The Smithville Area Chamber of Commerce held its 98th annual Chamber Awards Banquet on May 15. Though we had planned to hold our banquet outside in front of the new building, Mother Nature had other plans and we quickly moved from our outdoor set up to indoors at the Recreation Center in just over one hour. Many thanks to Smithville Recreation Center Director Ashley Garrison for accommodating our last-minute change of venue! Once set up and ready to go, we kicked off with live music by the Musikatz, a local four-piece jazz band. Dinner was served by Catering by Chabot, a delicious combination of steak kabobs and chicken cordon bleu, appetizers by Olde World Bakery and dessert by Courtney’s Cakes. Many thanks to Brown Distributing for the beverage donation. Many thanks also to Doug’s Plumbing, our banquet title sponsor. The live auction, with Stuart Burns as auctioneer, was made possible by donations from LCRA, Bruce and Sallie Blalock, Mayor Joanna and Mike Morgan, Jeannie Ra
Global crude steel production dipped to 169.5 million metric tons in April, down slightly from the previous month, the World Steel Association reported this month.
Production in March had reached 170.1 million metric tons. Meanwhile, April output increased 23.3% year over year, up from 137.5 million metric tons in April 2020.
Chinese steel production rises
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Although global steel production backtracked slightly in April from the previous month, Chinese steel production increased.
The Chinese steel sector churned out 97.9 million metric tons, up from 94 million metric tons in March. Meanwhile, April output increased by 13.4% year over year.
Steel producers in China and around the world have benefited from soaring prices. Furthermore, earlier this month, Chinese steelmakers bumped up prices to account for significant rises in iron ore prices.