June 2008

A Different Type of Metal Recycling

by Lisa Reisman on June 30, 2008

Style:    Category: Green

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Since I now have to spend the rest of my life with titanium screws in my arm, I thought it was interesting – and maybe a little morbid, I’ll admit – to read some articles about the recycling of metal pins, screws and joints after they’re found in the ashes of cremated bodies. Hey, I warned you [...]

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Soaring Metals Prices Drive Automotive Product Substitution

by Lisa Reisman on June 30, 2008

Style:    Category: Commodities, Precious Metals, Product Developments

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One little side benefit of high commodity prices is companies start to quickly ramp up product substitution and new product innovation. Two years ago, when nickel skyrocketed, many firms moved toward 400 series stainless alloys and other product substitutions. High oil prices have a dual benefit – they change consumer behavior which in turn changes [...]

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Car Prices to Rise

by Stuart Burns on June 30, 2008

Style:    Category: Uncategorized

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Speaking at a shareholders’ meeting in Japan, Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn warned that car prices would rise regardless of the strength of the market because of the soaring cost of steel. Prompted by Baosteel’s agreement with Rio Tinto to accept a near doubling in iron ore prices, Ghosn was warning that all steel makers would feel the [...]

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Molybdenum In The Limelight

by Stuart Burns on June 27, 2008

Style:    Category: Non-ferrous Metals, Product Developments

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As a metal, molybdenum has had a funny life. For decades the price bumped along around $ 2-4/lb, largely produced as a by-product of copper production with a few pure play molybdenum mines operating as swing production if the price rose sufficiently to make them viable. Molybdenum grades are so thin, typically between 0.01 and [...]

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Ferro Silicon: Further to Go?

by Stuart Burns on June 27, 2008

Style:    Category: Commodities

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The Ferro Silicon market has gone through some rapid price escalation over the last 12 months, but finally appears to be drawing breath. To understand what drives the price does not require any great insight. Ferro Silicon is produced from silica (usually a form of sand), coke, a source of iron (such as scrap or [...]

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The Fed’s Change in Direction – What it Will Mean for Metals

by Lisa Reisman on June 27, 2008

Style:    Category: Macroeconomics, Supply & Demand

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Earlier this week, the Fed kept the Federal Funds rate unchanged. This was the first time in many sessions that the Fed opted not to further reduce rates. To us, this signals not only a pause in rate cutting, but a change in monetary policy designed to combat inflation and the pitifully low dollar. It [...]

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Will Weak Demand from China Hurt Copper?

by Lisa Reisman on June 26, 2008

Style:    Category: Commodities

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It’s not just fears of U.S. inflation that have led to the recent fall of copper. A weaker demand from China is causing additional worries in the copper market. The world’s top consumer of copper and a producer of the red metal, China saw copper hit a remarkable high point last April, reaching $8,800. Soon [...]

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Uh Oh…Here Come the Feds to Regulate Commodity Speculators

by Lisa Reisman on June 26, 2008

Style:    Category: Global Trade, Macroeconomics, Supply & Demand

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As you all know, we haven’t been exactly complimentary of speculators on this blog as we have previously reported here and here. The number of dollars going into commodity hedge funds ($55b in 2007 vs. $15b in 2005) according to Cole Partners Asset Management is significant. And we have all witnessed frothy metals markets say [...]

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