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Container Libraries – The Little Helpers of Inspirational Education

A library made out of shipping containers in gaining popularity among the youth in the Netherlands. An architectural innovation designed by Jord den Hollander is a library on wheels that parks in schools to offer their students a new way of getting inspired to read books.

Den Hollander came up with idea by realizing that the narrow Dutch streets need a library that was also both narrow and could be able to have many books and a reading room. The BiebBus library is divided in to two sections, the lower section being the library and the upper section being the reading room. The library holds over 100 meters of books that the students can read lying on their beanbags upstairs. The remarkable interior design is emphasized by a transparent floor between sections.

Another container library is set in Indonesia, where a company named Dpavilion architects has installed a container facility that operates as “the windows of the world” offering education, inspiration and entertainment for people with small income. The facility also has a container clinic that is to offer medical assistance for the locals.

Shipping containers are made of durable steel that gives protection even in rough weather conditions. The simple steel structure and the standardized manufacturing process makes this superior construction material also really low-cost. Therefore the present and the future trends of affordable housing and sustainable architecture will be among shipping containers.

Shanghai Metal Corporation offers a wide variety of shipping containers. Please visit our websites of containers and container houses to see detailed descriptions. If you are planning your own construction project, please send us an inquiry and our English speaking staff will give you assistance. Meanwhile please visit our social media sites Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Inhabitat, Dpavilion Architects, Inhabitat, Domus

Shipping Container Hospitals – The Future of Saving Lives

Shipping containers can be transformed into mobile hospitals just like they can be transformed into offices, homes, hotels, theaters, nightclubs, shelters, stores or swimming pools. Because of their modularity and availability, shipping container hospitals can become true life savers in the future.

Container hospitals have been already set up all over the world. For instance, container clinics were needed when a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti in 2010 and a large part of the Grace Children’s hospital in the capital Port-au-Prince was demolished. Help was offered by a Massachusetts based company Containers2Clinic that send their 8 X 20 feet container to the island to compensate the great infrastructural loss of the local hospital. (source)

The first shipping container clinics were invented by Michael Wawrzewski who designed the concept of Clinics in a Can in 2005. Wawrzewski was also nominated as the AAPA‘s 2005 Physician Assistant of the year for his work in developing quality, cost-effective and accessible health-care. His first clinic was assembled in Kansas and shipped to Haiti on July 2005. (source)

An example of combining health care and great design is shown by an Indonesian firm DPavilion Architects has utilized the country’s rich resource base of shipping containers and built The Contertainer, a shipping container health clinic and a library in the island of Jawa. The shipping container complex is meant to provide better quality of life for those who have little money.

Shipping containers are built according to international ISO standards and designed to be stacked and piled up in a container ship. They have also made from durable steel in order enhance their use time and to be able to handle rough weather. As the example of The Contertainer shows, even the exterior design of the mobile clinics is not limited the original appearance of containers.

Container hospitals are the future of health care. For people in areas of low income and weak availability of health care services, setting up a pop-up clinic can be a life saver. Even in urban areas or peripheries patients do not necessarily have to be transported long distances in an ambulance because these pop-up hospitals can be placed almost anywhere. For nonprofits such as Unicef or Red Cross this solution is a must. Investing in setting up a container clinic to underdeveloped areas is a great way for businesses to show their corporate social responsibility.

Shipping containers can be purchased from Shanghai Metal Corporation. We have a large variety of shipping containers and we are also specialized shipping container prefabricated construction projects. For any details please visit our website. Please also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Tuomas P. // SMC Editor

Pictures and original articles: Marine Insight, Inhabitat, Popular Mechanics, Hospitals of Hope, Inhabitat, Get Simple Box, Container Living, Clinic in a Can

4 Strange Stockpiling Panics

Stockpiling panics can be triggered by the smallest of market shocks. Maybe a news report causes it, an unexpected price change, or word of mouth, but once the panic sets in chaos ensues. Each country has seen its own stockpiling panic, like raw materials, power, food and water. But the following countries have been a little more creative with their stockpiling choices.

Japan – Toilet paper

Japan’s bureaucrats don’t want the nation to be caught with its pants down the next time toilet paper supplies run short after a natural disaster.

That’s why the government is rolling out its latest public-awareness campaign, entitled “Let’s Stockpile Toilet Paper,” which involves an exhibition on the topic at the trade ministry, a summit of industry leaders and the sale of specially packaged “emergency use” toilet tissue.

USA – Sick Days

Due to loopholes in the employee benefit package, government employees of the USA are eligible for 2,164 sick days that they are eligible to draw from according to figures requested from the auditor’s office.

China – Cabbage

In Beijing especially, there are the piles of cabbage that accrue in communal courtyards, high-rise hallways and window ledges across the city. This has been common practice since the 1960’s industrialization to get people through harsh winters that may hinder food production.

Singapore – Sand

Some countries have strategic oil reserves; others stockpile rice or wheat. The island nation of Singapore has emergency reserves of imported sand. The government is now being forced to tap its sand hoard after its usual supplier, Indonesia, abruptly banned exports in February in a string of disputes between the two countries.

Currently, Raw material surcharges are spurring stockpiling of stainless steel and nickel across the globe. Finland’s Outokumpu OYJ (OUT1V), Germany’s ThyssenKrupp AG and Aperam SA (APAM) in Luxembourg all reporting boosts in deliveries.

So, why not beat the stockpiling surge and invest in nickel and stainless steel today? Shanghai Metal Corporation manufactures an array of value-added Metal Products, Building Systems, Shipping Containers, and Machinery. We are committed to delivering quality to businesses as an integrated global manufacturer, exporter, and supplier with offices and subsidiaries located throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas. To find out more, please visit our website, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Or you could try our new mobile app by scanning our QR code.

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Dispute Resolution Moves To Stabilize World Copper Prices via Indonesia

According to the London Metal Exchange on Monday 28^th July 2014 world Copper prices appear to have stabilized despite rising global demand putting inflationary pressures on the price. This is a direct result of the American natural resource company Freeport-McMoRan who has an industry leading global portfolio in mineral assets, significant oil and gas resources and a growing production profile. Yesterday Freeport was able to settle a six month long tax dispute with the Indonesian government, allowing for the resumption of Copper exports from major Indonesian mines such as in the Grasberg mineral region in West Papua (containing approximately 35.6 billion pounds of Copper) to key global Copper consuming nations such as China and India. Freeport-McMoRan is expected to export approximately 756,000 tonnes of Copper in the second half of 2014.

Settlement of this on-going tax dispute has doused the predominately bullish global Copper market in cold water despite sturdy factory growth in both China and the Euro-zone strengthening the overall world demand for Copper ore throughout the month of July. Additionally, economic data from Beijing has confirmed that the Chinese economy has weathered the economically choppy first half of 2014 and is expected to return to calmer waters where economic growth and expansion can really regain traction. This emphasizes that the Copper industry is finally solidifying its expected movement away from a demand-basis and more toward supply-surplus, ultimately stabilizing the previous up-and-down nature of world Copper prices throughout the first half of 2014.

Furthermore, the London Commodity Futures Trading Commission has highlighted that global Long-positions of Futures and Forward contracts on Copper have peaked at an eight year high and have begun their descent into a predominately short-positions as world Copper supply moves into surplus, relieving excess demand and putting deflationary pressures on Copper prices. This is particularly so on the back of the news of Indonesia re-initiating their exports to major international Copper consumers such as China via Freeport-McMoRan.

Shanghai Metal Corporation stocks a wide selection of Copper-related products and raw materials for all your construction or manufacturing needs. Please take the time to browse our online catalog at: http://www.shanghaimetal.com/Copper–tpl3.html.

Zenn B.//SMC Editor

Stainless Steel Sales Boost

Did you know that nickel accounts for half the cost of stainless steel? Nickel surged 41% this year. Why? Indonesia, the largest supplier to China, banned ore exports in order to spur investments from domestic smelters instead of international smelters. Indonesia’s ban has created a global deficit in production until the estimated year of 2019. On the bright side, this downturn in supply is increasing profit for mining companies.

nickel Nickel makes up 8 to 9% of series 300 stainless steel, which is about two thirds of the global output. Buyers of stainless steel purchase more products to avoid higher surcharges. As nickel prices surge, the steel industry is seeing some recovery from previous losses. The nickel-fueled gains may not last long. There are talks that China may build smelters in Indonesia to get around the ban.

China, the biggest metals user in the world, may become a net importer of stainless steel this year. This is because of the dismantled nickel-ore supply from Indonesia. China accounts for 53% of global stainless-steel output. In fact, China had a cost advantage by proactively developing technology to use lower-cost nickel pig iron. The lower-cost nickel pig iron helped lower the price of refined nickel.

It is estimated that Chinese stainless steel output will grow 9.1% in 2014. Last year, the stainless steel output increased 21% with more low-nickel content alloys produced. Construction of Chinese smelters in Indonesia may take an entire year. De-bottlenecking of supply will not occur until mid-2015.

Stainless steel makers all over the world are seeing an increase in sales as customers stock up to avoid higher raw-material surcharges. The increase in sales is reviving prospects for in an industry that accumulated losses since the financial crisis.

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