Rotterdam 9 August 2006;
High copper prices lead to theft
With copper prices already exceptionally high mainly caused by soaring demand from China, things are becoming worse. The workers of the largest copper mine in the world, the Escondida mine in Chile (owned by BHP Biliton), decided to strike for higher wages. Prices have risen and are likely to rise even further. Bad news for owners of copper items in the Netherlands.
Yesterday the theft of gasmeter parts (made of copper) in houses in Den Haag (Netherlands) was reported. Passers by smelled gas and called the fire department who discovered the theft. Already on 25 July police in the small village of Olst (also in the Netherlands) was chasing two ‘copper thiefs’ who escaped, but while fleeing lost their bags of stolen copper items. The police in the Dutch town of Katwijk has been more lucky in fighting the ‘copper terrorists’, they arrested a man holding 30 kilograms of copper in a bag.
Not only copper items are in demand. Last weekend, iron seals for the sewage system in Renkum (Netherlands) were stolen, causing a young man (whose identity is unknown) to fall while riding his bicycle.
Are high prices of copper or other ferrous or non-ferrous metals giving you trouble, but stealing is not an option for you? Please send us your requirements by email; info@kommanet.biz or fax: +31 10 4510549. We have been able to produce very competitive offers, mainly sourcing from India, and we would like to do the same for you.
Looking forward to receiving your inquiries.
Rotterdam, April 14th, 2006
40 years vacuum experience in Frankfurt
Columbians Sealing business in Frankfurt
New ambitions for cold drawn seamless tubes producer
Quality flexible hoses at Achema, Frankfurt
Seamless quality from Pakistan
Rotterdam, 27 September 2005
Are your calculations strong enough for Europe?
Valve (body) manufacturers, PAY ATTENTION !!!!
The technical committee of CEN (European Committee for Standardization) concerned with Industrial Valves (CEN/TC 69) already approved three methods concerning calculations for valve bodies and is preparing a fourth.
The first method (EN 12516-1:2005) concerns the tabulation
method for determining the wall thickness of valve bodies with essentially
circular cross-sections made in forged, cast or fabricated steel.
The second part (EN 12516-2:2004) specifies the method for the strength calculation
of the shell with respect to the internal pressure of the valve.
Part three (EN 12516-3:2002) specifies requirements for an experimental method
to prove that samples of valve shells and their body ends have sufficient
pressure containing capability, with an adequate margin of safety.
Still in preparation is part four (EN 12516-4:2005), a calculation method
for valve shells manufactured in metallic materials other than steel.
The full documents can be ordered via NEN:
http://www2.nen.nl/nen/servlet/dispatcher.Dispatcher?id=ABOUT_NEN,
the Dutch Normalisation Institute or one of the other CEN members http://www.cenorm.org/catweb/cwen.htm.
For an overview of work of the Technical committee for Industrial valves, click the link below; http://www.cenorm.org/CENORM/businessdomains/technicalcommitteesworkshops/
Rotterdam, 26 August 2005
Positive trend in compressed air and vacuum technology market
During 2004 the market for compressed air and
vacuum in the Netherlands has grown by 3%. In the sector Compressors this
was even 5% as is shown by the figures of the importers’ association.
Contrary to the general economic prospects this market tends to develop positively.
Worldwide the market for compressed air and vacuum shows a growth figure of
10% in 2004 and is continued in 2005.
A remarkable trend is the use of frequency inverters to drive compressors and reducing the energy consumption by 35%. This is an important step forward as the total cost of ownership of a compressed air plant, 70% of exploitation costs is accounted for by energy consumption. Another strong development is the increased use of oil free compressed air for food- pharmaceutical and vacuum installations as demanded by test and approval institutions.
Rotterdam, 15 July 2005
FLOWEXPO CHINA 2006
FLOWEXPO Invites YOU!!
FLOWEXPO is an International Exhibition on Fluid Engineering and Process Industry and starts on March 29 2006 and lasts for three days.
The following main products (amongst others) will be exhibited
at FLOWEXPO:
Valves, pipings, fittings and pumps.
Since FLOWEXPO was founded, over 1000 suppliers have been attracted to attend this exhibition from over more than 20 countries such as America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, Denmark, Spain, Norway, Korea Singapore and many others.
If you are interested, take a look at http://www.flowexpo.com
Rotterdam, 15 July 2005
Restriction Of certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS)
Directive 2002/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment.
Six hazardous substances are banned from 1 July 2005.
This Directive applies to all electrical and electronic equipment placed on the EU market falling into any of the ten product categories listed in Annex 1A of the WEEE directive. With the exception of electric light bulbs and household luminaries. Two categories NOT included are Medical Devices and Monitoring and Control Instruments. These two categories will come under regular review as required by the EU Commission.
Definition – Electrical and electronic equipment:
Equipment which is dependant on electric currents of electromagnetic fields
in order to work properly* and equipment for the generation, transfer and
measurement of such currents which:
Download the directive at www.ce-mark.com/rohs.pdf
Rotterdam, 21 March 2005
New Requirement for Wood Packaging Materials
Since March 1st new requirements for wood packaging materials
apply to ALL wood packaging material imported into the EU from third countries.
This legislation is also applicable to wood packaging materials that are used
to package or support other products during transport!
Read further and study the links to get all the information.
Reason for these new requirements
The measures are part of the so-called phytosanitary measures that set rules
for the import of plants, plant products and other objects. Wood packaging
material is considered a plant product.
Plants and plant products, such as wood packaging material can cause the spread
of plant pests. The purpose of this legislation is to prevent this spread
within the EU.
The requirements are laid down in Directive
2000/29/EC.
Relevant for which packaging materials
The requirements are applicable to packing cases, boxes, crates, drums and similar packings, pallets, box pallets, other loader boards and palletcollars.
Exempted are:
- raw wood of 6 mm thickness or less and
- processed wood produced with the use of glue, heat and pressure or a combination
thereof.
Requirements as of 1 March 2005
The packaging should:
1. Be treated according to one of the approved methods as
specified in the internationally accepted standard ISPM
15, (International standards for phytosanitary measures) notably:
a. Heat treatment of the wood packaging material that achieves a minimum wood
core temperature of 56 degrees Celsius for a minimum of 30 minutes, or:
b. The wood packaging material should be fumigated with methyl bromide in
alignment with requirements described in ISPM
15.
2. Display a mark with the two-letter ISO country code, a code identifying
the producer and the code identifying the approved measure applied (HT or
MB). The letters "DB" shall be added to the abbreviation of the
approved measure included in the mark in order to indicate that the wood is
debarked.
Regarding the mark, please note that:
a. In the case of wood packaging material manufactured, repaired or recycled, as of 1 March 2005, the logo as specified in Annex II in ISPM 15, has to be included.
b. In the case of wood packaging material manufactured before 1 March 2005 the "old" mark (without the new IPPC-logo) is accepted until December 31st 2007.
c. As of January 1st 2008 only packaging wood labelled with the correct mark including the IPPC (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) logo is allowed to be imported.
Requirements as of 1 March 2006
As of March 1st 2006 the additional requirement applies that round wood packaging material shall be made from debarked round wood. This part of the requirements has been postponed by an amendment published 2 March 2005: Directive 2005/15/EC.
National Plant Protection Organization (NPPO)
Do you have questions about the procedure for treatment
and marking of your wooden packaging materials according to IPSM 15? Contact
your NPPO!
You can find contact details of NPPO’s on: www.ippc.int
under the heading “national”.
Websites for further reading
- Explanation provided by the Dutch enforcement authorities
for this legislation: packaging
wood and dunnage
- Directive
2000/29/EC.
- Directive
2005/15/EC.
- IPPC: www.ippc.int
- IPPC: standard
ISPM 15
- IPPC: national
contact points
Are you interested in other EU market access requirements? Search CBI’s AccessGuide database: www.cbi.nl/accessguide.
For more news visit our website www.kommanet.nl/news.htm
Source: www.cbi.nl/accessguide