STEEL MARKET REPORT
embracing such things as full and partial automation, incorporating conductor rails, radio remote controls and data transmission systems, realising that such facility upgrades an easy way for them to boost efficiency, decrease downtime and to ensure worker safety. “It is important for steel producers and
There are concerns that US
steel demand may drop due to President Trump’s tariffs.
He also notes that, in addition to the steelmaking capacity increases by conventional steelmakers, South Korea’s Hyundai Steel, a unit of automaker Hyundai Motor Group, is considering building a steel sheet mill in Louisiana. Piso reveals that, in general, steel companies have been signing more purchase orders for cranes and hoists. “Instead of just mulling it over, they are forging ahead with crane purchases,” he says. He adds that the purchases spread across the whole gamut of products, including both new cranes and crane upgrades. But Piso also adds that there are also other
reasons that crane builders are seeing increased steel-related demand than just additions to steel capacity, including the desire of steel companies to replace or upgrade existing cranes, in some cases with fully or semi-automated cranes. “A lot of steel mills that have old cranes are realising that it is time to upgrade them, whether that means adding a trolley or other features or replacing the entire crane,” he explains. In fact, Conductix-Wampfler’s Roberts says
that he expects to see a stronger focus by steel companies on retrofits and upgrades to existing crane infrastructure rather than widespread investment in new systems. Gorbel’s McNeil says this is coming as some “production critical” companies are looking for more technologically advanced cranes with such capabilities as data collection, troubleshooting and predictive maintenance to make sure that the equipment uptime, and, therefore, steel production uptime, is maximised. McNeil adds that the labour issues affecting all industries, including the steel industry, are pushing companies to buy cranes and other equipment that enhance productivity which enables them to do what they do safely with fewer people. “This is not unique to the steel industry,” he points out, “But something that is occurring throughout the manufacturing sector.” Beilfuss says that with the tools and technologies available today, including more analytics, it is very
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beneficial to steel companies who are looking to increase their capacity and production capabilities. “Automation is really in the forefront,” Piso
states, including the varying levels of automation. He notes that, as far as fully-automated cranes were concerned, it was a few larger steel companies that had been leading the charge, but more recently some smaller companies, including some processors and fabricators, are also going in that direction.
He says that there is greater realisation of the advantages that automated cranes could bring, including better efficiencies, safety and returns on investment, as well as labour considerations. He admits that the cranes that steelmakers buy aren’t the end-all of how they are achieving these goals, and that companies are also buying other technologically sound equipment, but he adds that buying automated cranes definitely helps. Beilfuss says that many steel companies are also looking for cranes that have pre-programmed restricted area controls for no-fly zones – cranes that are pre-programmed to avoid certain obstacles or pieces of machinery automatically as it moves down the runway. “That way, even if the operator isn’t paying careful attention, the crane automatically stops before it runs into something.” He says that steel companies are also interested in buying cranes that have anti-sway capabilities – technologies that allow the crane to safely come to a stop without swaying its load. Beilfuss explains that a pendulum sway of a load could either cause harm to a piece of machinery or hurt workers. “By eliminating such sway, it makes the crane safer and more efficient and, therefore, making the mill’s steel production more efficient,” as, if there is an accident, steel production would have to stop. “Every minute the crane is down, the company is losing money,” Beilfuss points out. “So, by using safety features and automated technology, it helps to prevent downtime and to increase the steel company’s profitability.” Conductix-Wampfler’s Roberts agrees, stating that the US steel industry is increasingly
processors to partner with an equipment vendor who understands the use case for their cranes and how they are integrated into their facility’s processes in order to give them guidance about the right equipment or automation upgrades,” Roberts says. Beilfuss agrees, stating that, while that is not always the case given how heavily worked cranes tend to be in steel mills and that they can only continue to operate for so long, often they can modernise their cranes, bringing them to today’s desired technological level without having to replace the entire crane. That is because a lot that fails or is outdated
tends to be the control systems and other technologies that are part of the crane and often companies can update those technologies without replacing the entire crane. Beilfuss says they can do that by removing the existing controls, motors and brakes and replacing them with new equipment, including new adjustable frequency drives. “When you look at the overall picture the health of the US steel industry, and of manufacturing in general, it will keep on getter better regardless of the administration and what policies will be enacted,” Piso says, adding, “Since manufacturing activity is strong, companies are willing to keep investing.” But given the current level of uncertainty
and the tendency for people to hold off making decisions until they have a clearer picture of what the future holds, McNeil says he can’t say with any confidence what this will mean as far as steel companies’ crane purchases go, especially given that the tariffs are likely to raise steel prices and, given that steel is their biggest cost element, crane prices are expected to move upwards as well. On the other hand, Beilfuss says that given that the tariffs are likely to increase the onshoring of the production of both steel and steel containing products, he believes that will at least eventually result in further investments by US steel companies – both in their industry and in the cranes that they use to produce that steel. As for those cranes, Piso says that the core cranes available now will continue to be the core cranes that steelmakers use for now, but going forward steel companies will be looking for cranes that either have certain currently available technologies or new technologies that crane builders may or may not know about yet. “Cranes are engineered products that will be advanced by what the next technology, software or automation becomes available,” he says. “But, at the end of the day, steel companies will continue to look for cranes to lift their products and move them from point A to point B.”
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