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Fletcher Building alleged to have sold substandard steel -The 18th China(Guangzhou)Int’l Metal &Metallurgy Exhibiti
on
5/11/2017 -steel expo-metal &metallurgy expo |
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Radio NZ reported that a complaint that Fletcher Building sold substandard steel is being investigated by the Commerce Commission. The type of steel, called rectangular hollow steel is among the most widely used in construction - including in load-bearing framing and it is also used in towbars.
Fletcher said its subsidiary, Easysteel, was cooperating with the inquiry. The company said that "Easysteel is confident the RHS steel ... meets New Zealand standards.’’
The complaint, which was made by an industry player that remains unidentified, relates to steel imported in the year to March 2016.
The complainant said Easysteel brought in several thousand tonnes of RHS from an Australian supplier, Steelforce, in that period.
Its complaint said concerns were first raised in Australia about the quality of the Chinese test certificates and that some customers were saying the steel was difficult to weld.
In New Zealand, independent laboratory tests on samples were carried out by the complainant, and the results differed markedly from the tests the complaint said were done by the Tonghua Iron and Steel Testing Centre in China.
Both the local and Chinese test results showed one sample had four times more phosphorus in it than the Standard allowed, which could make welding it difficult.
The lab in China was not accredited to test to the joint Australia-New Zealand Standard 1163.
One test certificate listed two grades of steel, so it was unclear which grade was being tested.
China has a massive oversupply of steel, and the local industry has been warned they must have good quality control to detect any poor steel.
The complaint was lodged six months ago, after the testing was carried out, and the Commerce Commission said it could not comment on the case as it was an active investigation.
The commission had not alerted the market about it.
-The
18th China(Guangzhou)Int’l Metal &Metallurgy Exhibition
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