[2001 ZTS]

I'll agree with you that by appearance it was politically driven but remain of the opinion that in the end it was ultimately the all mighty dollar. Now possibly, it is political in the "where that dollar may come from down the road sense". No business decision is ever made for anything other than money and in fact nothing is ever done unless a 10% return on investment is pretty much a sure thing.

The steel business has just been so up-ended the last two years and the last quarter of 2008 especially. China changed everything.

Logistically Nanticoke is a sucky location to run a business. It was someones pipe dream back in the 50's creating that industrial park and it never did take off other than OPG and Stelco. There was actually a plan back in the day to set off a nuclear bomb and create a harbour there! Hard to believe but peaceful use of atomic energy was the mantra then. I will try and find a link!

Road access is terrible and it is "above" the Welland Canal and "below" the Soo for raw materials. Rival company Canada Steamship Lines has the contract and provides the raw materials there but in better days my company explored a business model because the finished product headed south to Ohio and we were contemplating doing to do a "drop trailer" barge run across the lake.

What drove that was the fact that New York State highway weight limits meant only two steel coils can be trucked at once where in Ontario and Ohio 3 would be allowed. That extra coil drops delivery cost by a third obviously. Border wait times where a huge factor too.

Great conversation by the way! This place has always been pretty cool and more than just something to do with a car.

What a diverse bunch we are and what a pethora of knowledge we collectively possess.