BUREAU of STEEL MANUFACTURERS of AUSTRALIA LIMITED Registered Office: Level 6, 205 Pacific Highway, St
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BUREAU OF STEEL MANUFACTURERS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED Registered Office: Level 6, 205 Pacific Highway, St. Leonards, NSW 2065 Post Office Box 1063, Artarmon, NSW Australia 1570 ABN 51 088 933 162 Chairman: D Jenkins Secretary: D Armston First Vice-Chairman: N Gibson Phone: 0419 242 886 Second Vice-Chairman: J Nowlan Fax: 02 8424 9885 Website: www.bosma.org.au Email: [email protected] ______________________________________________________________ 22nd September 2017 cameron.ralph.khoury (CRK) Phil Khoury 03 9421 3111 Email: [email protected] Submission by the Bureau of Steel Manufacturers of Australia (BOSMA) with regard to the Standards Australia Technical Governance Review Issues Paper of 9th August 2017 1. About the Bureau of Steel Manufacturers of Australia The Bureau of Steel Manufacturers of Australia (BOSMA) is the peak body representing the Australian steel manufacturers BlueScope, Moly-Cop and Liberty OneSteel. BOSMA members supply the majority of long and flat steel mill products used in the Australian domestic market. Their steel businesses operate across several hundred sites, servicing customers in a variety of industries, including the building & construction, manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture sectors. BlueScope, Moly-Cop and Liberty OneSteel are companies with Australian and international operations employing around 27,000 people. The three companies have combined revenues in Australia of approximately $8.5 billion and employ around 14,500 people in this country. Total employment in the Australian steel sector, both upstream and downstream, was estimated to be over 100,000 (ABS 2011). The three companies are also major regional employers, including in the Hunter Valley, the Illawarra and Whyalla regions. BlueScope is a global leader in premium branded coated and painted steel products - the third largest manufacturer of painted and coated steel products globally; with great strengths in engineered steel buildings in key markets, and number one in building and construction markets. The Company is 1 committed to deliver value from steelmaking in Australia and New Zealand by remaining cost competitive and continuing to deliver value through the cycle. Today's BlueScope has evolved from the integration of three pioneer companies in the Australian steel industry - Broken Hill Proprietary Ltd (BHP), John Lysaght Australia Pty Ltd (John Lysaght) and Australian Iron & Steel Ltd (AIS) - and the acquisitions of New Zealand Steel, and, in North America, Butler Manufacturing and the IMSA group of companies. BlueScope, formerly a business group within BHP Billiton, became an independent steel company and publicly listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) on Monday 15 July 2002. BlueScope Australia and New Zealand supplies a large percentage of all flat steel products sold in these markets, employing nearly 9,000 employees at more than 50 facilities in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia, and over 50 distribution centres in Australia. Moly-Cop, headquartered in Australia, is the largest worldwide supplier of grinding media, used in mineral extraction and processing, and operates 10 state of the art grinding ball manufacturing facilities with 1.7 million tonnes of annual capacity across Australia, Indonesia, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Canada and the USA. Moly-Cop’s history dates back to the late 1920’s when both Armco (USA) and Comsteel (Australia) independently began to develop what is now clearly recognised as industry leading grinding media products. In January 2017 Moly-Cop was acquired by American Industrial Partners from the Arrium Group. Moly-Cop operates two EAF steel mills in Newcastle, Australia and Edmonton, Canada. In Australia, the Comsteel Steel Mill in Newcastle was established in 1908 and manufactures a variety of steel products. The Australian business includes the market leading Moly-Cop grinding media business and Comsteel is the leading supplier of high quality rail products and other niche steel products as well as the grinding media feedstock. Liberty OneSteel is the largest Australian manufacturer of steel long products, producing approximately 2.5 million tonnes per annum. Liberty OneSteel’s hot rolled structural steel products, rod bar and wire products, pipe and tube, reinforcing steel, and railway track and sleeper products are independently certified to Australian Standards and can be used with confidence in engineering construction, mining infrastructure, residential construction and transport applications. Liberty OneSteel has more than 100 years of expertise in the manufacture and supply of steel products, with a flexible, integrated supply chain with product traceability. The OneSteel businesses were acquired on 1st September 2017 by the GFG Alliance, a global business group including Liberty Steel and SIMEC Mining, focused on metals, mining, energy generation and engineering. The OneSteel businesses now form part of the Liberty Steel Group. Liberty OneSteel remains focused on an unequivocal commitment to outstanding customer service, product quality and safety. Steel is a fundamental building block of any modern society, and a domestic steel manufacturing capability is an important and strategically valuable asset. BlueScope, Moly-Cop and Liberty OneSteel currently have over $3.1 billion in capital invested in Australia and have a proud history of manufacturing quality steel products. The Australian steel industry is highly trade-exposed and is characterised by very low tariffs - which will reduce further under free trade agreements – and major and growing imports from competitors in China, Northeast Asia, South-East Asia, Europe and South Africa. By far the largest producer is 2 China, which dwarfs Australia’s production capacity of about 5 million tonnes or 0.3 percent of global capacity. Since the onset of the global financial crisis, excess global steel output has led to a glut of steel, which has squeezed prices and margins and put sustained and additional pressure on Australian steel manufacturers to keep their production costs to competitive levels. BlueScope, Moly-Cop and Liberty OneSteel have undertaken major structural transformation and further efficiencies and cost reductions are underway. 2. The BOSMA position on Standards Australia Technical Governance BOSMA was founded in 1923 and one of its first activities was to serve on the Council of the Australian Standards Association – now Standards Australia, a position it has held ever since, and one that it regards as an important mechanism to support the workings of the national Standards body. BOSMA has representation on over ninety Standards committees, and is committed to pro-active participation in the Standards process. David Armston as Executive Director of BOSMA has been a member of the Standards Australia Council since 1998. The BOSMA Executive Director is also a member of the steering committee of the Industry Technical Infrastructure Forum (ITIF) which provides a means for peak industry associations and organisations to: a. Discuss, identify and prioritise ITIF common issues relevant to Technical Infrastructure Organisations (TIOs - JAS-ANZ, NATA, NMI & Standards Australia); b. Develop efficient, effective relationships with TIO’s and work constructively and positively in addressing ITIF priority issues; c. Raise issues with the TIOs as appropriate; d. Educate ITIF Members regarding TIO processes and methods of operation. As BOSMA and as an ITIF member we welcome the Standards Australia technical governance review and have been involved in various meetings to assist In developing the review scope. Therefore in principle we are happy with the scope of the review, while our comments on the issues are detailed in italics below using the numbering in the Technical Governance Review Issues paper. 3. Project Initiation Process Question 1: How can the project initiation process be improved? • Is the right balance being struck between accessibility and openness – and rigour of the process? • Could more paths be opened to different types of standards development approval without losing quality, or requiring too much subjective judgement by SA staff? More communication between Standards Australia and nominating organisations and across and between SA committees would improve the initiation, consultation and approval process. Also it would assist effectiveness if the technical committee and approving committee achieved better communication prior to approval. SA needs to accommodate a streamlined path for minor changes/amendments to existing standards as simple changes are not easy under the current process. This is a fundamental requirement that we have been requesting for several years. SA needs to allow industry, Government and consumers to identify Project Proposals that have been submitted, to easily provide their views if necessary, and to identify and track the progression of projects that have been approved, as often they have no idea when a project to develop a new standard or to revise an existing one is in process. 3 The aged standards review process is inadequate and progress poorly communicated, and too large numbers to achieve significant catch up. Needs new thinking. The Withdrawn standards process and status is confusing. Question 2: Would more frequent review of proposals for standards be an advantage? • What issues are you encountering with the frequency of the process? • Would moving to (say) a monthly or quarterly cycle provide worthwhile improvement? Why? • Would staying