New President for NASS
16/04/2008
NEW MAN OF STEEL FOR NASS
NASS has a new President - John Brierley has been appointed to the role after four decades of experience in the steel industry.
Mr. Brierley, who lives in Derbyshire, has spent the past fifteen years working for Brown McFarlane Ltd. and has been Managing Director at that well known Stoke-on-Trent based company since 2005. A committed and active NASS member, Mr. Brierley has been Chairman of NASS’ Plate & Processing Group since January 2007 and was elected as Vice-President of the Association in April of that year. He is current Chairman of NEASS and was also Chairman of NWASS from 1998-2000.
Mr. Brierley is succeeding Bob Law, ArcelorMittal, who has held the position since April 2006. Mr. Law will still remain as an active member of NASS in his position as Immediate Past President.
Mr. Brierley said: “It is a great honour for me to take up this position with NASS, and I feel very proud to represent a very important part of the supply chain for the British manufacturing industry.
“I consider myself fortunate in taking over in a period that sees our industry heading for a fifth consecutive year of growth and profits; indeed in my 40+ years in this sector I have never known such a sustained period of prosperity. The market is always our first thought and I see no reason why 2008 will not be another very good year.
“However, as always, there are threats on the horizon - the recently released CIPS survey showed manufacturing output at a 15 month low and inflationary pressures both in input and output prices. The construction industry looks increasingly vulnerable, with architects reporting confidence at a 10 year low. It is difficult to see how the impact of the “credit crunch” will not impact our industry; the first signs are there with lower sales of cars and consumer goods. Therefore I believe that we should start preparing for a slow down in 2009, that means that our industry needs to understand the impact of rising prices in their business. We still see many companies selling steel at below its replacement costs - this will, in the end, make them vulnerable when the market does turn down.
“One of the major impacts on our current market is the value of the Euro against Sterling; the indications are this is likely to continue at current levels for the foreseeable future. In my other role as Chairman of NEASS, last week’s AGM brought a request for price increases from mills on all steel products, as European producers were not currently interested in selling in the UK at our current price levels. With a very large percentage of our steel coming from importers we could see a shortage of steel in the UK if our price levels are unattractive to them.
“The continuing evolution of the future role of NASS is something that will occupy a considerable amount of my thoughts over the next 2 years. I believe one of the major areas in which we can provide guidance and give assistance is in field of Health and Safety. Our guidelines are now accepted as the industry standard by the Health and Safety Executive; it is also likely they may be adopted throughout the European Steel distribution market - a magnificent vote of confidence for our organisation and particularly the work of its Health and Safety committee.
“In conclusion, the industry has come a long way in the last 5 years; I think the best way of illustrating this is that the scrap price of steel is now equal to the cost of finished steel in 2003. We have all learnt to work with the supplying mills to ensure the total prosperity of the sector, and this has benefited not only ourselves and our suppliers but as importantly our customers, who now have a robust supporting supply chain enabling them to carry low inventories and invest in their own specialities rather than processing raw steel.”
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