INTERNATIONAL TRADE : Dana Point Company Will Market Steel From Russia’s Urals
The Halperin Co. announced Thursday that it has signed a four-year agreement to market steel and construction supplies from the Ural Mountains of Russia.
The agreement, which expires Dec. 31, 1995, permits the Dana Point trade consulting firm to act as sole representative of the region’s steel and construction companies in the West. The companies include Chelyabinskii Steel, which is one of the largest steel manufacturers in Europe.
“I hope to make steel products available at low cost to companies, like the Parsons, the Fluors and the Bechtels of the world,” President Warren L. Halperin said. “This will allow American companies to be more competitive in bidding for projects in the international market.”
Halperin said his ultimate goal is to replace Asian steel exports to America with those from Russia. Importing Russian steel would increase Russia’s hard currency reserve and, consequently, allow it to buy more U.S. products.
A team of 13 Russian executives representing 33 companies in Russia are visiting companies in Orange and Los Angeles counties through Feb. 7. Halperin said the Russians, here to study U.S. entrepreneurship, are learning how to improve manufacturing productivity and how to gain financing for new equipment.
The Southern California companies participating include the Costa Mesa office of the Bank of America, the Irvine Co., Parsons Corp. in Pasadena and Ziegler Steel Co. at the City of Commerce. The companies are staging seminars to update the Russians on the latest construction industry technology and to provide information on international finance and business.
The Urals have a wide variety of minerals, such as gold, silver and oil. Its mines are also known for gems and semiprecious stones. It is one of two principal areas producing iron and steel in the onetime Soviet Union; the other is the Ukraine, now an independent nation and also part of the new Commonwealth of Independent States.
The Urals played an important role in supplying the Soviet army during World War II.
