“Ford could build Kuga, Escape in state - Cincinnati.com” plus 4 more

Ford could build Kuga, Escape in state - Cincinnati.com
Steel’s demand, price strength peaked back in August - Purchasing.com
A Fire Scare for Tata Motor' Low-Cost Nano - BusinessWeek
50th Annual O'Reilly AutoRama in Houston to Feature Major Firepower ... - PR-USA.net
Sports today - Salt Lake Tribune

Ford could build Kuga, Escape in state - Cincinnati.com

Posted: 23 Oct 2009 07:06 AM PDT

Ford Motor Co. is expected to build a new version of the Escape at the Louisville Assembly Plant in late 2011, followed by manufacture of the Kuga, a miniature crossover sport utility vehicle built on a chassis used now in the Focus, a source familiar with the company's plans said Thursday.

The comments came in response to an earlier report by Bloomberg News that the source said was "a little off." Bloomberg said Ford will begin manufacturing up to 80,000 of the Kuga crossovers in Louisville in October 2011 for export to Europe, moving production from Saarlouis, Germany to take advantage of cheaper labor costs made possible by the falling value of the U.S. dollar against the euro.

Ford has long made plain its commitment to convert the Fern Valley Road plant from making SUVs to smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles compatible with its Focus "C" platform. Those makes include the Kuga CUV, the C-MAX minivan, the Volvo C30, Volvo S40 and the Mazda3.

Ford's only North American plant now equipped to assemble "C" platform vehicles is the Michigan Assembly Plant. The Louisville Assembly renovation could cost up to $500 million.

Ford officials declined Thursday to talk about what vehicle or vehicles would be built at Louisville Assembly in lieu of the Explorer, which lost popularity along with other SUVs.

"We are not confirming what the product is," Ford spokesman Mark Truby said. "We have said that we are going to retool that plant to bring a future C segment plant in 2011."

But the possibility that Ford will make vehicles here for European export, in addition to North America, would be a boon to Louisville — which until 2008 feared that Ford would close the plant, said Chris Poynter, a spokesman for Mayor Jerry Abramson.

"We know it is going to be a smaller crossover vehicle, but we don't know the actual name of it. We know it is coming sometime in 2011 or 2012," Poynter said. "We know it will save jobs at Ford and potentially create new ones."

Built on the same platform, the Escape and the Kuga "are essentially the same vehicle," said Michael Robinet, an analyst with CSM Worldwide, an automotive forecasting firm. The Kuga "might be styled different for European tastes," he said.

Ford's future product plans were a keystone of recent negotiations with the United Auto Workers for concessions to match costs at General Motors, Chrysler and Toyota.

The agreement reached by Ford and the union Oct. 13 committed to producing a vehicle at Louisville Assembly "with significant export volume."

That pact awaits a ratification vote by UAW members nationwide. Voting is scheduled for late next week at Louisville Assembly and the Kentucky Truck Plant on Chamberlain Lane.

The National Ford Council, composed of UAW leadership and lead contract negotiators, has recommended that workers accept the deal, which also guarantees that Kentucky Truck will continue to produce the Expedition SUV "through the current product cycle," along with the F-Series Super Duty trucks.

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Steel’s demand, price strength peaked back in August - Purchasing.com

Posted: 23 Oct 2009 06:59 AM PDT

Industrial Production for September was (again) better-than-expected, at 0.7% growth and the August index was also revised up. Credit last month's jump in production to the auto industry: motor vehicle output rose 8.1% as assemblies of autos and light trucks increased 13.0% to 7.15 million vehicles.

So, will October's IP moderate due to an assumed slower-paced auto sector? Not so fast…manufacturing, ex-autos, increased 0.4%, the third straight monthly gain and is up at a 7.5% annual rate. Impressive…let's hope it holds up. Meanwhile, the factory operating rate climbed to 67.5% in September but remained 12.1% below its 1972-2008 average. For the third quarter, manufacturing output advanced at an annual rate of 7.1%.

Related to the above, the latest service center report on steel shipments and inventories has a number of folks questioning steel's strength this quarter. As reported, North American service center inventories increased last month, according to the Metal Service Center Institute, and the first such stock increase since August 2008, most notably in flat-rolled products. As the data also revealed, total North American steel shipments were slightly higher by some 0.3% in September while the North American inventory tonnage gained 3.1%.

For the U.S., September service center shipments of all steel products totaled nearly 2.6 million tons, while monthly steel inventories, which peaked at about 13 million tons in August 2008, rose for the first month since then to 5.79 million tons, 3% higher than at end-August, noted the MSCI. At current shipping rates, that represents a 2.3-months supply.

Pricing pressure is growing for finished steel? So it would seem: Steel Market Update sources, for example, have observed that a growing number of steel mills are negotiating lower steel prices with pricing momentum said to be clearly for lower prices as many mills abandon any thoughts of $600/ton for hot-rolled sheet in coil. Mills,

Obviously, are also resisting this but some buyers are nevertheless predicting $500/ton HR going forward.

Steel Market Update placed the HR reference price at $540/ton, f.o.b., east of the Rockies. Platts is in general agreement with HR, currently figured by them at $530/ton, while KeyBank has spot HR in the $540-550/short ton range, after hitting $570 in September. We do not have a clear price picture for November orders, but we do see production higher next month and ferrous scrap prices lower-especially in the absence of aggressive offshore buying. The RMDAS October average for No.1 HMS (heavy melt scrap) was figured by them at $245/gross ton delivered.

And finally on ferrous scrap, during yesterday's analysts' conference call with Nucor, Executive Vice President Keith Grass remarked: "We've seen pricing move down in October and that was as a result of certainly reduced domestic demand and also a falloff in the export demand. So export market had driven a lot of the scrap market most of this year until the domestic business kicked in early this quarter. Starting to see a drop-off. I imagine that's going to continue around the 30 days or so."

In nonferrous, over the past week, Reuters surveyed some 28 analysts, asking their views on the London Metals Exchange base metals complex for this year and next. Here's a summary of what they're thinking in terms of annual averages for 2010: Aluminum, 88.7¢/lb; copper, $2.95; lead, 95.5¢/lb; nickel, $8.39/lb; tin, $7.22/lb; zinc, 89.5¢/lb

A look ahead

Here's an early look at the "Marketrends" column in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of Scrap our favorite magazine:

Aluminum: Demand projections for this year envision another decline in global aluminum consumption, as well as a multimillion-ton surplus at year's end. Though year-on-year comparisons point to statistical market weakness, aluminum demand has improved markedly from earlier lows and currently is outpacing this year's new primary production. Analysts also note that a large percentage of LME aluminum inventories are being held as collateral and, thus, are not readily available, adding further evidence that global aluminum fundamentals are far more constructive than they appear. For producers and scrap recyclers, price prospects going into 2010 are looking more encouraging.

Copper: Recent price forecasts see LME cash copper averaging around $3/lb next year but still below the $3.18 average in 2008. For the remainder of this year, copper will continue to be overly influenced by China's moderating imports of refined metal, potential South American mine supply disruptions, changes in global copper inventories, real demand for copper units and currency considerations. In the near term, market watchers expect to see prices for copper drift lower in the final quarter, but most also believe that the global supply-and-demand fundamental picture points to higher monthly averages in the medium term, despite an anticipated global surplus of refined copper next year.

Iron and Steel: Following a positive second quarter, domestic steel market momentum stalled midway through the third quarter, with finished steel prices and scrap said to be ahead of market realities. As a result, the consensus view is that the U.S. market is oversupplied compared with demand entering the seasonally slower fourth quarter. Though there is some downside price risk in the final months of this year, partly due to lower usage from the automotive sector, market watchers do not expect a fourth quarter price collapse. Meanwhile, China's raw steel output continues to grow, temporarily exceeding demand and providing strong incentives to export, which some insist will negatively affect near-term prices.

Lead: Lead was the surprising star price performer in the third quarter as well as year-to-date. Demand remains positive as the industry enters the seasonally strong fourth quarter, aided by a steady domestic replacement battery market and strong Chinese auto sales. Supply disruptions in China continue to provide price support in the fourth quarter, with anecdotal evidence suggesting that the country has shuttered some 420,000 metric tons of smelter production due to environmental issues. The International Lead and Zinc Study Group (Lisbon), however, reports that the world refined lead market will post an 80,000-metric ton surplus this year and just over 100,000 metric tons in 2010.

Nickel and Stainless Steel: Reported improvements in end-use demand for nickel and growing evidence that the Sudbury and Voisey's Bay mine closures in Canada will last until year's end are encouraging some near-term buying, despite LME inventories that are at levels last seen in March 1995. Market participants see signs of improvement in demand by developed nations and restocking in the stainless steel sector, which could-some contend-move the global nickel market from surplus to deficit. To date, however, the domestic stainless market remains soft, with lower scrap price forecasts at the start of the fourth quarter.

Zinc: LME cash zinc was the second-best performer in the third quarter, in part due to mine closures in China that have included lead and zinc co-production operations. Nevertheless, rising supply and inventories elsewhere were undeniable factors in the third quarter, suggesting that zinc prices will be hard-pressed to continue their firming trend. Though zinc's inventory position has improved thanks to higher demand, the global market surplus for this year is widening. ILZSG data indicate that the world supply of refined zinc will exceed demand by 380,000 metric tons this year and 227,000 metric tons in 2010.

Due to next week's BIR meeting in Amsterdam, we will not be publishing a report next Friday. Bummer, we know.

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A Fire Scare for Tata Motor' Low-Cost Nano - BusinessWeek

Posted: 23 Oct 2009 06:30 AM PDT

Indian automaker says it won't be issuing a recall but it may need to check all the Nanos it has sold after defects cause several fires

By Chanchal Pal Chauhan

Tata Motors said it may undertake a pre-emptive check on the 7,500-odd Nanos that have been delivered till date, after a faulty combination switch in the world's cheapest car resulted in fires in at least three cases across the country.

Three cases of fire in the car had been reported in the past few days in Delhi, Lucknow and Ahmedabad. There were no reports of injury or loss of life in any of the incidents.

The country's largest manufacturer of cars and trucks by sales, however, said it was not considering a recall of the car for the time being. It said its experts will check all the cars with customers, purely as a precautionary measure. Unlike in the US and European car markets, recall of cars is not mandatory in India, even in cases of technical faults.

"There seems to be some minor problem in the combination switch area. Of the two cars that we have had access to, this caused smoke and localised melting of plastic parts," said Tata Motors spokesman Debashish Ray, who chose to play down the incidents.

The company, which started delivering the Nano in July, said it was not considering any re-engineering in the car despite the fact that the fires were caused by a common problem in all the cases. The cars were stationary when the fires were reported. Tata Motors has not started to export the car yet. It refused to share the number of Nanos parked at its Pantnagar factory in Uttrakhand and those with dealers.

Sunil Kumar, the owner of the car that caught fire in Delhi, has sought compensation from Tata Motors. Another Nano owner, RH Rizvi in Lucknow, said, "I had parked my car at the parking lot of a shopping complex near my residence. Within moments I was informed by the parking attendant that the car was on fire. There was thick smoke in the cabin and I failed to douse the fire."

In a similar incident, another Tata Nano caught fire in Ahmedabad last month due to some technical fault in the battery.

Technical experts blame the position of the battery for such incidents. "It's quite a serious issue as the fuse and the main circuit breaker should have had gone off before the fire. There could be over-rated electrical parts in the car, which led to the fire," said a former official with the Automotive Research Association of India.

The Nano, which is priced in the range of Rs 1.2 lakh to Rs 1.7 lakh in Delhi (ex showroom), is the cheapest car in the world by a large margin.

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50th Annual O'Reilly AutoRama in Houston to Feature Major Firepower ... - PR-USA.net

Posted: 23 Oct 2009 06:09 AM PDT

The annual O'Reilly AutoRama® presented by Super Start Batteries will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Nov. 26-29, 2009, in downtown Houston. The Thanksgiving weekend event, which is one of the largest and longest running indoor car shows in the United States, will feature a salute to the past five decades, as well as a stellar lineup of custom cars, motorcycles, racecars, tuners, trucks and family entertainment at the George R. Brown Convention Center at 1001 Avenida De Las Americas. The O'Reilly AutoRama is sanctioned by the International Show Car Association (ISCA).

A 50th anniversary reception will be held on Friday, Nov. 27 to recognize the individuals and local car clubs who have helped produce the show for decades.

"I'm proud that AutoRama has become such an important part of the culture in Houston that we're now celebrating our golden anniversary," said Bob Larivee Jr., CEO of Championship Auto Shows Inc. "For over 50 years, enthusiasts of every age have celebrated their passion for the automobile at AutoRama. Many of them have grown up with the show and now bring their kids and grandkids."

A new highlight at the 2009 show will be a GlowoRama parade in conjunction with Art Cars of Houston Inc. A collection of illuminated Houston art cars will parade down Avenida De Las Americas in front of the convention center at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 28. A party will follow the parade inside Hall A of the convention center.

Additional attractions will include an automotive swap meet and toy show, AutoRama Women's World, an All American Motorcycle Show, the Tuner Galleria for imports and the Chevy Vette Fest section. One of the most anticipated displays will be the Ol' Skool Rodz with over 100 traditional rods.

Feature cars will include the legendary ZINGER Corvette and Volkswagen, the Hudson Hornet from the hit movie "Cars," "El Tiki" from the pages of "Ol' Skool Rodz" and the "Ratical Rod" street coupe. The top show cars in North America will also be on display as part of the ISCA Championship Finals.

"Custom cars are king at the Houston AutoRama," added Larviee. "We have a fine group of area cars and award-winning national vehicles lined up for the show this year."

The Action Arena will be staged outdoors behind the convention center this year. Highlights will be a "Cacklefest" for 1960s vintage nitro dragsters, an AutoRama Burnout Competition and XSBA Streetbike Freestyle Shows. Celebrities scheduled to appear include the Houston Texans Cheerleaders, Houston Rockets Power Dancers and Clutch the Bear mascot, the Texas Bikini Team, SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer.

About the O'Reilly AutoRama in Houston

The 50th annual O'Reilly AutoRama presented by Super Start Batteries in Houston is sponsored by O'Reilly Auto Parts and is part of the Summit Racing Show Car Series. Event hours are Thursday from 3-9 p.m.; Friday from 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Saturday from 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; and Sunday from 11a.m.-7 p.m. Discount tickets are available at Houston-area O'Reilly Auto Parts stores; regular admission tickets may be purchased at the George R. Brown Convention Center with children five years old and under admitted for free. Additional information about the show is available at www.autorama.com.

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