|
INDUSTRY NEWS TRI Fall Membership Meeting Wrap Up The TRI Fall Membership Meeting was held October 10-11 in Pittsburgh. About fifty industry executives were in attendance. In addition to the traditional reception and buffet, the meeting featured a half day program of guest speakers as well as a roundtable discussion between the TRI Board of Directors and members of the Associates Committee which addressed, among other issues, availability of Chinese raw materials essential to refractory manufacture. Featured speakers included Tom Murphy of RMS McGladrey who discussed the 2007 Manufacturing and Wholesale Distribution Survey conducted by the company. The survey, the second conducted by RMS McGladrey, measures manufacturers’ and distributors’ opinions and attitudes on a range of issues, from overall satisfaction with business performance to such topics as anticipated percentage increases in healthcare and energy costs. Dr. Charles Semler updated his work on the Chinese and Japanese refractories industries and also discussed a number of refractory customer sectors like steel and cement. Dr. Zbigniew Czajkiewicz of the Center for Applied Research in Engineering and Science at Robert Morris University discussed lean manufacturing and Six Sigma and briefed the group on manufacturing support available at Robert Morris. Mike Baroody, former senior vice president of the National Association of Manufacturers, concluded the program with a sobering assessment of the prospects for the business agenda in this and the coming Congress. Electronic versions of the Semler, Murphy, and Czajkiewicz presentations are available to TRI members. E-mail requests to rob@refractoriesinstitute.org. The American Ceramic Society has introduced a new online employment center. The new ACerS Career Center offers employers targeted access to quality ceramic and materials professionals, along with quick and easy job posting and online job activity reports. The Center offers job seekers free and confidential resume posting, easy job application, automated e-mail notification of new job listings, and the ability to save jobs for later review. Almatis has announced that Dubai International Capital LLC ("DIC") has agreed to acquire the company from its current owners Rhône Capital and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan. DIC will be working closely with the existing Almatis management team and further support its global growth strategy. Martin Laudenbach, Chief Executive of Almatis, said: "We are excited about Dubai International Capital's decision to invest in Almatis. After almost 4 years of highly successful growth under the ownership of Rhône Capital and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, DIC's decision marks the beginning of the next phase in the development of Almatis. The support and commitment of DIC will allow us to continue our successful growth strategy, significantly expanding our global capacity, moving into emerging markets and providing our customers with high-performance alumina specialties around the world." For more information go to: http://www.almatis.com/news/press-releases/Cookson Confirms Approach to Foseco In an October 2, 2007 news release, Cookson PLC confirmed that it has made a conditional indicative proposal to the board of Foseco PLC to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Foseco at 295 pence per share in cash. On the basis of discussions held to date, the board of Foseco has agreed that Cookson can undertake certain due diligence. Cookson advises that there can be no certainty that Cookson’s indicative proposal will ultimately result in any offer or transaction. Fibercon Representation Agreement Fibercon International has announced that Possehl Erzkontor GmbH will be its new European representative. George Mitchell, President of Fibercon said, "After an extensive search for a European partner we found this organization to fit our needs perfectly. With Possehl's reputation in this marketplace, we feel confident with our decision. We look forward to continuing and expanding the presence of our product line in Europe". Fibercon will retain its office and staff in Loughborough in the United Kingdom. REGULATORY OSHA Hearing on Personal Protective Equipment Rule The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has scheduled a hearing on December 4 in Washington as part of its ongoing process to update its regulations on personal protective equipment. The agency has been working on the regulations since 2004 and is now in the third phase of the effort, focusing on replacing national consensus standards with OSHA-specific language. The agency has proposed retaining the national consensus standards only as examples of good practice. Industry has raised objections to the proposed switch, saying that it will lead to confusion. National consensus standards have long been the backbone of many OSHA regulations, as the agency process to develop its own rules is exceedingly slow.LEGISLATIVE/LEGAL Climate Change Legislation Introduced “America’s Climate Security Act of 2007” (S. 2191) has been introduced by Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Senator John Warner (R-VA). The bill would cap U.S. emissions at 2005 levels by 2012, and then require emissions to be cut by 70% from those levels by 2050. The legislation would require all emitters of 10,000 tons of carbon annually to report their emission levels to EPA for inclusion in a registry of such emissions. The bill uses a system of allowances and credits and auctions. Non-U.S companies who export to this country would be covered as well. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) is promising what he calls “the mother of all tax proposals”. The proposal calls for a cut in the corporate income tax rate, but is expected to replace the lost revenue with other tax changes, including elimination of an existing tax deduction for domestic manufacturing activity, repeal of the last in-first out (LIFO) method of accounting, and new expense allocation rules. Rangel also wants to repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax for individuals and make up the loss in income by repealing the Bush tax cuts for high income taxpayers. CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS IREFCON 44th Annual Symposium on Refractories AISTech 2008 TRI Spring Membership Meeting 2nd International Conference on Ceramics |