AUTOMATION UPDATE

-- Plant Engineering, 1/8/2008 7:24:00 AM

Germany: November manufacturing orders up, beating estimates

German manufacturing orders rose a seasonally adjusted 3.4% in November from October, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Economics and Technology.

Economists polled by Thomson Financial News had forecast a month-on-month drop of 2.1 pct.

The ministry also confirmed its previously announced figure of a 4.0%  rise in October.

 South Korea sees productivity surge

South Korea's manufacturing productivity rose 14.8% in the third quarter from the previous year, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said Jan. 8. This compared to an 8.7% increase in the prior quarter.

IT sector led the growth with a 25.3% increase, followed by heavy industries, which expanded 15.4%. The report said that productivity in non-IT areas rose 7.3% in the third quarter, while SMEs showed a 5.9% increase.

Sectors of electronic parts, audio and video equipment and communications equipment industries grew 22.3%, while electric machines and transducer manufacturing business reported an average gain of 10.2%. Autos and trailers were up 7.5%, while productivity of transportation and wood manufacturing sectors declined in the third quarter.

AAM: Chinese stell, energy subsidies hurting market

A new report commissioned by the Alliance for American Manufacturing, the Chinese government has boosted its steel output over the last three years through what it called "massive, trade-distorting energy subsidies."  According to the report, even after China’s entry to the World Trade Organization in 2002, energy subsidies grew, totaling $25.07 billion through mid-year 2007.  

“Chinese subsidies exist, they are enormous and they are shaping the global steel market,” said the report’s author, Usha C. V. Haley, Ph.D.  “China has identified steel as a strategic industry, and both the central and provincial governments have decided to ramp up steel production with massive subsidies that have now been confirmed.”

China is the largest producer and consumer of steel in the world, accounting for 40% of the global market, the report states. In 2005, China went from a net steel importer to a steel exporter.  In 2006, China became the largest steel exporter in the world by volume, up from fifth largest in 2005.  
“This shift from a net importer to the largest exporter in a span of only two or three years is staggering,” said Dr. Haley.  “Our analysis shows that energy subsidies have a very strong correlation with Chinese steel exports.  In fact, the connection is so clear that, essentially, it’s possible to almost perfectly predict China’s steel exports from its energy subsidies.”

“These subsidies need to be urgently addressed and remedied by Congress and the Administration,” said Scott Paul, AAM’s executive director.  “They’re typical of China’s brazen subsidization as well as illegal practices like currency manipulation.  China shipped 5.4 million tons of steel to the U.S. in 2006, more than double the amount in 2005.  Washington needs to take strong action to correct this one-sided approach to trade which has given Beijing an unfair competitive advantage while harming American businesses and workers.”

Middle East manufacturing event highlights region's growth
A deal between Europe’s biggest machine tool distributor and the Gulf Co-operation Council with a free zone company based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates was one of the highlights of the first Middle East Manufacturing Exhibition (MEMEX) in Abu Dhabi in December.

The agreement between Spain’s Correa-Anayak and Sharjah’s Thompson International FZC was one of several made at MEMEX, with 84% of exhibitors successful in generating new business leads, according to the official survey carried out for organisers IIR Middle East.

“As the inaugural MEMEX clearly demonstrates, Gulf countries are investing heavily in the expansion of industrial manufacturing,” said Trevor Punt, group exhibition director. “Most GCC countries are reducing economic dependence on oil and gas by setting up industrial zones to stimulate growth in manufacturing.”

One of the major growth areas is in machine tools with demand forecast to rise by a huge 39% to $4.3 billion by 2012. Correa-Anayak is one of the leading industrial groups in Europe with a multi-million euro turnover in the design and manufacture of milling machines for the aerospace, railway, energy and general mechanical sectors.

Coatings company invests $10M in Chinese site
Paint and coatings industry supplier Rohm and Haas Company  launched operations of its new manufacturing plant in Sanshui, Guangdong Province, China on Jan. 8. To date, the company has invested approximately USD $10 million in this site, which will make products based on acrylic emulsion technology. This is a significant milestone for Rohm and Haas’s strategic footprint in China and further demonstrates the company’s commitment to the South China coatings market.

“South China comprises 40 percent of China’s total coatings industry. This huge market potential, along with our global expertise as the world’s leading supplier of materials for the paint and coatings industry, brings us here. We are most grateful to the Sanshui government for their support. Our success here would not be possible without them,” said Helen Zhang, Greater China General Manager, Rohm and Haas Paint and Coatings Materials.