Around mid July 2016, Fairfax Media raised the spectre of NZ ‘steel dumping’ claims on imports from China. The response from our Prime Minister was to play it down, whilst MBIE would not even confirm or deny whether it had received two complaints from NZ producers. Trade Minister Todd McClay, whilst in Indonesia, said it…
As previously announced the terms of HERA Executive members Mike Lehan, John Frear, Thomas Neitzert, Craig Stevenson, and Paul Bryant expire with the upcoming September AGM. Additionally member Peter Hutton handed in his resignation effective the September AGM, and therefore HERA has six vacancies on the HERA Executive. The nominations of HERA member representatives to…
As members may have heard from Radio New Zealand’s interview of Stewart Askey on 19 August 2016 -concerns have again been raised on the quality of steel imports. Whilst the interview was largely on steel products used in reinforced concrete construction, comments were made in the closing remarks about sub-standard structural bolts. The Kathryn Ryan-led interview outlined in a…
The concern of skills shortages is something worrying many businesses around the world, and for the New Zealand engineering sector it’s no different. We’re starting to see serious skills gaps in our workforce which could strongly affect our ability to deliver quality work for our future pipeline. To address those and other issues COMPETENZ has…
Long gone are the barriers separating New Zealand and Australia from doing business together – and nothing showcases this more than our recent attendance at the Australian Steel Research Hub workshop where we were invited to share our expertise with industry leaders across Australasia. Aug52016 Not only was this a fantastic networking opportunity to identify…
The steel industry continues to face a challenging economic environment due to the economic slowdown in China, volatility in financial markets, sluggish growth in global trade, and low prices of oil and other commodities. In the first quarter of 2016, per the World Steel Association, global steel production decreased 3.6% to 386 metric tons (Mt)…
“Yes We Can” says the recently held and aptly named symposium of low carbon associations – of which HERA is an active part. As a research levy funded organisation, R&D is in our blood. Our focus on clean energy technology development through our AGGAT programme and upcoming foray into the wave and tidal space, made our…
It’s hard to ignore that the metal industries biggest clients and influencers are government and the public sector – if we want to successfully work with them, knowing the ins and outs of how they operate and think when it comes to procurement is a no brainer. But is our model good? Does it compare…
Everyone has their views when it comes to the 2016 Budget. “Funding lift a thrill for scientists,” NZ Herald. “Top-ups for research bodies part of (business) growth agenda,” Minister Steven Joyce. “It’s likely that business will be feeling more rather than less confident,” BusinessNZ CEO Kirk Hope. “Budget 2016 held few surprises for business and sent a strong…
During the last month, HERA asked members to endorse or reject a draft policy statement that “all critical building work independent of building material should be required to have reliable third party verification enforced by the MBIE-driven regulatory framework”. With the support of SCNZ, HERA described a pathway for a joint journey to get to…
In response to recent media coverage involving allegations that some building products are unfit for purpose or non-compliant with the Building Code, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has established a dedicated email address to collect product complaints for analysis and investigation. Even though a number of concerns have been raised in the…
We work in an industry based on well-established and traditional materials. Metals have been fabricated for millennia. Applications have historically ranged from warfare, tooling, building and construction and are now evolving into emerging applications such as geothermal energy extraction and biomedical technologies. Metals, such as steel, are known for their high strength, ductility, and formability.…