Steel news of the week - Americas

Steel news of the week - Americas

Governator travels to China for steel and wizardry This week, Arnold "The Governator" Schwarzenegger visited BaoSteel, China's largest steel plant, on his six day trade mission to promote California products and services in China. Governor Schwarzenegger applauded BaoSteel's use of environmentally friendly technology, produced by Califonia-based engineering and design company McWong International. "I think if you expect change from one day to the next it won't happen," Schwarzenegger said after touring Shanghai's BaoSteel plant. Governor Schwarzenegger later that night walked the red carpet at the Shanghai premiere of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." Ford recalls 220'000 vehicles, steel partially to blame! Ford Motor Company recalled 220'000 vehicles Wednesday because of concerns regarding a battery cable that may be a fire hazard, and a fuel tank scrap that could separate after a certain period of time. The cars affected by the battery cable recall include more than 98'000 Ford Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town car, and Mercury Grand Marquis sedans built from March 2004 through February 2005. Cars affected by the fuel strap recall include more than 123'000 Ford Freestyle vehicles, Ford Five Hundred sedans, and Mercury Montego vehicles, produced from January through June 2005. Ford found that the strap's manufacturer switched to a weaker grade of steel in early 2004 which did not meet the company’s durability tests. Ford would not name the manufacturer. After the vehicles are recalled, Ford dealers will inspect the vehicles and fix them at no additional cost. Olympia Steel Buildings and NASCAR team up Olympia Steel Buildings, an industry leader in pre-engineered steel buildings, has teamed up with the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) for a corporate sponsorship, NASCAR is greeing to sport the Olympia logo on their cars and driver uniforms. Olympia has also launched a new company web site for NASCAR fans. "Branding is the name of the game," said Arnold Davis, owner of Olympia. “We expect great things from our NASCAR partnership - NASCAR fans are right in our target customer demographics.” Santa Maria Steel to help ease freight congestion In Santa Rosa, California, officials of Santa Maria Steel LLC have unveiled a plan to carry freight containers through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by ship rather that trucks. The company provided this solution in response to the cogestion and gridlock-causing freight trucks on Interstate 580, which stretches from the Port of Oakland to the Port of Stockton. Santa Maria Steel will use European-designed cargo ships, which are much smaller than the freighters used now on the Stockton deep-water channel. The ships will also use up to 75 percent less fuel than the trucks they will replace. Details still need to be worked out, but executives believe that this solution will help save time and frustration for both freight truck drivers and other motorists on the freeway.