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Product category: Metals and Minerals Processing News
News Release from: British Stainless Steel Association
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial Team on 27 April 2004

Director's speech at the BSSA Annual
Lunch 2004

Text of the speech delivered by Duncan Munro the BSSA Director at the BSSA Luncheon held in Sheffield on Thursday 22 April 2004

No-one can accuse our industry of being dull or unexciting - at least over the period of the last few months! A year ago, Corus shares were trading briefly at 4 pence a share: now the Economist is recording that Britain's biggest steelmaker is returning to health under the headline 'Corus reborn' This may due - at least in part - to the interest shown by a Russian business tycoon in acquiring Corus shares

However, it is also symptomatic of what one analyst has described as the most turbulent period in the steel market that they have seen in 25 years.

The reason: an underlying recovery in world demand, which has been gathering momentum since the low point of the current steel cycle in Quarter 1 2002; a recovery accompanied by exceptional growth in China, which has created a shortage of many basic raw materials.

The result: spiralling prices and a bull market.

In the memorable words of one global supplier of stainless steel scrap, present at our lunch today: "we are so bullish, it's frightening!" Markus will shortly provide us with his expert opinion on this unprecedented situation.

But at least our objective within BSSA is relatively straightforward.

It is to develop the UK market for stainless steel, by providing technical advice and training to those interested in using the material, and by communicating the merits of stainless steel across its wide and varied range of applications - from concrete reinforcement to kitchen design, from hospital plumbing to offshore platforms, from medical implants to hi-tech instruments, from food processing to high speed trains, from the humble wall tie to the wonders of Disney world.

Where would we be without stainless steel?.

The major event of last year was our Conference, held here in South Yorkshire at the Magna Science Adventure Centre, in order to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the discovery by Harry Brearley of stainless steel.

We were also able to offer delegates the opportunity to visit two centres of technical excellence, which clearly demonstrate that the creative spirit of Brearley is still very much alive: Castings Technology International - at the leading edge of special metals casting, in terms of both process and design - and Outokumpu Stainless - the UK's primary stainless producer, with a substantial new investment in billet casting, and due to open its new distribution centre this week.

And, symbolic of the way that Sheffield is incorporating its historic connections with stainless steel into its vision for the regeneration of the city centre, a guided visit of the new Millennium Galleries and Winter Gardens.

The theme of the conference was also about the future, rather than the past: 'Stainless Solutions for a Sustainable Future'.

In a full day of presentations, we were challenged by the threats and opportunities of the new sustainability agenda, which is increasingly at the forefront of European and UK government policy-making - although I notice that the Sustainable Development Commission's verdict on progress so far is "making progress, but could do better".

Whatever our personal views, it is an agenda we can no longer afford to sidestep, and the conference helped us to begin the process of engagement.

We often take the credentials of stainless steel for granted - its innate durability and recyclability, as well as its many, other versatile properties.

But when it comes to sustainability, we need to learn to communicate in a new language, and to take the time and effort required to make our case, not only with government and environmental lobbyists, but in the hearts of minds of the wider public.

Who can forget the association that the aluminium industry created in the mind of the public, when it encouraged schools and clubs to collect aluminium cans for recycling? No matter that stainless steel has much better credentials - aluminium is known as the green metal.

In addition to making our case by providing the required level of detailed information, we need to find new ways to capture the public imagination.

The construction sector provides just of many opportunities to put this strategy to good effect.

Last year we published a report by Arup on the use of stainless steel reinforcement in bridges, demonstrating that stainless steel reinforcement can provide a cost-effective solution to the problems presented by corroding highways structures - the Tinsley viaduct here in Sheffield being a prime example.

We commissioned an initial report on stainless steel and sustainable construction, which was published in February.

And we completed our 100th lunchtime seminar for architects, in which we present the excitement of using stainless steel in its many different surfaces finishes and product forms, as well as provide basic guidance on material selection and design.

The provision of technical advice on material selection and design forms part of our wider service to other industry sectors, as well as construction.

During 2003 our telephone, fax and e-mail service handled over 3000 enquiries - an average of 15 per day.

Enquiries come from a wide range of sources - not least the Master Cutler, whose question about where to get the serrated edges of his stainless steel carving knives sharpened we were able to answer.

But we are also justifiably proud of the advice available 24 hours a day on our web site.

The site now includes almost 147 technical articles, a growing library of articles and papers from seminars and conferences, and a buyers' guide of products and services available from our member companies.

With an average of more than 37,000 pages referenced each month, it has become in four years a world leading site for anyone interested in finding out more about stainless steel.

A recent initiative of our Advisory Service has been to revise an out-of-date, as well as out-of-print, guide to stainless steel specifications, last published more than ten yeas ago.

The new "blue" guide, fully updated and expanded to include further information useful to the specifier, was published in January.

It is already establishing itself as indispensable tool, achieving sales of 700 copies in just four months.

I could go for significantly longer in this vein, but I hope that I have done enough to give you a flavour of the Association's activities, which have grown substantially since we re-launched the BSSA just over four years ago.

Measured by turnover, we have trebled the size of the Association during this period, and increased the number of staff from one to four.

But, as everyone in business knows, turnover alone does not guarantee that an enterprise is profitable.

We need therefore to address the key question: to what extent our activities have increased UK demand for stainless steel, relative to competing materials and benchmarked against other markets? In both these regards the jury is still out.

UK demand for stainless flat and long products for conversion into intermediate or finished goods has actually fallen since the peak reached in 1999.

If you put this in context, this is a similar pattern to the market for all UK steel products, but a worse performance for stainless steel than the European average.

We can suggest a number of reasons for this: a sustained manufacturing recession; lack of large scale production of semi-processed products, such as welded tubes; relatively low levels of new investment in sectors buoyant in the 1980s such as oil and gas; transfer of manufacturing outside the UK and the lack of the sort of dynamic industry clusters in household goods seen in Italy and Germany, and increasingly in Spain.

But I believe we must be honest enough to say that the result is disappointing.

Markus will comment on the wider issues of global competition in the new world order and the UK's position on that map.

But I want to close with just a few reflections on how we might respond positively to our UK situation, drawing on the experience gained over the last four years.

First and foremost, I don't believe we should become discouraged by the recent lack of growth.

We know that the last few years have been particularly tough ones for UK manufacturers.

And the construction sector, where we have been active, does tell a more positive story, especially in the commercial and public segments, where stainless steel is increasingly used for its strength and durability, as well as for its versatile, modern appearance.

Our industrial base is spread increasingly thin, but it remains significant - the UK stainless market remains the fifth largest in Europe.

And there are plenty of opportunities for greater use of stainless steel in utility sectors, such as the water industry; in the rapid evolution of new sources of energy generation; in lightweight structures in transport and construction; and in traditional areas of UK economic strength, such as pharmaceuticals and food processing.

So now is the time to build on the critical mass we have achieved over the past four years, recognising that we are seeking to make up for a deficit of investment in market development during the early 1990s.

Our budget is relatively small compared with what has been invested by competing metals such as mild steel and aluminium: and that ignores competing materials.

The plastics industry invests over a million pounds a year in obtaining approval for its products in contact with drinking water alone: our investment to obtain approval for stainless steel was around GBP15,000.

But we are steadily making our presence felt, both through our own efforts and in partnership with others.

How can we improve? In closing, here are one or suggestions to stimulate thought: We need to improve our dialogue with product designers and engineers, both as individuals and with their professional bodies.

Many are still not aware of the potential that stainless steel offers.

We need to be more imaginative in our approach to design at the formative stage, optimising the versatility which stainless steel offers, and recognising the increasing trend towards composite solutions.

We need to create new images for stainless steel.

Not only consumers, but public bodies sensitive to those who elect them, increasingly make choices not simply on the basis of utility - how does it work, but on the basis of symbolic meaning - how does it fit the image which the user wishes to convey.

Moreover, we need to offer innovative supply chains, which are exemplars of the most up-to-date process technology, capable of exploiting economies of scale, as well as providing distinctive value.

Interestingly, the challenges facing us are not so different from those that faced our predecessors 100 years ago.

"Compared to the achievements of other countries, our (industrial) establishments are as backyard workshops to colossal factories" - a comment by a leading industrialist, made not in 2001, but in 1901.

But despite rumours to the contrary, the patient is still alive, as the regeneration of Sheffield city centre and of our Association demonstrates.

The awakening Chinese giant, the birth of new materials, the creation of new technologies, growing environmental pressures - all present the stainless industry with as many opportunities as threats.

I am sure that we will rise to the challenge, just as our predecessors did! 4.

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