Vesuvius closures in wake of steel crisis

摘要

The low utilisation of steel capacity in the USA in the face of competing imports from the EU and Asia, and the filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by a number of major producers (including Bethlehem, the third largest), has dealt a severe blow to the world's two refractory industry leaders - RHI AG, and Cookson PLC, the owner of Vesuvius. The US market accounts for the majority of refractory sales for both companies and both are consequently taking or considering drastic action to bring their activities into line with the current climate. The UK steel industry has also performed poorly, resulting in major cutbacks by leading producer, Corus Group.On 26 July this year, Cookson PLC reported a drop in operating profits between 1H 2000 and 1H 2001 from 32.6m pounds. (46.9m pounds.) to 26.6m pounds. (38.3m pounds.) for its ceramics division ie. the Vesuvius business. In that interim report, it was announced that six refractory plants would close with the loss of 360 jobs. At the time, the move was referred to as very much a part of rationalisation due to the ongoing integration of Premier Refractories and Chemicals Inc., acquired from the Alpine Group in 1999 for 410m dollars. However, the US steel industry crisis has broadened the scope of the cutbacks that had originally been planned.