Daily Archives: February 25, 2009

Industrial, Industrial Goods, Industrial Supplies, Materials, Metals, Steel

International Steel Returns To Normal Trading Levels Reports Balli Group

Balli Group Chairman, Vahid Alaghband, reports international steel market bottoms out and returns to normal trading levels.

Vahid Alaghband, Group Chairman of Balli Group, one of the world’s largest privately owned independent commodity traders, has stated that he believes the indications are that the international steel market has now bottomed out and is once again experiencing a normal trading environment, albeit at reduced volumes.

The return to regular steel trading confirms that the market has now recovered from the state of paralysis it found itself in last year.

Vahid Alaghband commented: “The international steel trading market is no longer frozen and we expect further stabilisation over the next 6-12 months. The return of normal trading and the relative stability of prices is an important milestone in the recovery of the construction industry and for the global economy.”

Nasser Alaghband, director at Balli Steel, added: “The bottoming out of the market for steel follows a cut in capacity by producers in response to the global downturn in construction and the seasonal fall in demand for the northern hemisphere. The growth of the steel futures markets for construction steel in London and Dubai since 2007 has helped increase price transparency and has enabled decision making on capital investment.”

Major steel consumers – property developers, construction firms and ship builders – welcomed the growth of the futures market for steel as it provides them with a means of controlling risk by enabling users and suppliers to lock in prices and avoid losses.

Balli Steel experienced good trading levels in Q4 (2008) and expects Q1 to be slower, partially due to seasonal variations in the market. Near normal market conditions are predicted for the second half of the year.

Nasser Alaghband observed: “The market became incredibly difficult and almost non-existent early in 2008 as demand, principally from the construction industry evaporated in response to the global financial crisis. The situation eased during the third quarter and by Q4 the market began to trade again in a normal fashion.”

“One major obstacle to European trade is the loss of access to credit insurance as insurers such as Euler Hermes and Atradius re-evaluate their exposures in deteriorating economic conditions”, Nasser concluded.

About Balli Group plc

Balli Holdings, is a large private, multi-national corporation, headquartered in London, but with offices in Dubai and other key business hubs around the world.

Balli was established in 1982 and operates a number of affiliated companies specialising in commodity trading, industrial, real estate and private equity with operations in over 20 countries. Together with its affiliated companies, Balli employ over 2,000 people worldwide.

Balli Steel is the company’s principal operating subsidiary, and is one of the largest independent traders of steel in the world. Balli Steel provides raw materials and steel to a number of market segments including steel mills, steel service centres, pipe and tube makers, the oil and gas industry and other designated end user segments such as the packaging products industry.

The company’s real estate operations currently have a property portfolio of over $3billion, comprised of over 900,000 sq ft of property under development with a Gross Development Value of some $800million, and an additional 2million sq ft and a GDV of almost $2.5billion in the pipeline.

Via EPR Network
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Electric, Industrial, Industrial Supplies, Lighting, Manufacturer, Safety

FotoLum Reflective & Photo Luminescent Vinyl Fire Service Products Provide Improved Safety for First Responders

Fire Fighters are a special breed apart. When everyone is running out of a burning building to save their own lives, fire fighters run in, risking theirs to save others. The lethal dangers inherent in dark, smoky spaces are many. Teamwork is critical for survival and success. A key component in teamwork is knowing where everyone is located.

FotoLum – a leading manufacturer of propriety high-grade photo luminescent vinyl combined with 3M light reflective overlay and 3M double backed adhesive designed for fire applications – has already proven that its products save lives. FotoLum photo luminescent and reflective helmet patches, crescents, equipment and SCBA strips perform at such a high level, fire departments using them attest to their effectiveness. 3M’s quality adhesive eliminates edge-curling on the patches.

Here’s what one fire fighter had to say:
“I have been using the new helmet decals you gave us for a while now. I have had a chance to observe them at 2 fires that we had. In a dark smoke filled apartment fire we had, they were the only thing visible on the firefighters beside me. I have been impressed with their visibility and would recommend them to anyone interested in wearing them.”

Roger Joyner – Dallas Fire/Rescue ( Please visit fotolum.com/testimonials.html for more testimonials )

FotoLumâ„¢ fire service products take safety to the next level by illuminating for hours. By applying the products to uniforms and equipment, entry team members can maintain visual contact in low light and dark, smoky conditions without depending upon a flashlight.

The USA-made FotoLumâ„¢ fire helmet trapezoids shown brightly on FDNY helmets in the safe rescue of passengers from US Airways Flight 1549 Airbus after its emergency landing in the Hudson River, January 15, 2009, and have played key safety roles in fire departments around the country.

FotoLum Fire Service Photo Luminescent /3M Reflective Products include:

• Helmet Patches

• Helmet Crescents

• Letters and Number for Identification

• SCBA Cylinder Patches

• Equipment Strips

• Custom Velcro backed Shields

All products feature superior performance:

• Charge in any natural or artificial light source

• Fully charged products glow for hours

• Illumination of patches allow team members to maintain visual contact

• Retro-reflective overlay provides a bright white flash to any direct light source

FotoLumâ„¢ can customize the products to individual fire department specifications. Patches and SCBA Strips can feature custom lettering, such as city name and even engine number to ensure proper return after a mutual response fire. FotoLum has even provided sequentially numbered labels to facilitate cylinder inventory control.

Firefighter Donation Program
Over the last year, this program has given companies and individuals the ability to thank their local and volunteer fire departments by donating patches to express their appreciation. Patrons simply click on a FotoLum web site link, order the patches and strips, indicate the fire department of choice. FotoLum ships the products out with a certificate of appreciation from the donor.

Via EPR Network
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Engineering, Engineers, Industrial, Industrial Engineering, Industrial Services, Infrastructure

Hays Engineering Heralds Engineering Infrastructure Boost

The significant investment in the UK’s infrastructure continues to bolster demand for specialist engineering skills, according to the leading specialist recruitment consultancy, Hays Engineering. Those professionals who can demonstrate experience working on the railways, highways, bridges, in transport planning, or in environmental and drainage roles are all highly sought after by employers.

The upgrading of the rail infrastructure has bolstered demand for rail engineers: projects are varied and can encompass station design and refurbishment to resignalling and maintenance schemes. The Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) or High Speed 1 (HS1) link is a prominent example of major investment in the rail industry. “Rail, signal and electrification engineers are all keenly sought specialist skills. Roles for rail engineers exist at all levels of experience, from graduate and intermediate through to senior engineering jobs appointments,” said Sean Fitzgerald, senior consultant at Hays Engineering.

The recent spate of flooding that has wreaked havoc across parts of the UK has reinforced the need for land drainage and flood defence expertise, as local authorities and the Environment Agency work closely to mitigate the damaging effects of future flooding by conducting flood risk and alleviation studies. “The demand for land drainage engineers has spiralled and the recommendations from Sir Michael Pitt’s Flood Review final report (2008) have only added to the importance of these specialist roles,” stressed Grant Edwards, manager for Hays Engineering.

Transport planning and modelling expertise is another specialist area that is in demand, as the need for assessing the transport impact of developments, traffic and people flow in and around the UK’s major conurbations becomes ever greater. “Technical modelling skills and knowledge of industry simulation and traffic modelling packages, such Vissim, Vissum, Saturn and Transyt are all prized skill sets,” commented Katherine Whipps, Manager at Hays Engineering.

The assessment and inspection of bridge structures has also created opportunities for qualified structural bridge engineers and bridge inspectors to work on the UK’s canals and estuaries. “Knowledge of bridge design software and the BS5400 cod of practice are pre-requisites,” added Katherine Whipps.

While engineering recruitment has slowed in some sectors as the result of the economic downturn, continued investment in the UK’s infrastructure has not affected the demand for drainage, rail, highways, bridges, environmental and transport engineers. All roles require experience and typically knowledge of sector specific design packages but employers are also looking for individuals with excellent communication and people skills who can also demonstrate leadership potential.

 

About Hays Engineering
Hays Engineering is part of Hays plc, the leading global specialist recruitment group, and specialises in engineering jobs including traffic engineering jobs and rail engineering jobs. Hays are market leader in the UK and Australia, and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe. On 30 June 2008, the Group employed 8,872 staff operating from 393 offices in 27 countries across 17 specialisms.

For the year ended 30 June 2008:
– the Group had revenues of £2.5 billion, net fees of £786.8 million and operating profit before exceptional items of £253.8 million;
– the Group placed around 80,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 300,000 people into temporary assignments;
– the temporary placement business represented 49% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 51% of net fees.

Via EPR Network
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