Northback’s paid-fer Alberta pollster makes erroneous suggestion that Canadian steelmakers want Alberta coal
Following poll commissioned by Northback, Janet Brown speculates that Albertans favour metallurgical coal mining to support Eastern Canadian steelmakers
Well-reputed Alberta pollster Janet Brown stated to the right-fringe National Post: “I think the threat of (U.S. President Donald) Trump has given Albertans a sense of common cause with an eastern steel industry that’s in jeopardy . . . Providing Canadian resources to Canadian steel mills may be one way we strengthen the industry.”
In a polled commissioned by Northback, Brown claimed a majority of 1400 respondents supported mining metallurgical coal. She told the National Post neither where in Alberta those few respondents were located, nor the wording of the question.
That was on Sept. 26. Today, Sept. 29, the respectable national newspaper of record, The Globe and Mail, reports that Canada’s Algoma Steel of Sault Sainte-Marie is accelerating the shutdown of its last remaining blast furnace expressly because the coal-fueled technology is directly responsible for the company’s dramatic trade war losses.
“Algoma is currently producing more steel than it can sell, in part because its legacy blast furnace is designed to operate at full tilt. The company is in the early stages of ramping up production of the first of two electric arc furnaces. They will give the company more flexibility to produce less steel during the trade war while also lowering its fixed costs.
“Algoma also announced on Monday that it is phasing out its blast furnace earlier than planned, and switching over sooner to its electric arc furnace technology. Algoma’s steel output will fall significantly during the transitional phase and the government loan will help maintain its liquidity. The early move to the electric furnaces is recognition by Algoma that it doesn’t expect the trade war to die down any time soon.”
Canada’s two foreign-owner steelmakers — ArcelorMittal Dofasco and Stelco — are both rapidly phasing out their own obsolete blast furnace.
On the home page of its website for all (including Janet Brown) to see, ArcelorMittal Dofasco, declares its “Hamilton plant will transition away from the blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace steelmaking production route to the Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) – Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) production route, which carries a significantly lower carbon footprint.”
Stelco, for its part, demolished its last Hamilton blast furnace in 2002. That leaves just one blast furnace operating in Canada, Stelco’s Nanticoke plant which was just upgraded to minimize coal use.
We did not need a poll to establish these fact; they are public and availabe to anyone who cared to ask Google.
National Post: Most Albertans support mining coal for steelmaking amid tariff turmoil, poll shows
The Globe and Mail: Algoma Steel secures $500-million in government loans to help fight trade war
Janet Brown had just lost what little credibility she might of had! Just another hack pollster!
Good to know that the foreign owned Canadian corporate welfare bums are being well cared for during "the energy transition" and Trumpian Tariff era, and that you can pay to get a question that will give the answer you want, despite disappearing markets for your product.