Steel is keeping you safe this holiday weekend
With Memorial Day marking the official start of the summer driving season, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) released an announcement this week about the safety benefits of steel on the road.
During the summer months, US roads see the highest volume of traffic, in turn, implying the highest incidence of car crashes during this period. AISI asserts, however, that numerous lives are saved every year, especially in the summer months, due to the strength of steel and its unique ability to absorb large amounts of energy under impact.
"The steel structure of a car, designed to act much like the steel safety cage of a race car, absorbs the energy created in a crash by both deforming under crash loads and resisting intrusion into the passenger compartment," AISI Vice President of Automotive Applications, Ronald Krupitzer, said in the association's press release.
Krupitzer says that today's vehicles are composed of 62 percent steel, and that number is increasing as high-strength steel technology becomes more advanced.
In addition to its safety aspects, steel advocates like AISI say that today's steels are also the most environmentally-friendly and fuel-efficient choice for automotive materials. In fact, according to AISI, if currently available high-strength steels were applied throughout the current US automobile fleet, greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles would be reduced by approximately 12 percent.
Auto prices set to rise on back of rising steel costs
While steel may be safe, it certainly isn't cheap, and if you are in the market for a new car, your pocketbook will probably be affected by the rallying steel market.
Honda said this week that it is considering raising its vehicle prices for North America to offset the high costs of steel.
Honda expects steel, precious metals and other car-making materials to erode its operating profit significantly this fiscal year, and it is contemplating whether or not to join its competitors and raise the prices for its vehicles.
The automaker is hesitant, however, to make such a change just yet because of the lackluster state of the automotive market. COO of Honda's business management operations Yoichi Hojo recently said that while they are considering raising prices, "it may be difficult to raise prices right away in North America, as market conditions are tough."
Two of Honda's competitors, Toyota and Nissan, have already announced price increases for their vehicles due to the high steel and raw material costs. Toyota will raise prices for North America by 0.7 percent this month for models including the FJ Cruiser and Prius Hybrid. Nissan raised their prices last month for models including the Versa and Pathfinder.
These price hikes may not sound like music to the ears of the American consumer, but it is important to note that automakers are still eating a lot of the raw material costs -- it was also announced this week that Toyota has made an agreement with Nippon Steel to a sheet steel price hike of 30 percent, backdated to April shipments.
House votes to bring back the steel penny
Steel prices may be at all-time highs, but other metals such as copper are even more expensive. For this reason, the US House of Representatives has recently voted to bring back the steel penny.
Currently, it costs the US government, at 1.3 cents per penny, more to produce a penny than the penny is worth. A bill recently approved by the House would direct the US Mint to being producing pennies made out of copper-plated steel, with an anticipated cost of 0.7 cents per penny, instead of the zinc-copper alloy that is currently used.
The bill also calls for the eventual use of steel as the main component of nickels, which currently cost 7.7 cents apiece to make out of copper and nickel.
Advocates say that the changes would save taxpayers over US$1 billion over the next decade, although the Bush administration opposes the plan. The US Mint is also unsure about the bill -- The Mint's director says that the agency is not certain that steel pennies would really be cheaper to produce and that the 270 days that the bill allows for legislation grants to convert the nation to the steel penny is not enough time.
For now, the bill is stuck in the Senate, which has yet to take up the matter.
The last time the US government switched to steel pennies was during World War II, when copper demand was high. Unlike the gray-colored steel pennies produced during the war, the new steel pennies would keep their copper color.
Utah business owner finds unusual way to recycle pieces of steel history
Dave Tuomisto has found an interesting use for pieces of the demolished Geneva Steel mill in Utah -- A "Harley Davidson resort."
This "resort," currently under construction in Lindon, Utah, will include a bike shop, a safety track for driving lessons, a classroom with recliners, a lounge with big screen tvs displaying Harley videos, a gourmet hamburger shop, and most importantly, what Tuomisto calls "pieces of Utah's industrial history."
Tuomisto, a motorcycle business owner that recently started working on a new site for his store as his business had outgrown the old one, had to race demolition crews, who wanted to cut up the steel trusses and plates at the old Geneva site to sell as raw materials. Tuomisto, who saw the pieces as historical artifacts rather than pieces of scrap, was able to take what he wanted and incorporate them into his new business site.
He hopes that his Harley haven will become a Utah County landmark that celebrates the area's steel heritage. Geneva Steel, which operated from 1944 through 2001, and other World War II-era steel mills were a powerful force in shaping the region's history, in Tuomisto's family in particular -- Both his grandfather and grandmother once worked at the mill.
Other pieces of the mill that Tuomisto is incorporating to his new building are oak doors from the plant's administration building, lamps form the mills' rail yards, and even an 11,000-pound water tank.