of thousands of aircraft worldwide

Emmanuel Wuyts

An Airbus A330 similar to the one that crashed near Brazil

The pitot tube, a fuselage-mounted probe that reads the speed of an airplane, is named for its inventor, a French engineer, and was modified to its current form by a French scientist. But the plunge of an Airbus A330 jet, flown by Air France, into the ocean off Brazil on 1 June has intensified demand for the pitots manufactured by an

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