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CARBON STEEL PRICES HIT RECORD HIGH
EU steel prices showed a remarkably strong recovery over the first half of this year. Despite the summer slowdown, the latest figures are now in some cases above the peak values reached in the previous cycle. This is an important development.
The uprush in steel prices in 2004 ran at an unprecedented pace and intensity. Between September 2003 and December 2004, average European steel values increased by a dramatic 91 percent in US dollar terms.
Such high steel prices were widely considered as a one-off. No-one then wo
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AIRLINE FARE MARGIN PRESSURE FROM TIGHT SECURITY
Airlines, already lowering fares in response to softening demand this autumn, face additional pressure on margins from tighter security measures after this week's foiled bomb threat, experts said.
New restrictions on carry-on baggage, including banning liquids ranging from toothpaste to bottled water, are creating a variety of profit-sapping headaches for airlines, including the need to stock more drinks on board and handle additional baggage.
Those requirements are forcing the airlines to backtrack on services th
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MERGER CREATES WORLD'S LEADING STEEL COMPANY
Following extensive discussions, Mittal Steel Company has agreed with Arcelor to combine the two companies in a merger of equals to create the world's leading steel company. The combined group, to be domiciled and headquartered in Luxembourg, will be named Arcelor Mittal.
Arcelor Mittal will hold the number one position in the global steel industry with steel-making capacity of 120 million tonnes, an exceptional raw material resource with a high degree of iron-ore self sufficiency, the financial strength to support
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CALLS FOR A STAND AGAINST PROTECTIONISM
Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, has urged countries to stand up to calls for protectionism and to take action to make trade fairer as well as freer.
Speaking in Washington to the US Chamber of Commerce, he said:
"We have a choice: to retreat behind national borders and hope that barriers can keep the effects of globalisation at bay or to have confidence in our ability to face the challenges head on and to make globalisation a force for good."
He told American politicians and business
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UNION REJECTS LONGER WORK WEEK AT VW
VW's human resources chief, Horst Neumann recently said that should Volkswagen increase the work week to 35 hours from a current 28.8 hours, then its top-selling Golf model could be built in competitive conditions at its main plant in Wolfsburg.
However, Juergen Peters, the head of Germany's largest trade union, IG Metall, rejected these plans to extend working hours without compensation at its six loss-making western German plants. "One cannot actually believe that we would embrace an unpaid extension of work time,"
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BRITAIN'S TIGHTER CO2 GOAL STILL MISSES TARGET
Britain has said it will cut carbon emissions under phase two of the European Emissions Trading Scheme by nearly three percent from the first phase which expires next year, but admitted it will still miss its own targets.
Environment Secretary David Miliband told parliament the annual quota of emissions permits between 2008 and 2012 will fall to 238 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Earlier this year, after a long fight with the Department of Industry which wanted only small cuts, DEFRA set out a range of possible
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DON'T BLAME US FOR ENERGY SUPPLY WOES, SAYS RUSSIA
Russia has launched a robust defence of its reliability as an energy supplier, saying sky-high oil prices had resulted from soaring demand rather than supply disruptions.
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin backed Gazprom's drive into foreign energy markets, and said the gas monopoly was not to blame for a gas price dispute with Ukraine which hit exports to Europe for the first time in 40 years.
Russia, which supplies a quarter of Europe's gas, came under fire for turning down the gas taps to Ukraine for two days in Jan
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NORTH SEA INTEREST HIGHEST FOR 35 YEARS
A 35-year record 147 applications by 121 companies for new UK oil and gas exploration and production licences point to a continuing strong interest in the North Sea, Applications for the non-traditional 'promote' licence, specifically designed to encourage newer and smaller firms to enter the sector, exceeded last year's, as did applications for 'traditional' licences.
The oil and gas government and industry partnership PILOT's annual report, describes improvements to the business climate for smaller oil and gas firms
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EXPERTS SAY EXPANDED NUCLEAR POWER CAN CURB EMISSIONS
Expanding the use of nuclear power could play a big role in curbing greenhouse gas emissions and help create a sustainable energy future, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The Paris-based IEA, adviser to 26 industrialised nations, said that increased use of nuclear power still faced obstacles including high capital costs, public opposition and safety fears, but said that development of a new fourth generation of reactors aimed to address these issues.
?¨Assuming that these concerns are met, increas
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MORE AIRLINES BANNED FROM OPERATING IN EU SKIES
The European Union has banned three more airlines from operating in the 25-nation bloc and put restrictions on a fourth, updating its blacklist of carriers to try to boost safety in European skies.
The executive European Commission said Suriname-based Blue Wing and Kyrgyzstan's Sky Gate International would be banned from operating in the EU. The Commission also added Star Jet of Kyrgyzstan to the list of banned carriers because it was the same company as Star Air of Sierra Leone, which had already been banned within th
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Furness and West Cumbria’s West Coast is about to experience a major investment that will strengthen the tourism and industry s ...
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No smoke without fire
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Innovation for the nations
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Supposedly the construction
materials of the future, composites are increasingly seen in
applications where optimum efficiency is paramount including
aircraft construction and renewable energy. As two research
examples show in this video, composites really are the future
for efficiency.
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