Why Is $teel $urging Despite Weak Demand?

The British global metals tracking firm MEPS recently calculated a 36% increase in global steel prices compared to the same period of 2009, despite relatively weak demand. Plus, "delivery lead times are steadily extending and some buyers are complaining of late shipments," according to MEPS.

The explanation for the contradiction between weak demand and high prices is that steel producers are passing along rising costs for ore along with, as reported in this space last edition, steep increases in scrap prices.

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Leones Donate $5 Million To Penn State
John and Willie Leone have committed to endow the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering in Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences with a leadership gift of $5 million. The University will name the department in recognition of the couple's generosity. John Leone is president and CEO of Bonney Forge, who graduated in 1956 from Penn State's petroleum and natural gas engineering program. Willie Leone is a former professional ice skater. The Leones have a long history of supporting Penn State.

Management Changes At Westbrook
Westbrook Manufacturing  announced a series of additions and promotions at its Houston headquarters. Howard Houston has been promoted to Vice President-Operations; Danny Westbrook has been promoted to Vice President-National Accounts; and Larry York has been promoted to Vice President-Sales & Administration. Pete Cronquist has joined the company as Vice-President- Finance & Accounting. Charlie Westbrook will continue in his role as President and CEO and Sidney Westbrook will advise the Sales, Marketing & Business Development functions. Cronquist is replacing Tom Davidson, who has served in the role of CFO for more than 20 years and will remain on Westbrook's Management Advisory Committee.

OCTG Tariffs Affirmed
As expected, the U.S. International Trade Commission on May 2 voted in favor of imposing antidumping penalties ranging from 30-99% on various Chinese producers of oil country tubular goods. The ITC vote is the final step in a trade case filed on April 8, 2009 by eight domestic OCTG producers and the United Steel Workers union.  This was the largest China trade action brought by any sector of U.S. industry based on volume and value of imports.

EISI Opens In Charlotte
Eastern Industrial Supplies, Inc . officially opened its new location at 2019 North Tryon St. in Charlotte, NC, on May 6, 2010.  The Grand Opening event featured a catered barbeque lunch and product demonstrations by Anvil, Apollo Valves, Bradford White, Lenox, TOTO USA, and Tyler Pipe.  The Charlotte location stocks a full-line inventory of PVF and plumbing supplies. Branch manager is Shelby Jones.

Monumental Supply Celebrates 60 Years
Baltimore's Monumental Supply Co.  will mark its 60th Anniversary on May 21 with a celebration at company headquarters that is anticipated to draw more than 300 customers and vendors, along with some 70 employees. Headed by President Ed Zimmerman, Monumental is a PVF distributor primarily to mechanical contractors in the Mid-Atlantic region. They also have an Elevator Supply business and new Fire Protection Division.

API Offers Gulf Spill Updates
API has established a web page containing updates and resources related to the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Emerson Opens $30 Million Innovation Center
Emerson Process Management announced the opening of the Emerson Innovation Center - Fisher® Technology in Marshalltown, IA.  The $30 million investment is designed to help customers tackle the toughest engineering challenges facing today's process manufacturing and energy industries. 

TMK IPSCO Opens Ohio Tubular Plant
TMK IPSCO celebrated the opening of its new Brookfield, OH, manufacturing plant on May 7. The facility is dedicated to threading pipe with TMK IPSCO's line of ULTRA Premium Connections to support TMK IPSCO's growing Marcellus Shale gas plays. 

U.S. Manufacturing Can Be Competitive

Increased foreign competition continues to drive much of the U.S. manufacturing sector overseas to take advantage of cheap labor. However, there are still many ways to improve performance and become more competitive while keeping operations in the United States. Read about it here.  

AEC Store Corner 

New to AECStore.com

Pump Characteristics and Applications,
Second Edition // $117.95

This hands-on reference offers a practical introduction to pumps and provides the tools necessary to select, size, operate, and maintain pumps properly. It highlights the interrelationship of pump engineering from system and piping design to installation and startup.  This updated second edition expands on many subjects introduced in the first edition and also provides new in-depth discussion of pump couplings, o-rings, motors, variable frequency drives, pump life-cycle cost, corrosion, and pump minimum flow.

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 #46 by Gregg Marshall
To help you make the most of the Digital Age.

Save Your Files to the Cloud

Back in the good old days when backups were done on tapes, there was a lot of discussion of off-site backups. The idea was if your building burnt down, you'd still have a copy of the data you could use to recover your system.

Most people are lucky if they even have a backup, much less one that is off-site. But, when you think of disasters like the fires in California, floods in the Midwest, and hurricanes in the Southeast, there is a very real chance of you losing your primary computer. And, if your primary computer is a laptop, you could lose it or have stolen anywhere you take it.

According to a Dell/Gartner study, over 12,000 laptops are lost or go missing in U.S. airports each week, and 70% of those returned to lost and found are never reclaimed. So are you prepared if disaster destroys your primary computer (and perhaps where it lives)?

There is a new place to save your files. Those in the know call it the "cloud"-aka the Internet. There are a number of websites you can register with to save your files on their servers on the Internet, most with software that makes it as easy as dragging and dropping the files just like you would in Windows Explorer. Some even offer automatic backup programs.

Some alternatives you might want to look at are:

• http://streamload.com (2 GB free, used to be 25)           
• http://www.mozy.com ($5 per month for unlimited storage)           
• http://skydrive.live.com (25 GB free)

The advantages of these services are their low cost, often free, and ease of use. Plus you have access to your files from anywhere in the world.

However, don't depend only on web backup for your critical data. Several of these services, failing to find a viable business model, have gone out of business, effectively deleting your data. That's why I would still recommend a traditional backup to supplement the on-line backup. 

Between the two you stand a really good chance of recovering your important information. I am a firm believer that you can't have enough backups. Even though I am pretty good about backups, there are still times when I've lost data (or downloaded programs) when something goes horribly wrong.

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?

• The Greening Of A Warehouse 
• A Layman's Guide To Obamacare (And The Tax Laws Hidden Within) 
• Tennessee Floods Affect Plumbing Industry

Firestop Putty
Nelson FSP™ Firestop Putty creates an instant smoke- and gas-tight fire seal to fill voids around pipes, electrical conduit, data communications cables, duct work, and between walls and floors. FSP putty expands with extreme heat to prevent the spread of fire and smoke. Pre-mixed ready to use right out of the box, FSP putty also does not need additional blending, adhesives, or cable derating. It stays pliable at all times. And because it doesn't set, FSP can be easily removed and reapplied numerous times. Nelson Firestop FSP is available in convenient bars or as putty pads (photo).

VFD For Water/Wastewater Applications
CSI Controls introduces the VARIOspeed™ variable frequency drive (VFD) for constant pressure control in water and wastewater applications. As the flow and head conditions change in the pumping system, the VARIOspeed™ VFD is able to automatically control the pump speed and maintain a constant discharge pressure.   The VARIOspeed™ VFD is available from 5HP to 150HP @ 208-240V and 5HP to 250HP @380-480V, single phase or three phase supply voltage.