You Won't Believe These Suez Canal Conspiracies
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Showing posts with label steelworkers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label steelworkers. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Friday, October 29, 2010
Poor economy hurts steel industry
Poor economy hurts steel industry
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click link above for full story
Associated Press | Posted: Wednesday, October 27, 2010 12:00 am
The steel industry's outlook has dimmed with the unevenness of the global economy. Sales have dropped with prices while costs have risen, leaving companies pessimistic about the rest of the year.
Two of the world's biggest steel manufacturers turned in third-quarter performances Tuesday that demonstrated how much expectations have changed since mid-year as many countries and regions fail to generate significant growth.
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker by output, and U.S. Steel Corp., the biggest U.S. steel company, said the lack of recovery in the construction market, a huge customer, is a primary drag on results. Other key industries, such as autos and appliances, are faring better but still aren't using steel at pre-recession rates.
Argus Research analyst Bill Selesky said steel customers are worried about future growth, which has cut into their orders. "They don't see it picking up noticeably down the road," he said.
As a result, U.S. Steel, which in July predicted a profit for the third quarter, instead reported a $51 million loss. The company, which owns Granite City Works, blamed the decline largely on the choppy recovery in North America and Europe, a weak construction market and seasonal buying patterns.
------
click link above for full story
Associated Press | Posted: Wednesday, October 27, 2010 12:00 am
The steel industry's outlook has dimmed with the unevenness of the global economy. Sales have dropped with prices while costs have risen, leaving companies pessimistic about the rest of the year.
Two of the world's biggest steel manufacturers turned in third-quarter performances Tuesday that demonstrated how much expectations have changed since mid-year as many countries and regions fail to generate significant growth.
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel maker by output, and U.S. Steel Corp., the biggest U.S. steel company, said the lack of recovery in the construction market, a huge customer, is a primary drag on results. Other key industries, such as autos and appliances, are faring better but still aren't using steel at pre-recession rates.
Argus Research analyst Bill Selesky said steel customers are worried about future growth, which has cut into their orders. "They don't see it picking up noticeably down the road," he said.
As a result, U.S. Steel, which in July predicted a profit for the third quarter, instead reported a $51 million loss. The company, which owns Granite City Works, blamed the decline largely on the choppy recovery in North America and Europe, a weak construction market and seasonal buying patterns.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
part of history on Continental can company
This is a part history of the continental can company. Part of our Soar group are retirees of this corporation.
Major plant in north St. louis and most of the workers were steelworkers (USWA)
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http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/lehman/chrono.html?company=continental_can_co_inc
■1945 Continental Can Company, Inc.: 150,000 shares of $3.75 cumulative preferred stock
■1951 Continental Can Company, Inc.: 104,533 shares $4.25 cumulative second preferred stock (without par value) $15,000,000 3 1/4% debentures due October 15,1976
■1960 Continental Can Company, Inc.: $30,000,000 4 5/8% debentures due October 1, 1985
■1970 Continental Can Company, Inc.: $60,000,000 principal amount 8 1/2% sinking fund debentures due August 1, 1990
■1974 Continental Can Company, Inc.: 8.85% sinking fund debentures due May 15, 2004
The Continental Can Company was founded by T.G. Cranwell in 1904, three years after the formation of its greatest rival, American Can Company. Continental acquired the patents of United Machinery Company, one of the few companies producing can-making machinery that had not been bought by American Can. Continental began shipping cans in 1905.
The company bought the Standard Tin Plate Company in 1909 to ensure that they would have a steady supply of tin. Continental's original business consisted only of packers' cans for fruits and vegetables. Given the seasonal nature of this work, the company decided to expand to general canning in 1912. By 1913 the company had acquired all of the interests of a New Jersey corporation also called Continental Can Co., as well as the Export & Domestic Can Co. and the Standard Tin Plate Co. The same year, Continental was incorporated in the state of New York.
During the 1920s Continental expanded rapidly, purchasing almost twenty competing companies. It opened its first West Coast plant in 1926. In 1928 Continental acquired the third-largest can company in the country, the United States Can Company. By 1934 Continental and its rival, American Can, were producing approximately two-thirds of the 10 million cans made annually in the country. At this time, the company was operating thirty-eight plants in the United States and Cuba. Continental suffered a drop in its income during the Depression; even so, by 1932 the company had never reported a money-losing year.
Continental bounced back from the Depression years, and by 1940 its operating revenue had increased to $120.7 million from $80.9 million in 1935. In 1940 the company built plants in Canada as well. Continental continued to expand during the following decade through acquisitions, and the company entered the fields of paper and fiber containers, bottle caps, and synthetic resins. By the end of the 1940s, the company had sixty-five plants, including eight plants producing fiber and paper containers, four plants producing crown caps, and one plant producing plastics. By 1954 the company's gross sales reached $616 million, and its net income was approximately $21 million. At that time, Continental was operating eighty-one plants.
During the company's first fifty years of existence, it had purchased and absorbed twenty-eight independent can companies, as well as other concerns producing fiber drums, paper containers, and bottle tops. In 1956 Continental acquired Hazel-Atlas Glass Co., the third-largest U.S. manufacturer of glass containers. Continental then became the first company with a full line of containers in metal, paper, and glass. It also purchased Cochrane Foil Company, a manufacturer and distributor of aluminum plates and rigid foil packages for the frozen-food industry and other food suppliers. The company also bought Robert Gair Company, a leading producer of paperboard products, that same year. Due to such acquisitions, Continental briefly surpassed American Can's annual sales, topping $1 billion in 1957. By 1960 the company operated 155 plant facilities.
The introduction of the easy-to-open metal can top in 1963 led to an increase in the use of metal cans rather than glass bottles for beverages. By the end of 1966 over 45 percent of U.S. beer and over 15 percent of U.S. soft drinks were packaged in metal cans. That same year Continental introduced the first commercially practical welded can. In 1969 the company acquired Schmalbach-Lubeca-Werke A.G., the largest packaging producer in the European community. By that time, Continental had 228 manufacturing plants.
By 1973 the metal can industry was in a crisis due to oversupply and tough competition. Both Continental and American Can were said to have made the wrong decisions in the previous decade by adding capacity for both tin plate and tin-free steel production while the aluminum can was gaining popularity. Another problem was growing public opposition to throwaway cans. Continental's profits from domestic can-making dropped from $115 million in 1969 to $52 million in 1973. The company then closed many old-style integrated manufacturing plants in favor of large automated metal-processing centers and separate can-assembly operations situated near its customers' plants. In 1973 the company developed a system for the ultraviolet curing of inks and coatings on metal plate, and installed a number of such systems.
Major plant in north St. louis and most of the workers were steelworkers (USWA)
---------
http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/lehman/chrono.html?company=continental_can_co_inc
■1945 Continental Can Company, Inc.: 150,000 shares of $3.75 cumulative preferred stock
■1951 Continental Can Company, Inc.: 104,533 shares $4.25 cumulative second preferred stock (without par value) $15,000,000 3 1/4% debentures due October 15,1976
■1960 Continental Can Company, Inc.: $30,000,000 4 5/8% debentures due October 1, 1985
■1970 Continental Can Company, Inc.: $60,000,000 principal amount 8 1/2% sinking fund debentures due August 1, 1990
■1974 Continental Can Company, Inc.: 8.85% sinking fund debentures due May 15, 2004
The Continental Can Company was founded by T.G. Cranwell in 1904, three years after the formation of its greatest rival, American Can Company. Continental acquired the patents of United Machinery Company, one of the few companies producing can-making machinery that had not been bought by American Can. Continental began shipping cans in 1905.
The company bought the Standard Tin Plate Company in 1909 to ensure that they would have a steady supply of tin. Continental's original business consisted only of packers' cans for fruits and vegetables. Given the seasonal nature of this work, the company decided to expand to general canning in 1912. By 1913 the company had acquired all of the interests of a New Jersey corporation also called Continental Can Co., as well as the Export & Domestic Can Co. and the Standard Tin Plate Co. The same year, Continental was incorporated in the state of New York.
During the 1920s Continental expanded rapidly, purchasing almost twenty competing companies. It opened its first West Coast plant in 1926. In 1928 Continental acquired the third-largest can company in the country, the United States Can Company. By 1934 Continental and its rival, American Can, were producing approximately two-thirds of the 10 million cans made annually in the country. At this time, the company was operating thirty-eight plants in the United States and Cuba. Continental suffered a drop in its income during the Depression; even so, by 1932 the company had never reported a money-losing year.
Continental bounced back from the Depression years, and by 1940 its operating revenue had increased to $120.7 million from $80.9 million in 1935. In 1940 the company built plants in Canada as well. Continental continued to expand during the following decade through acquisitions, and the company entered the fields of paper and fiber containers, bottle caps, and synthetic resins. By the end of the 1940s, the company had sixty-five plants, including eight plants producing fiber and paper containers, four plants producing crown caps, and one plant producing plastics. By 1954 the company's gross sales reached $616 million, and its net income was approximately $21 million. At that time, Continental was operating eighty-one plants.
During the company's first fifty years of existence, it had purchased and absorbed twenty-eight independent can companies, as well as other concerns producing fiber drums, paper containers, and bottle tops. In 1956 Continental acquired Hazel-Atlas Glass Co., the third-largest U.S. manufacturer of glass containers. Continental then became the first company with a full line of containers in metal, paper, and glass. It also purchased Cochrane Foil Company, a manufacturer and distributor of aluminum plates and rigid foil packages for the frozen-food industry and other food suppliers. The company also bought Robert Gair Company, a leading producer of paperboard products, that same year. Due to such acquisitions, Continental briefly surpassed American Can's annual sales, topping $1 billion in 1957. By 1960 the company operated 155 plant facilities.
The introduction of the easy-to-open metal can top in 1963 led to an increase in the use of metal cans rather than glass bottles for beverages. By the end of 1966 over 45 percent of U.S. beer and over 15 percent of U.S. soft drinks were packaged in metal cans. That same year Continental introduced the first commercially practical welded can. In 1969 the company acquired Schmalbach-Lubeca-Werke A.G., the largest packaging producer in the European community. By that time, Continental had 228 manufacturing plants.
By 1973 the metal can industry was in a crisis due to oversupply and tough competition. Both Continental and American Can were said to have made the wrong decisions in the previous decade by adding capacity for both tin plate and tin-free steel production while the aluminum can was gaining popularity. Another problem was growing public opposition to throwaway cans. Continental's profits from domestic can-making dropped from $115 million in 1969 to $52 million in 1973. The company then closed many old-style integrated manufacturing plants in favor of large automated metal-processing centers and separate can-assembly operations situated near its customers' plants. In 1973 the company developed a system for the ultraviolet curing of inks and coatings on metal plate, and installed a number of such systems.
Friday, April 24, 2009
NYTimes pipe article
This is the article that the India media folks based their stuff in previous post. Copyrighted article and will withdraw if objections made:
Pipe Made in India Incenses Illinois Town
GRANITE CITY, Ill. — Jeff Rains, a retired steelworker at the sprawling mill here, made the discovery. Out walking a month ago, he waited impatiently at a rail crossing while a freight train slowly passed, its flatbed cars stacked with steel pipes, each wide enough for a child to crawl through. Then he noticed “Made in India” stenciled on the pipes.
That observation has made him a Paul Revere in the eyes of many townspeople. Hundreds of sections of imported steel pipe have been moving into Granite City for use in an oil pipeline. The steel mill, meanwhile, has been shut since December for lack of orders — the first time in its 130-year history — and nearly 2,000 workers are on furlough.
“I was very mad when I saw they were imported; I wondered why this pipe had not been made in the United States,” said Mr. Rains, who is 61. Once the train passed, Mr. Rains, still active in union affairs, hastened to the union hall to spread the word.
The United Steelworkers union has been trying ever since to galvanize the Granite City story into national outrage over steel imports, raising suggestions of protectionism in the process. The union and its workers want steel pipe for future projects to be made in the United States, creating domestic jobs.
With the economy in tatters, top corporate executives often state privately that they fear this downturn will fuel public sentiment against foreign-made products. Indeed, in February — before Mr. Rains made his discovery — 5,000 people marched through the streets of this steel town in support of a strong “Buy America” clause in the $787 billion stimulus bill then before Congress.
The imported pipe has inflamed that sentiment. The union filed an antidumping lawsuit in Washington last Wednesday against tubular and pipe steel imported from China. A day earlier, Local 1899 staged a rally here, drawing more than 500 people to the same field where the lengths of “Indian pipe,” as the people here call them, have been stacked.
“The steel pipe behind us is a symbol of what has gone wrong in this country,” one of the speakers declared, arguing in effect that a lax Congress and greedy businesspeople, as in Wall Street, had brought three months of layoff, so far, to more than 10 percent of Granite City’s work force. The crowd cheered, and some chanted back, “No more greed.”
The union’s hope is that the Indian pipe episode will provoke a broad outcry, and similar finger-pointing, forcing Congress to tighten trade rules and pressuring companies that import steel to buy more from domestic suppliers instead.
The pressure on Congress is already evident. A provision in the stimulus package, signed into law in February, limits the hiring of foreign workers by any company receiving government bailout money. At least one institution, Bank of America, has rescinded job offers to foreign citizens otherwise eligible for H-1B visas.
The United Steelworkers asserts that free trade is not the issue. The union’s leaders endorse that, as do the chief executives of nearly every multinational company. What the Indian pipe represents, the union argues — and it is joined in this by steel industry executives — is a violation of fair trade. They contend that generous government subsidies allow Indian and Chinese manufacturers to “dump” steel in this country at prices below the fair market value.
“Other countries point the finger at the U.S. and say we are protectionist,” said Nancy Gravatt, a spokeswoman for the American Iron and Steel Institute, representing mill owners, “and then you look at the details in the other countries, and they are not playing by the rules at all.”
Such strong language aside, the episode here has not generated the broad public outcry of, say, the bonuses paid by the American International Group. That is perhaps because trade issues do not generate the same reaction as huge Wall Street bonuses, and perhaps because the steelworkers themselves, as they explained in interviews here, would not have objected to the Indian steel if they were still fully employed at U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works. But the industry has been operating at less than 50 percent of capacity since last fall.
Imports have accounted for a steady 20 to 25 percent of the nation’s steel consumption for a decade or more — and neither the union nor the steel mill operators challenged that inroad.
But now they are, partly through stepped-up antidumping actions, like the one filed against China last week. The union, in addition, is pushing for policies that would increase manufacturing in the United States, reversing a long decline. It favors, for example, tax credits that would encourage more domestic production of solar panels and wind turbines, replacing imports.
“I have seven children, and six of them need a job,” said Ricky Jankowski, a laid-off steelworker here. “If one of them gets a manufacturing job as a result of our protests, it will be worth it.”
The shrinking of American manufacturing was indeed a handicap when TransCanada, a giant Canadian energy company, agreed to buy 560,000 tons of large-diameter pipe in 2006 for its 1,600-mile Keystone Pipeline, now being built from Alberta to Oklahoma to carry oil to American refineries from Canada’s tar sand fields. A section of the pipeline will pass near this Mississippi River town, opposite St. Louis.
An American mill provided 30 percent of the pipe, Canadian mills 23 percent and a giant Indian company, Welspun, the remaining 47 percent, at a low enough price, TransCanada says, to compete with American-made pipe, even allowing for shipping.
“American and Canadian mills would have gotten more if they had had the available capacity to meet our requirements,” said Robert Jones, a TransCanada vice president.
Neither union leaders nor industry executives dispute that assessment. Indeed, neither is trying to stop construction of the Keystone Pipeline, now that all the steel pipe has been purchased. But the union, at least, is putting pressure on TransCanada to buy American-made pipe for a parallel pipeline soon to be built. In a letter filed with the Transportation Department last week, the union joined the Sierra Club in challenging, on environmental grounds, TransCanada’s request for a permit — one argument being that the walls of the pipe would be too thin.
Pipe made in America would “meet all safety requirements,” a union official declared, responding in part to the growing anger in Granite City, dominated as it is by a giant steel mill that has never, in 130 years, been so quiet and smokeless.
“People here use the word anger to describe their reaction to the Indian steel, but I’m not sure that is the right word,” said the Rev. Gene Fowler, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, who attended the rally with other clergy members. “I think the right description is, ‘slapped in the face.’ It is like an offense to the community.”
Thursday, April 23, 2009
more on the Indian pipe story--from India
More news on the Indian pipe story--from India
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Pipe from India angers US steel workers: NYT
Washington, April 16 (IANS) Angry over import of Indian pipes for a Canada-US oil pipeline, the steel workers union is trying to galvanise a national outrage over steel imports and raising suggestions of protectionism.
Hundreds of sections of imported steel pipe have been moving into Granite City, Illinois for use in a 1,600-mile oil pipeline from Alberta to Oklahoma being built by Canadian energy giant TransCanada to carry oil to American refineries from Canada’s tar sand fields.
The local steel mill, meanwhile, has been shut since December for lack of orders - the first time in its 130-year history - and nearly 2,000 workers are on furlough, the New York Times said in a report Thursday titled “Pipe From India Incenses Illinois Town.”
Since a former union official noticed the Indian pipes loaded on a passing freight train, the United Steelworkers union has been trying “to galvanize the Granite City story into national outrage over steel imports, raising suggestions of protectionism in the process,” the Times said.
The union and its workers want steel pipe for future projects to be made in the United States, creating domestic jobs.
With the economy in tatters, top corporate executives often state privately that they fear this downturn will fuel public sentiment against foreign-made products, the Times said. “The imported pipe has inflamed that sentiment.”
The union filed an antidumping lawsuit in Washington last Wednesday against tubular and pipe steel imported from China. A day earlier, workers staged a rally in Granite City, drawing more than 500 people to the same field where the lengths of “Indian pipe,” as the people in the steel town call them, have been stacked.
The union’s hope is that the Indian pipe episode will provoke a broad outcry, and similar finger-pointing, forcing Congress to tighten trade rules and pressuring companies that import steel to buy more from domestic suppliers instead, the daily said.
An American mill provided 30 percent of the pipe, Canadian mills 23 percent and a giant Indian company, Welspun, the remaining 47 percent, at a low enough price, TransCanada says, to compete with American-made pipe, even allowing for shipping.
“American and Canadian mills would have gotten more if they had had the available capacity to meet our requirements,” said Robert Jones, a TransCanada vice president cited by the Times.
[LM1]
http://www.sindhtoday.net/south-asia/87318.htm
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note: if you feel strongly about Conoco buying foreign (and Conoco is an international corporation) here is contact information:
ConocoPhillips welcomes questions, comments and suggestions. The corporate headquarters' contact information is available below:
600 North Dairy Ashford (77079-1175)P.O. Box 2197Houston, TX 77252-2197
Phone: 281-293-1000
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might wish to drop a dime and and let them know your position of buying foreign steel. It is beyond belief that they did not know their subcontractors were buying foreign steel.
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Pipe from India angers US steel workers: NYT
Washington, April 16 (IANS) Angry over import of Indian pipes for a Canada-US oil pipeline, the steel workers union is trying to galvanise a national outrage over steel imports and raising suggestions of protectionism.
Hundreds of sections of imported steel pipe have been moving into Granite City, Illinois for use in a 1,600-mile oil pipeline from Alberta to Oklahoma being built by Canadian energy giant TransCanada to carry oil to American refineries from Canada’s tar sand fields.
The local steel mill, meanwhile, has been shut since December for lack of orders - the first time in its 130-year history - and nearly 2,000 workers are on furlough, the New York Times said in a report Thursday titled “Pipe From India Incenses Illinois Town.”
Since a former union official noticed the Indian pipes loaded on a passing freight train, the United Steelworkers union has been trying “to galvanize the Granite City story into national outrage over steel imports, raising suggestions of protectionism in the process,” the Times said.
The union and its workers want steel pipe for future projects to be made in the United States, creating domestic jobs.
With the economy in tatters, top corporate executives often state privately that they fear this downturn will fuel public sentiment against foreign-made products, the Times said. “The imported pipe has inflamed that sentiment.”
The union filed an antidumping lawsuit in Washington last Wednesday against tubular and pipe steel imported from China. A day earlier, workers staged a rally in Granite City, drawing more than 500 people to the same field where the lengths of “Indian pipe,” as the people in the steel town call them, have been stacked.
The union’s hope is that the Indian pipe episode will provoke a broad outcry, and similar finger-pointing, forcing Congress to tighten trade rules and pressuring companies that import steel to buy more from domestic suppliers instead, the daily said.
An American mill provided 30 percent of the pipe, Canadian mills 23 percent and a giant Indian company, Welspun, the remaining 47 percent, at a low enough price, TransCanada says, to compete with American-made pipe, even allowing for shipping.
“American and Canadian mills would have gotten more if they had had the available capacity to meet our requirements,” said Robert Jones, a TransCanada vice president cited by the Times.
[LM1]
http://www.sindhtoday.net/south-asia/87318.htm
----------------------------------------------
note: if you feel strongly about Conoco buying foreign (and Conoco is an international corporation) here is contact information:
ConocoPhillips welcomes questions, comments and suggestions. The corporate headquarters' contact information is available below:
600 North Dairy Ashford (77079-1175)P.O. Box 2197Houston, TX 77252-2197
Phone: 281-293-1000
-----------------------
might wish to drop a dime and and let them know your position of buying foreign steel. It is beyond belief that they did not know their subcontractors were buying foreign steel.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
New cable program to keep track Ed show on MSNBC
There are news shows and commentary shows on cable day and night. One working folks might wish to watch is the Ed Show. Ed's first guest is Leo Gerard This is from AFL blog site:
http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/04/07/ed-schultz-kicks-off-new-msnbc-show-with-usws-gerard/#more-12564
Ed Schultz Kicks off New MSNBC Show with USW’s Gerard
Popular progressive radio show host Ed Schultz, who now anchors ”The Ed Show“ on MSNBC television, hosted Leo Gerard, president of the Steelworkers (USW), on the program’s first installment Monday night.
Gerard told viewers: “We cannot put this country back on its feet by continuing to worship at the knees of the financial community that put us in this mess. We’ve got to go back to start to make things in America; we’ve got to put people back to work; we’ve got to save the auto industry.”
Gerard discussed the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States and what the demise of our auto industry would mean to other sectors. He stressed the need to reform health care and fix our trade policies with China. (Click here for the full interview.)
“The Ed Show” airs Monday through Friday from 6-7 p.m. EDT on MSNBC. Says Schultz:
I look forward to having a day-to-day discussion with fellow Americans on issues that really matter to all of us.
A 30-year radio veteran, Schultz is the top-rated progressive talker on radio and an avid voice for the middle class. His syndicated radio program, “The Ed Schultz Show,” airs live weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. (EDT) with a weekly audience of more than 3 million listeners on 100 stations across the country.
Says MSNBC President Phil Griffin:
Ed’s proven that he can connect with Americans….He has been the breakthrough talent in an industry dominated by conservative voices.
http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/04/07/ed-schultz-kicks-off-new-msnbc-show-with-usws-gerard/#more-12564
Ed Schultz Kicks off New MSNBC Show with USW’s Gerard
Popular progressive radio show host Ed Schultz, who now anchors ”The Ed Show“ on MSNBC television, hosted Leo Gerard, president of the Steelworkers (USW), on the program’s first installment Monday night.
Gerard told viewers: “We cannot put this country back on its feet by continuing to worship at the knees of the financial community that put us in this mess. We’ve got to go back to start to make things in America; we’ve got to put people back to work; we’ve got to save the auto industry.”
Gerard discussed the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States and what the demise of our auto industry would mean to other sectors. He stressed the need to reform health care and fix our trade policies with China. (Click here for the full interview.)
“The Ed Show” airs Monday through Friday from 6-7 p.m. EDT on MSNBC. Says Schultz:
I look forward to having a day-to-day discussion with fellow Americans on issues that really matter to all of us.
A 30-year radio veteran, Schultz is the top-rated progressive talker on radio and an avid voice for the middle class. His syndicated radio program, “The Ed Schultz Show,” airs live weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. (EDT) with a weekly audience of more than 3 million listeners on 100 stations across the country.
Says MSNBC President Phil Griffin:
Ed’s proven that he can connect with Americans….He has been the breakthrough talent in an industry dominated by conservative voices.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
everything comes at a price video
This vid is making the rounds of the internet. Good music and good political points. Recommend you watch.
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