China Steel Cuts Prices - What Does That Mean?
According to a story published on Daniel Rivalin's Bazibaza.com, China Steel will lower prices by 7.08% for January and February due to low demand. It also noted that the lowering of prices was due to "rising uncertainty in the global economy". Not all of China Steel's production is used for manufacturing fasteners, but it is, nevertheless, a factor that affects fastener prices, I would think. One other quote from the article caught my eye. China Steel Corp (CSC), based in Taiwan, was quoted is the article as saying "cheap steel imports have disrupted the order in the domestic market and damaged the interest of all Taiwanese steelmakers". CSC says it "had lodged an anti-dumping complaint against those cheap imports with the government, requesting that the government investigate unfair trade practices that have further depressed domestic steel prices." Isn't that what some refer to as "the pot calling the kettle black"?
I am not sure where these "cheap imports" are coming from but I would have to guess China. How ironic that Taiwan is having issues as Taiwan manufacturers are still part of the Nucor anti-trust litigation. That ruling should be coming up pretty soon, correct?
Also, I have not heard what is happening to import fastener prices but I would think this information will have an effect. If demand is low you would think prices might come down. Is that happening?? For the record, this article was sent to me via Daniel's Worldwide Fastener Weekly News, Nov 21-27 Bazibaza.
If you are not a current subscriber to Daniel's news service, I would recommend highly that you check it out. Each week I get an issue that is filled with fastener news from all around the world. Daniel is based in France and has business concerns in Asia and seems to be the most comprehensive news source for worldwide news. Many other sites offer terrific coverage of the North American market but Daniel seems to be tuned in to many worldwide news sources. This is definitely a news source worth checking out.
To connect to the fastener news site, click here http://fasteners-fixings.bazibaza.com/news . Better yet, I know Daniel is a regular reader. Daniel, please respond and let readers know the best way to access your site. Every news seeking person in the fastener industry should have your site bookmarked as one of the several excellent sources for fastener information.
Happy reading.
Just a quick note to say thanks for the link to Daniel's sight. Two days after reading this blog I had an old fastener friend call me asking where he could find some information on a recent acquisition. I sent him the link to Bazibaza and he was able to find what he needed! Thanks to you both for helping the industry stay informed.
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Fastenergal, this site aims to please. At the service of the fastener industry!
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Dear TS,
First of all, many thanks for your post and I sincerely appreciate.
I am not a journalist, my father was. But I am passionate with that job and our Industry.
I am thankful to all journalists around the world who write high quality articles, in the first place the ones from the fastener magazines. Without them, no news.That's simple.
Your blog is all about bringing ideas, brainstorming, commenting, curating infos like today's post.
This gives added value to the reader to get insights on what a news means.
1/ Curation :
Curation is what I have started to do also, as the editorial process will become more and more important to understand a News in its context and with the insights of the editor.
2/ Widen the sources :
What makes the difference, is to collect news OUTSIDE usual sources, and in other LANGUAGES.
Usually based on keywords watch.
German companies publish often via press releases or industry portals, few in french, very few in spanish, italian, and I don't read yet russian, japanese...
We are citizens of this world, and as such, I believe we shall make the effort to understand what's going on in other parts of the world, even if it is not in english.
3/ Education :
Reading News is part of one's personal education.
BUT, more important would be that subscribers push their colleagues to access this information.
How many buyers in our market read their fastener journal every 2 months ? Read your blog ? Listen to fully threaded radio ?
What struck me if the fact that I usually get only 1 or 2 subscribers per company. The only company that has done real lobbying internally is ARaymond-Tinnerman, with more than 12 or 15 registered subscribers.
4/ More education via professional organisations ?
Some fastener associations in Europe have started to push my news.
But Language being also an issue, I am in the process of proposing translation to associations, at least for the titles of the articles.
Another possibility is to support associations in their process of providing infos to theirs members, with adequate tools.
5/ How to receive the news : 2 ways
- weekly news, standard version
- weekly + daily news
advantage of DAILY news : in 5 seconds, with your morning coffee, you read the headlines and either read further or drop it !
Weekly news is more time consuming, but is only once per week
To subscribe :
Go to http://fasteners-fixings.bazibaza.com/news
but beware, you will need a 2 step subscription process :
- first you subscribe on the page itself in the blue box
- second, in the email that you receive, you NEED TO CLICK on the given link, otherwise the subscription is not complete.
This process is called "double opt in" and is to avoid spam and make sure you agree on me, sending you the infos.
That's it for today
Again many thanks TS for mentionning.
Readers of this blog, please share the good work of all the journalists around the world.
Daniel
Daniel R
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