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MEPS Forecasts Record Steel, Iron Highs

The British metals tracking firm MEPS predicts global steel output to reach an all-time high of 1.35 billion tons this year, representing an increase of 11% over the estimated volume of 1.218 billion tons in 2009. Production of blast-furnace iron is also forecast to follow increase 11%.

Prior records for steel and iron production were last set in 2007, before the world's economic meltdown. MEPS expects recovery to pre-crisis levels to take only three years, compared to eight years in the 1990s and five years in the early 1980s.

Recovery is forecast to be rapid this time due to the economic stimulus packages introduced by the government of China, which accounts for nearly half of the global steel supply and demand.

Steel output for 2010 in North America is expected to grow 21.2% this year after declinging 33% in 2009.

More Details About Boomerang Tube Start-up
Last edition we reported the planned start-up of an OCTD company called Boomerang Tube, headed by former Maverick Tube CEO Gregg Eisenberg. More details about the $200 million plant outside of Houston can be found by following this link to a Houston Chronicle article.

Wilson To Get New Corporate Parent
Schlumberger Ltd. has confirmed plans to aquire Smith International for $11 billion. Smith is the parent company of Houston-based giant oilfield PVF distributor Wilson and Canadian counterpart C.E. Franklin , whose combined revenues total some $1.8 billion. Some analysts speculate that if the deal goes through, Schlumberger might choose to sell Smith's distribution business.

Canada Recommends China Dumping Duties
The Canadian Border Services Agency made its final determinations in the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of oil country tubular goods from China, fixing dumping margins ranging between 14% and 167% . The Canadian International Trade Tribunal will make its final injury determination in these investigations by March 23.

Cronin Wins Top Apollo Sales Award
Apollo Valves' Executive Vice President Cal Mosack (left) and Vice President Sales & Marketing Tony Favilla (right) present Midwest Regional Sales Manager Kevin Cronin with their 2009 "Top Sales Performance Award."

PVF Roundtable Draws Huge Crowd
What is believed to be a record turnout of upwards of 250 people attended the Feb. 16 gathering of the PVF Roundtable in Houston. Many gathered to hear Dr. Michael J. Economides (right), a chemical and petroleum engineer and an expert on energy geopolitics.

Ballun Named MSS President
John Ballun begins 2010 as newly elected president of Manufacturing Standardization Society (MSS).  Ballun has served on the MSS Board of Directors since 2001 and most recently as First Vice President. He is currently the Vice President of Engineering at Val-Matic Valve & Mfg. Corp.

Is The U.S. Losing Its Competitive Edge?

A report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation found the U.S. slipping to 6th among 40 countries and regions of the world, based on 16 indicators of innovation and competitiveness.

HOT OFF THE PRESS 

Piping and Pipeline Calculations Manual - $117.95

The integrity of a piping system depends on the principles used in design, construction, and maintenance of the system. Piping systems are made of many components such as pipes, flanges, supports, gaskets, bolts, valves, strainers, flexibles, and expansion joints. These components can be made in a variety of materials, in different types and sizes, and may be manufactured to common national standards or according a manufacturers proprietary item.

This book provides engineers and designers with a quick reference guide to the calculations, codes, and standards for piping design and construction. It is relevant to designers, manufacturers, fabricators, suppliers, inspectors and owners who want to provide a safe and economical piping system.

An intensive manual, this book will utilize hundreds of calculation and examples based on of 40 years of personal experiences of the author as both an engineer and instructor. Follow this link for a complete description or to purchase this item.

Visit AECStore.com to view all of our technical resources, CDs and DVDs.

Tech Tip #41 by Gregg Marshall
To help you make the most of the Digital Age.

Taming the Business Card Monster

If you go to a trade show or convention, you'll come home with a large stack of business cards and a lot of good intentions about what you'll do with them. Or go to some networking event, again you come home with lots of business cards.

You might be really lucky and have an assistant you can assign to enter those cards into your contact manager.  But more and more, as organizations flatten, you don't have that luxury. What to do with that mountain of business cards, and no time to type them in (if you can type)?

Get an inexpensive, easy to use business card scanner, such as the CardScan Executive I use (www.cardscan.com). These specialized scanners are about the size of a deck of cards and attach to your computer via USB, which also powers them. Specialized optical character recognition software (OCR) can convert the scanned images into text. Then the magic happens.

Since most business cards follow a relatively standard format, and/or many fields on the card can be readily identified (e.g. telephone numbers, email addresses, etc.), the software can automatically put the right information into the right fields. And they can then automatically put that information, and the card image, into your favorite contact management software (e.g. Outlook) for ready access when you want to make contact.

Over the years I have collected thousands of business cards. If I didn't have a way to get them organized, they'd be just that much scrap paper. Take all that information and give it to CardScan.com or Plaxo (www.plaxo.com ), and they can help keep that information up to date as your contacts change jobs and/or move around. And after you get the contact information in your computer, you can use your business card collection to prop up that shaky table.

Gregg Marshall, CPMR, CSP, is president of Rep Connection Inc. He can be reached by e-mail at gmarshall@repconnection.com , or visit his LinkedIn profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/greggmarshall.

What's The Industry Buzzing About?

• PVF Survey Documents Plunge In Business
• Group Calls For Halt To Tax Subsidies Of Rich Enviro Groups 
• Seven-Day Replenishment

Clark Flow Transmitter
Clark Solutions announces the availability of a new line of ultrasonic flow transmitters ideally suited for use in process systems. These transmitters are easy to install, do not impact the flow, pressure, or transit times of fluids, and are unaffected by fluid temperatures or viscosities, making them ideal for measuring flow ranges from 4.5 to 3000 GPM in 4" to 10" pipe. For pipe sizes under 4" Clark offers the Clark Sonic CSLFB.

Webstone Pro-Connect Universal
Virtually every Webstone SWT valve up to 2" can be transformed into a Pro-Connect Universal™. These heavy duty valves feature machine-soldered copper nipples extending 2 inches on each side, allowing male ends to be connected or crimped with any standard push, press type or standard copper sweat fittings. With this versatility, Pro-Connect Universal valves are a single stock item for wholesalers and a UNIVERSAL connection solution for the professional.