Chinese steel for narrowboats

[DeanS]

I KNOW this is salt on a very open wound, but...

 

will this drop the price of overplating boats..

drop the price of manufacturing boats....

lure steel manufacturers to import Chinese steel, and become boatbuilders...(wouldn't that be nice)...

 

 

and lastly....

 

could anyone actually bring themselves to buy a canal boat made with Chinese steel........

[Guest]

I KNOW this is salt on a very open wound, but...

 

will this drop the price of overplating boats..

drop the price of manufacturing boats....

lure steel manufacturers to import Chinese steel, and become boatbuilders...(wouldn't that be nice)...

 

 

and lastly....

 

could anyone actually bring themselves to buy a canal boat made with Chinese steel........

 

Have you not heard of East West boats?

 

Plenty of boats made from Chinese steel are already on the system.

 

http://www.eastwestmarine.co.uk/about-us.html

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=25029&hl=china

Edited October 20, 2015 by MJG

[BGA]

I'm having a new boat built, do I ask if its made with Chinese steel and have an everlasting guilt trip or do I just leave the question unasked and live in peace in my ignorance :-) probably the latter.

[Athy]

 

Have you not heard of East West boats?

 

Plenty of boats made from Chinese steel are already on the system.

 

http://www.eastwestmarine.co.uk/about-us.html

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=25029&hl=china

I didn't know that they were still made. The web site does look a bit out of date: for example, it mentions Harral Brokerage as one of their agents. Unfortunately, Harral closed down some three or four years ago.

I'm having a new boat built, do I ask if its made with Chinese steel and have an everlasting guilt trip or do I just leave the question unasked and live in peace in my ignorance :-) probably the latter.

I remember thinking along similar lines when eating corned beef during the Falklands War.

[ditchcrawler]

I suppose you could always specify British steel and pay a premium. I would suspect builders just order steel from a stockholder and providing its not wrinkly take whats delivered.

[Athy]

I suppose you could always specify British steel and pay a premium. I would suspect builders just order steel from a stockholder and providing its not wrinkly take whats delivered.

I guess that the point behind the opening post is that, the way that things are going, steel production in Great Britain may cease entirely before very long - two major shutdowns in as many months (or is it weeks?) does not bode well for the industry.

 

But I presume, though I don't know, that steel is made in other EEC countries and can be imported here, so there may be chinks of light in the pervading gloom.

[Tiggs]

Do we even make steel any more? (other than special steels that I know we do make)

 

And why would you want to use low quality British steel, when you can get Japanese or German - but are probably getting Polish.

 

BGA, you should specify the steel for you boat to the appropriate ISO standard and not worry where it is coming from.

 

Fit more anodes!

Edited October 20, 2015 by Tiggs

[onionbargee]

Chinese steel in the recent past was internationally rated as "abysmal" quality. They have had a programme of quality control now, and some definite standards I beleive, but I would not be happy with my long term investment of tens of thousands of pounds being built with Chinese steel, unless it was made to European standard, with independent certification to prove it. Finding it needs over plating after 10 years would be a bad day. Which a surveyor I spoke to told me he has found on a Polish built wide beam.

 

Not worth the risk.

[Paul C]

Steel is a commodity product made to a specification. The country of origin does not affect the quality, so long as the steel properly meets the spec. You could specify British steel but I doubt if the hull builder would be able to specifically obtain it - maybe someone knows what the remaining British steel plants actually produce, in terms of spec and size - then you'd know if its possible or not. Since the price of steel is low, the Chinese influence has already taken effect on overplating repair prices - although of course, the raw material cost is only a proportion of the total cost.

[MtB]

Chinese steel in the recent past was internationally rated as "abysmal" quality. They have had a programme of quality control now, and some definite standards I beleive, but I would not be happy with my long term investment of tens of thousands of pounds being built with Chinese steel, unless it was made to European standard, with independent certification to prove it. Finding it needs over plating after 10 years would be a bad day. Which a surveyor I spoke to told me he has found on a Polish built wide beam.

 

Not worth the risk.

 

 

You're not mixing up Polish steel with Chinese steel now, are you?

[Tim Lewis]

Chinese steel in the recent past was internationally rated as "abysmal" quality. They have had a programme of quality control now, and some definite standards I beleive, but I would not be happy with my long term investment of tens of thousands of pounds being built with Chinese steel, unless it was made to European standard, with independent certification to prove it. Finding it needs over plating after 10 years would be a bad day. Which a surveyor I spoke to told me he has found on a Polish built wide beam.

 

Not worth the risk.

Nearly half the steel used in reinforced concrete in the UK is sourced from China so if you are really worried about it you shouldn't enter any new buildings ?

[bizzard]

Why not just plump for a steel chimney coolie hat for the time being to see how it lasts. You can't go wong at only about a fiver.

[Laurie Booth]

Why not just plump for a steel chimney coolie hat for the time being to see how it lasts. You can't go wong at only about a fiver.

Where can I get a coolie for a forged fiver.

[onionbargee]

Nearly half the steel used in reinforced concrete in the UK is sourced from China so if you are really worried about it you shouldn't enter any new buildings ?

Some products are quality controlled by European companies, some are not, re bar I would guess comes with certification if its going to be used in a tower block ?

 

TATA took over British steel to learn how to make a decent quality product.

[Victor Vectis]

ETA Thought better of it.

Edited October 20, 2015 by Victor Vectis

[kris88]

It looks like the timing of tata's announcement of job loses in the uk because of cheap Chinese steel, is political. Coincides with UK plc sucking up to China's leader. Tata has invested a lot of money In the uk. India and China don't get on.

 

Regards kris

[Murflynn]

Some products are quality controlled by European companies, some are not, re bar I would guess comes with certification if its going to be used in a tower block ?

 

 

you would guess right, but linking a batch of steel with a specific certificate, and ensuring that the certificate is genuine and actually represents the tests that were properly undertaken, is not so easy.

 

On a recent project in India we had a reputable international certifying agency whose representative was resident at the Indian pipe mill where pipes were made specifically for our project. It came to light that he almost never visited the pipe mill, but spent most of his time 'relaxing' in his company accommodation on the site. Word was that the manufacturer's pipe mill QC manager would pass the day's test certificates under the door of his room and later he would pass them back, duly signed and stamped on behalf off the certifying agency.

 

It wasn't Lloyds, before you ask.

[zenataomm]

I see no reason to concern yourself about Chinese boats, they're built to: -

 

All our boats are examined by an independant third party to ensure all the boats comply with the BS and IWA regulations.

 

According to East/West website.

[Athy]

I see no reason to concern yourself about Chinese boats, they're built to: -

 

All our boats are examined by an independant third party to ensure all the boats comply with the BS and IWA regulations.

 

According to East/West website.

Is that just a load of BS, then?

[Cheshire cat]

The phrase "Wouldn't touch one with a barge pole" comes to mind.

 

There is 30% overcapacity worldwide so they're all racing to the bottom price wise.

 

There have been a few comments on here about the quality of cheap chinese tools. As others have said quality control creates quality. Not a piece of paper or a rubber stamp.

 

The rails for HS3 could become quite a challenge.

[GreyLady]

China's President is addressing parliment now on BBC News, I bet theirs a few Steel workers pretty piffed off watching this today. :-(

[onionbargee]

Those Chinese boats shipped over were / are built to no known human regulations or standards. Far too many horror stories around. Especially the " interesting" wiring on them, that makes BSS surveyours have to lie down in a dark room with smelling salts.

[mango]

When I was a kid I was told that Chinese boats were junk.

[ditchcrawler]

Those Chinese boats shipped over were / are built to no known human regulations or standards. Far too many horror stories around. Especially the " interesting" wiring on them, that makes BSS surveyours have to lie down in a dark room with smelling salts.

Surly they have to comply with the RCD to be sold in the EU ?

[BruceinSanity]

Tim Tyler told me a couple of years ago that he only used either British or German steel as he didn't trust the quality from anywhere else. I guess he's mostly using German now...