SteelNews Ford to replace steel components with aluminum in best-selling vehicle According to news reports in early January, Ford Motor Co. is planning to replace many of the steel components in its F-150 pickup truck with aluminum components in an effort to improve fuel efficiency. e F-150, which is the company’s bestselling and most profitable vehicle, will lose 400 lbs. in the switch, according to automotive trade press and a CNN report (Ford has not officially announced its plans). Along with other streamlining efforts, the new version of the truck will increase its fuel efficiency to 30 miles per gallon, compared to the 17-19 mpg of current models. However, the aluminum parts will add about $800 to the cost of production. Reportedly, the truck’s frame and cargo bed will remain steel.
Indiana steel fabricator destroyed in fire According to local news reports, Hammond, Indiana-based Midwestern Steel Fabricators was destroyed by a December 16 fire that lasted almost 12 hours. Causes for the fire are still under investigation. No one was injured in the blaze, but the extent of the fire coupled with the amount of water used to fight the flames has resulted in a total loss of the building, according to the fire chief.
ArcelorMittal’s Harriman plant to reopen ArcelorMittal executives announced January 2 the company’s plans to reopen its Harriman, Tennessee steel plant, which closed in 2011 due to poor market conditions. In a joint announcement with Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagerty, the facility should resume full operation by April 2014, requiring 61 new employees over the next two years.
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e company will ship billets from its facility in LaPlace, Louisiana where they will be reheated and rolled into merchant bar and other light structurals. Additionally, the plant will start producing one- to three-inch angles and one- to four-inch flats, expanding ArcelorMittal Long Carbon North America’s offerings.
Mexican mining alliance warns CO2 tax will eliminate almost half a million jobs In mid-October, Mexican National Mining Alliance warned that approval of the tax on coal production and carbon dioxide emissions would threaten to eliminate 400,000 direct and indirect jobs in the steel industry. Union leaders interviewed federal legislators to expose the risks inherent in the adoption of this tax calling on Congress to not approve that part of the tax reform initiative. ey explained that in two meetings deputies and senators of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) indicated that there will be no going back on the proposal submitted by President Enrique Pena Nieto. According to the proposal, with the creation of new Special Tax on Production and Services Coal, the government will charge US$5.80 per ton of coal produced, in addition to US$14.60 per ton of emission carbon dioxide. Union leaders mentioned that the steel companies would be primarily affected by the initiative, since this mineral used as basic raw material in the production of steel. e tax is considered by many to be unfair and inequitable as collecting the tax would hurt many sectors, especially Chihuahua’s economy, from which 95 percent of the country’s coal is produced. In addition, 500,000 people depend on mineral extraction for their livelihood. One of the steel companies would be affected by this initiative is Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA)—based in the northern Volume 7; Issue 1
state of Coahuila and providing approximately 80 percent of the existing coal in the country.
US court upholds judgment in favor of AK Steel in ArcelorMittal patent case AK Steel announced October 29 that the United States District Court for the District of Delaware again confirmed that the company’s ULTRALUME® advanced highstrength steel product did not infringe upon an ArcelorMittal patent. e Court granted summary judgment in favor of AK Steel on October 25, 2013. e Court further concluded that ArcelorMittal’s patent was invalid due to ArcelorMittal’s deliberate violation of a statutory prohibition on broadening a patent through reissue more than two years from the grant of the initial patent. AK Steel’s ULTRALUME® advanced high-strength steel helps automakers design lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles without sacrificing occupant safety. e product has been accepted for use by numerous automotive original equipment manufacturers, and is used for hot-stamped, press-hardened applications.
Canada finds injury in HR steel plate imports from seven countries On November 5, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) determined there was a reasonable indication that the dumping of hot rolled (HR) carbon steel plate from Brazil, Taiwan, Denmark, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, and South Korea had caused injury or is threatening to cause injury to the domestic industry. Canada launched the antidumping duty investigation for hot rolled carbon steel plate from the abovementioned seven countries in September 2013 upon a complaint made by Essar Steel Algoma Inc., of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
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