Economy
Prices of wrought iron and stainless steel
China Steel’s anti-dumping case against South Korea, India rejected
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said Friday that an anti-dumping case filed by China Steel Corp. against South Korea and India was overruled, as the steel company was not hurt by the imports and no attempts to dump steel was discovered.
“During the preliminary investigation which began March 26, no injury or dumping has been found,” said Herbert Juan, deputy executive secretary of the ministry’s International Trade Commission.
The case will be closed after the ministry sends its report to the Tariff Commission under the Ministry of Finance on May 28, Juan said.
If the company does not accept the ruling, it can bring the case to the Supreme Administrative Court, he added.
China Steel, one of Taiwan’s leading steel makers, filed the anti-dumping case last November against Steel Authority of India Ltd. and the Essar Group of India as well as Dongkuk Steel Mill Co. Ltd., Pohang Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. and Hyundai Hysco Co. of South Korea.
According to the Taiwanese company, the dumping margins of hot rolled steel plates from India and South Korea were 38.35 percent and 35.89 percent, respectively.
Based on import volume, market share and surveys, the ministry said it was the rising prices of the raw materials, such as coal and wrought iron, which resulted in the decline in China Steel’s profits, not dumping policies.
The market share of rolled steel plates from India and South Korea during the period they were accused of dumping grew 5 percent, while the share of Taiwan-made products expanded 8 percent, Juan said.
In addition, although the products from the two countries have been cheaper than those of Taiwanese manufacturers since 2009, the same product from other countries was priced even lower during the period, leading the agency to reject the dumping case, the ministry said.
China Steel filed three anti-dumping cases last November against Japan, China, India and South Korea but later retracted two of them, leaving only its petition on hot rolled steel plate to be considered.
from focustaiwan.tw
Wrought iron for EnWeek 2012
EnWeek 2012: Inspiring future engineers
Oh, for a bit of wrought iron. Using tried-and-true triangular trusses — a staple of high-quality engineering the world over — high school girls, under the watchful eye of Lesley Olson (center), a junior in chemical engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, compete to erect the tallest marshmallow and toothpick tower during Engineering Olympics Feb. 25 on the final day of Engineering Week.
The girls were hosted for a day of engineering by the Society of Women’s Engineers.
EnWeek began Feb. 19 (below) with a meet-and-greet in fashionable decorated hard hats, like the one to which sophomore engineering student Emily Storey is giving finishing touches. Other activities throughout the week included Lego engineering, “Capture the Flag” with Nerf guns and a paper airplane competition.
from news.wustl.edu
House at 209 Hilton Terrace, Newport, for sale
This house at 209 Hilton Terrace, Newport , is on the market for $849,000.
This inviting brick traditional with slate roof sits on a high, .6-acre lot overlooking the James River. The home has approximately 3,600 square feet, with an additional 1,585 square feet on the basement level, now used for casual entertaining and workshop area. The remodeled kitchen with 9-foot ceiling adjoins the dining area and opens to the sunroom, providing an expansive space for entertaining overlooking the river. There are four bedrooms and a possible fifth bedroom on the first floor, 41/2 baths, an office, gardener’s work room, pier and dock with a boatlift.
The large entrance foyer leads to an open stairway. The 24-foot living room with fireplace has fine architectural details, chair railing and crown molding. The window-lined sunroom connects to the updated kitchen featuring cherry cabinets, granite countertops, wall oven and built-in microwave, warming drawer, large country sink, and a sleek downdraft island cooktop. The lower level offers a 38-foot family room with a fireplace flanked by windows, wet bar, and pool table.
There is an additional 40-foot storage area, full bath and finished workshop. The second-floor master suite features sitting area, ceramic tile bath with separate shower and tub. The waterfront terrace has a copper roof, overlooks a wrought-iron fenced yard and tiered landscaping, with wide concrete steps leading to the pier. A waterside “fisherman’s shack” provides an additional area for entertaining.
Extras: Security system, gas heat, walk-in cedar closet, newly-refinished hardwood floors, irrigation system, a 10,000-pound boatlift and garage.
Historic Tobin Clark Estate
Historic Tobin Clark Estate Offered For Sale
Once in a lifetime one is able to acquire a true architectural masterpiece. That opportunity has just arrived in Hillsborough, California offered by Keller Williams Realty International.
The owner of the Tobin Clark Estate, the retired Chairman of American Intertrade Group, Inc., announced today the listing of this unique and historically significant estate with Keller Williams Realty International and three other Brokerages. Built circa 1930 for Celia Tobin Clark, this Cotswold-influenced home was the masterpiece of Architect David Adler, and was called House-on-Hill.
The Bamieh family meticulously restored this magnificent property with a budget of over $19 million. Now offered at $29 million, the regal 35,000-square foot Tudor home has been host to numerous dignitaries, including Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Regan, and George H.W. Bush, as well as King Hussein and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Nestled on 6-acres and surrounded by stately gardens, this secluded Hillsborough, California retreat is the jewel in the crown of San Francisco estates. The estate is close to three international airports and in the midst of the world-class financial, technological, and cultural centers of San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
The extensive renovation began shortly after the home was acquired by the Bamieh family in 1992. Original features of design were lovingly preserved while the estate’s infrastructure was extensively modernized. The residence’s 30 rooms comprise a grand ballroom, three kitchens, a library, guest apartment, music room, formal banquet facility, media room, and exercise facility.
Celia Tobin Clark’s family banking background is evident in some of the unique original features such as bank-vault doors which open in the silver vault and 1,700-bottle wine vault. The music room is one of the more opulent spaces, with its 15-foot ceilings, parquet floors, and gold-gilt molding. It opens to one of the three terraces. Secluded from view behind classic wrought iron gates, one enters the grounds of this estate through a dramatic lighted cobblestone drive into a large motor court with a spectacular stone fountain; a truly grand entrance for the most elegant galas.
Listing representation has been awarded to a consortium of Brokerages, each chosen for their unique expertise and experience: Keller Williams Realty International, Sotheby’s International Realty, Engel & Volkers, Alain Pinel Realtors.
from prweb.com
Wrought iron and the Luxury Market
The Luxury Market Is Robust Despite Troubles in Lower Income Brackets
By AARON GLANTZ
Pierre Buljan guided his black Mercedes S.U.V. around the winding roads of the Hillsborough hills and into Atherton, where the mansions of Silicon Valley technology barons hide behind thick stone walls, wrought-iron gates and tall, manicured hedges.
A nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization providing local coverage of the San Francisco Bay Area for The New York Times. To join the conversation about this article, go to baycitizen.org.
“These people have essentially infinite money,” said Mr. Buljan, who has been a Realtor on the Peninsula for more than 30 years. He pointed at a sloping four-acre property that included a large redwood grove with a private creek.
“If someone falls in love with a property like this,” he said, “the price doesn’t matter.”
Everywhere Mr. Buljan turned, a historic transition was under way. A generation ago, many of these properties were second homes for San Francisco’s elite families. These days, most are being bought, for cash, by international tycoons or the youthful leaders of local technology companies.
While the wider Bay Area has suffered, along with the rest of the country, with falling property values and rising foreclosures, the luxury housing market has remained robust, analysts said. That is especially true in Silicon Valley, where an arms race for talent among emerging social networking companies has raised salaries for executives and engineers, and a resurgent market for initial public stock offerings is creating hundreds of new millionaires.
Some of the sales are eye-popping. In March, the Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, an investor in Facebook, Groupon and Zynga, bought a French-style chateau in Los Altos Hills for a reported $100 million. Some buyers have hidden their identities behind companies.
In September, an Atherton estate formerly owned by the great-grandniece of Levi Strauss sold for $53 million, while the home of Sue Burns, a major investor in the San Francisco Giants, was sold for $20 million by her estate.
“It’s going to take a while for the wider economy to recover, but there are enough people to make a difference at the high end of the housing market,” keeping demand high, said Steve Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, a think tank in Palo Alto, where the median single-family home price last week was $1,838,750.
Across the Peninsula, a small-scale building boom is under way as developers and wealthy property owners buy million-dollar homes, tear them down and build larger ones. Stroll down Waverley Street in Old Palo Alto, home to many Google executives and the late Steve Jobs, and you’ll see the ultramodern 6,000-square-foot house that Google’s co-founder Larry Page is building, rising from its foundation. Mr. Page’s mansion will also include a 3,500-square-foot basement that has been called a “bat cave” by neighbors. Analysts and builders said such high-end construction had been largely recession-proof.
“While the large number of foreclosures have created a significant inventory of homes at the middle and lower end and kept prices down, that hasn’t happened at the top end,” said Eduardo Martinez, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics.
The high unemployment rate in the Bay Area’s construction sector has driven down wages and therefore the overall cost of building, said Leonard Mezhvinsky, a principal at Sieger Property Development. Meanwhile, the number of potential buyers for top-tier homes continues to grow.
“We are expecting Facebook and Zynga to go public,” Mr. Mezhvinsky said recently, “and that will create an instant number of multimillionaires.” Indeed, Zynga went public on Friday with a $1 billion stock offering. Facebook is widely expected to file a $10 billion offering 
early next year.
In anticipation of the onslaught of new multimillionaires, Mr. Mezhvinsky bought a single-family home on Ralston Avenue in Hillsborough in 2009 and demolished it. “When we’re done, there will be a 10,000-square-foot main house, and a loge,” he said. “There will be a six-bedroom house, seven full bathrooms and two powder rooms. There is a swimming pool with a Jacuzzi. There is a sauna and steam room,” and five fireplaces.
The new house will not be finished until July or August, Mr. Mezhvinsky said, but it is already on the market for $13 million, nearly four times what he paid for it. The buyer will probably pay extra to finish it to his or her taste, he said.
“What you’re witnessing,” said Mr. Buljan, the real estate agent, “is the next generation of superwealth.”
from nytimes.com
