Uses: In the most general sense, wire is used to bear mechanical loads, electricity, telecommunications signals.

Formation: Wire is formed by drawing metal through a hole in a draw plate or die of cast iron or steel. (Very fine wires may be drawn through ruby or diamond plates.)

Measurement: Wire gauge measures the size (diameter or cross-section) and indicates the amount or weight, electric current, and/or electrical resistance per unit of length it can safely carry.

Variations: The term “wire” can refer to a single metal strand as well as a bundle of strands (aka wire rope or cable).

Forms: Wire comes in solid-core, stranded, and braided forms. Most are circular in cross-section, but it can also be made in flattened rectangular, square, or hexagonal cross-sections.

• Solid-core or single-strand wire consists of one piece of metal wire. It provides more mechanical ruggedness than it does flexibility, and it’s cheaper to manufacture than are other forms.
• Stranded wire is composed of multiple strands of small-gauge wire bundled together to form a larger conductor. It is more flexible than solid wire and is a better conductor due to the collective surface area of the individual wires.
• Braided wire consists of a number of small wire strands braided together. Braided wires are strong. The more individual strands in the wire bundle, the more flexible, break-resistant, and kink-resistant the wire is. (And the more expensive it is to produce.)

Uses: There is not enough room here to list all of the uses for wire.

• Wire is a primary raw material of important manufacturing industries, including wire netting, engineered springs, wire rope and wire cloth (i.e. wire mesh).
• Wire is used in vast quantities for telephone and data cables, for heating, and for conducting electrical power. It is in tremendous demand for use in fences, cages, suspension bridges, and engineered springs.
• Wire can be found in stringed musical instruments, as well as scientific instruments. It is used to make hairpins, fish hooks, rivets, nails, and jewelry. There are, in fact, few industries that do not use wire in some capacity.

Composition: The best metals for wire making are ductile and strong in tension and include platinum, silver, iron, aluminum, copper, gold, brass, and bronze. Special-purpose wire (e.g. for light bulbs), may be made from other metals, such as tungsten.

Metal wire and wire mesh are common imports from China. These imports can be customized to suit the specific needs of a U.S. business and can be found in ordinary items everywhere: shopping carts, property fences, and home décor, to name just a few.

Working with an experienced importer enables American companies to ensure that they acquire quality wire products. Walker has been working with a first-rate metal wire and wire mesh manufacturer/exporter in China for nearly 20 years. Walker’s partner is ISO certified and produces more than 20,000 metric tons of steel rod annually.

Beyond Walker’s partnership with a quality manufacturer is our expertise in the logistics of getting metal wire and wire mesh from China to the U.S. Walker manages the cross-cultural communications, the overseas transit, and the journey through customs to make sure quality products arrives in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Contact Walker for your metal wire and wire mesh needs.

ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal is the result of the 2006 merger of Arcelor and Mittal Steel. The company boasts nearly a quarter of a million employees and produces 10 percent of the world’s steel. While its headquarters are located in Luxembourg, ArcelorMittal has operations in more than 60 countries.

NSSMC

In 2012, Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal merged to create NSSMC (Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation. NSSMC produces steel for a wide span of industries, including construction, energy, and automobile. The company employs more than 80,000 employees across 15 countries.

Hebei Iron and Steel Group

Founded in 2008, Hebei Iron and Steel Group Company (HBIS) is a state-owned business. HBIS is headquartered in the Shijiazhuang, Hebei region of China. The company’s 125,000 employees produce 30 million tons of steel every year. HBIS specializes in bar, welded pipe, galvanized plate, wire rod, hot-rolled plate, and cold-rolled steel.

Baosteel

Headquartered in Pudong, Shanghai, China, Baosteel employees more than 130,000 and exports to more than 40 countries. The company is primarily focused on stainless steel, carbon steel, and special steel for use in industries such as energy, machine manufacture, automobile, transportation, astronautics, and electronic instruments.

Wuhan Iron and Steel Group

Founded in 1958, Wuhan Iron and Steel Group Corporation was China’s first major steel producer. The company is located in Wuhan, Hubei, China, and produces plate products, wire rod products, profile products and hot- and cold-rolled products.

Pohang Iron and Steel Company

Better known as POSCO, Pohang Iron and Steel Company was founded in 1968. POSCO is headquartered in Pohang, South Korea, and produces about 40 million tons of crude steel annually. POSCO’s major output is flat steel, long steel, plates and wires.

Jiangsu Shagang

Jiangsu Shagang is a privately owned company in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China. Formed in 1975, Jiangsu Shagang produces an annual 18 million tons of wire rods, rebar, slabs and hot-rolled coils.

Domestic importers can choose from an endless list of suppliers for their metal needs. Finding the steel manufacturer that best suits their needs is the challenging part. Fortunately, Walker World Trade knows how it should be done.

Walker helps importers identify and touch base with the right global sources. Companies can focus on doing business and leave the logistics to WWT. With almost 80 years of experience, Walker fully understands the obstacles facing international traders: language barriers, customs and duties concerns, prototyping, freight, and all of the complexities of getting products across an ocean.

If your business is ready to tap in to the world’s tremendous metals market, then a call to Walker World Trade is a logical first step. Contact Walker today to get started. 

“Dumping” occurs when imports are sold in the U.S. at less than fair market value. The exporters are able to sell at low prices, oftentimes thanks to subsidies provided through foreign government programs, and that creates big problems for U.S. industries.

Aluminum die castings are just one of many imported goods that are dumped. But it’s important to keep in mind that aluminum products themselves are not the issue… the real problem lies with the exporters. (Click here for a list of China exporters most recently under review for their trading practices.) Under the Tariff Act of 1930, U.S. industries can petition the government for relief from dumped imports.

The U.S. Department of Commerce imposes a protectionist tariff, anti-dumping duty, on foreign imports that are priced below fair market value. Anti-dumping duties often exceed 100 percent. As an importer, you do not want to be involved with dumpers.

With the help of an international trade manager, you can avoid the guilty exporters. Your trade manager has identified reputable manufacturers who are not trying to undercut prices and are thus not subject to anti-dumping tariffs.

Protect yourself. Contact Walker World Trade for a list of reliable China manufacturers of aluminum die castings.

Anti-Dumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions Filed

Six major U.S. steelmakers – U.S. Steel, AK Steel, Steel Dynamics, Nucor, and ArcelorMittal USA – filed anti-dumping and countervailing duty petitions with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission.

The steelmakers complain that five countries are illegally dumping cheap corrosion-resistant steel and causing material injury to the nation’s steel industry. The United Steelworkers union supports the petitions, which target China, India, South Korea, Italy, and Taiwan.

Corrosion-resistant steel is coated with metals such as zinc or aluminum to extend the service life of products made from such the steel, including appliances, vehicles, and industrial and agricultural equipment. Imports of corrosion-resistant steel from the above five countries soared 85 percent (more than $2.2 billion) between 2012 and 2014.

Will Tariffs Be Imposed on Imports?

Low production costs enable overseas producers, particularly China, to sell their products at cheap rates, leading to an industry-wide price decline in the U.S., hurting margins and earnings power. The petitions charge that the steel exporters benefit from countervailing subsidies from their governments, 48 subsidy programs in China alone. Domestic producers will continue to struggle if tariffs are not imposed on imports.

American steel companies want Congress to take action against illegal foreign trade practices. Will this affect your import-export transactions? That depends on who you’re doing business with. Before you source metals from China (or any foreign country), consult a professional sourcing agent to make sure that your imports are within the codes of international trade. The sourcing agent, or international trade manager, will make sure you’re not dealing with dumpers.

Protect your business while protecting the U.S. steel industry: contact Walker World Trade today. 

In 2014, U.S. steelmakers filed 38 trade cases, according to the Wall Street Journal. It’s the highest number of complaints since 2001. The current cases, only two of which have been resolved, involve an array of metal products, including gas drilling pipes and electrical transformer parts.

The U.S. government backed the steelmakers back in 2001, calling for higher tariffs and penalties on unfairly traded steel. The recent increase in trade complaints has incited calls for new import tariffs to protect American businesses.

The cause of the tremendous growth in steel imports (up 36 percent in the first quarter of 2015 over the same period last year) is two-fold: 1) U.S. demand reflects a rebound in the auto industry, and 2) international exporters have cut prices in response to oversupply.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing reports that the world’s steel industry is equipped to produce more than a half-billion tons more steel than is made. The report indicated that China, whose April 2015 steel exports reached their highest level since 2008, is largely to blame. In response, the China Iron and Steel Association said that it is globally competitive and does not encourage high-volume steel exports but rather just aims to fulfill demand.

Ordering foreign steel can be risky. Discounts are typically favorable, but real-time pricing is difficult to gauge. Having a qualified international trade manager to oversee these transactions can help tremendously.

You can focus on running your business while the complexities and challenges of specs, prototypes, ordering, overseas transit, customs, and duties are handled by the trade manager who is equipped to deal with cultural and language barriers, shipping consolidation, and critical paperwork.

Walker World Trade has been in the import-export business since 1936. We have established outstanding relationships with reputable suppliers and carriers and can make it easy for you to bring affordable metal products from there to here. No headaches. No hassle.

Contact Walker to talk about how we can help you navigate the ever-changing world of steel importing.

In years past, China metal exporters appealed to their U.S.-based customers thanks to tax regulations, subsidies, cheap labor, and a currency advantage. More recently, however, the exchange rate is declining and China’s inflation rate (which consistently exceeds that of the U.S.) has pushed up the cost of Chinese parts.

The gap between U.S. and Chinese labor wages, meanwhile, is beginning to narrow. China’s wages are rising rapidly and the value of China’s Yuan is increasing as well. Experts predict that the net labor costs of the two nations will be more or less equal by 2016. This, along with “hidden costs,” should be considered carefully by U.S. companies sourcing metal from China.

U.S. manufacturers know all-too-well what some of these hidden costs are: quality controls, tooling failures, power shortages, lead times, legal liabilities, and technology issues, among others. Each of these factors in and of itself impacts China’s cost advantage — combined with the exchange rate, labor wage, and inflation issues means that importing metal from China may be approaching cost-prohibitive status.

Before you source metal products from a China supplier, make sure you fully understand the cost of procurement. An experienced international trade manager is on top of these ever-changing variables and can help you determine what the true cost of your materials will be.

Contact Walker World Trade, experts in doing business with China, for your metal import needs.

Finding a China supplier is as easy as an internet search, but finding the right supplier is far more complex. And that’s where Walker World Trade can help. Walker has been connecting importers and exporters since 1936 — decades’ worth of experience in finding reputable, trustworthy China sources is our business.

Once you’ve been connected with a metals supplier, there is still a lot of work to do. Walker can help you every step of the way. From prototypes and quality control to freight forwarding and customs, we ensure timely delivery of quality metal products from your chosen supplier to your desired destination.

Your focus can remain on your business. Walker can oversee the behind-the-scenes details of getting exactly what you want from there to here — details that include dealing with language barriers, cultural differences, factory inspections, shipping management and more. You don’t have to worry about those things because we do.

Don’t proceed with an offshore metal manufacturer before you talk to us. We promise to make your dealings with die castings, metal stampings, wire, mesh, fittings or whatever metals you need the lest of your worries.

Contact Walker World Trade today to source your China metal supplier.