Steel Strip

Steel demand is a bit sluggish in the UK and Europe generally at the moment. This continues to be reflected in prices, which have slipped. Whilst I think it is unlikely that they will fall back further, neither would I expect anything like the increases being forecast earlier in the year.
I was speaking with Haddon [...]

I have spent more time setting up this web-log than actually writing any content, so I was seriously “pissed” when I discovered that it’s disappearance was not temporary, but permanent when my ISP’s disk array went Kaput on Friday. I supposed (wrongly as it happens) that they would have a “back-up” that could be restored, [...]

I’m seriously miffed at the moment. I’ve been using wordpress to produce weblogs which were hosted on my cgi space at plusnet.
Link has been down most of the day, but I checked on their status page and it said “routine maintenance” so no worry!
It’s now beginning to look like their cgi server is fecked and [...]

It’s going over “old” ground but I have some issues with the cost of keeping up to date, with steel specifications. If I had to buy a copy of every international standard to cover all the grades we receive enquiries for, then I would need a turnover the size of Microsoft to support our library.
Since [...]

I have always been aware of the fact that most goods can be bought at better prices on the internet than on the high street. I have booked my flights and purchased “downloadable” software on the net for years, but I have always been a bit wary of buying goods on the net, as I [...]

The situation at Rover worsens
Production has halted at Rover’s Longbridge factory
MG Rover has suspended production at its Longbridge plant amid a shortage of component parts.
Suppliers of components are believed to have stopped supplying the company because of the uncertainty surrounding the carmaker’s future.
The output halt comes as the group is locked in crucial talks [...]

Meps is reporting Steel Strip producers are having difficulties imposing Q2 price increases.
The general weak market conditions in the strip mill segment extended into March and expectations of price increases of around 15.00 eur a tonne in the second quarter look as though they will be difficult to achieve, according to the latest forecasts from [...]

I had to go to ASDA again yesterday, my “other half” hates shopping, which suits me really, as I can get round the supermarket in ten minutes flat, and it means no Bank Holiday’s being dragged round the sales. I needed something that I could “nuke” for my dinner as Ellen is away visiting her [...]

I have worked out the next romantic holiday destination to impress “her indoors”
More than 1,000 jobs will be created in Dudley with an ambitious tourism scheme aiming to make the area’s canal system rival that of Venice and Amsterdam.
No it’s not April the first, but I spotted this little gem in the Express and [...]

The steel industry is about as “heavy” as heavy industry can get, and considering its raw material consists of iron ore, coke, acid, chemicals and heat, it’s a pretty dirty industry. Neither has it built a reputation for making its shareholders fabulously wealthy. It comes as a bit of a surprise then to see that [...]