July 2008

Ready, Set, Solar: Sun Plays Leading Role in Race

by Lisa Reisman on July 31, 2008

Style:    Category: Commodities, Product Developments

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Photo Credit: University of Michigan News Services. After covering 4,000 cross-country kilometers in a 10-day competition, an elite group of solar-powered cars are finally getting their day in the shade. The 2008 North American Solar Challenge, an event where college students design, build and race cars powered by the sun, ended last week after the [...]

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Are Metals a Commodity Bubble Set to Burst?

by Stuart Burns on July 31, 2008

Style:    Category: Commodities

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An interesting article in the Telegraph  newspaper, a venerable and widely respected broadsheet publication as the Brits call the very few newspapers still worth reading in the UK, covered commodities prices and examined the idea that they are a bubble ready to burst. Geroge Soros giving evidence to the US Congress also affirmed that speculation [...]

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Does Your HVAC Guy Know Where The Price of Copper Is Going?

by Lisa Reisman on July 30, 2008

Style:    Category: Non-ferrous Metals, Product Developments, Supply & Demand

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I really enjoy when our HVAC repair guy comes to pay a visit (not because I enjoy sweltering in 90 degree heat mind you when the AC isn’t working) but when you talk to someone in the trades who really knows their business and who happens to recognize some interesting trends. My first question, “have [...]

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Declines Take a Break, Copper Rises

by Lisa Reisman on July 30, 2008

Style:    Category: Commodities

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To fight against rising consumer prices, investors have increased their holdings in the commodities markets; hence, the Reuters/Jeffries CRB Index, which includes 19 raw materials, has witnessed a 15 percent rise since the beginning of the year. As the dollar continues to weaken and energy prices rise, copper futures fluctuate in this volatile economy. This [...]

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Foreign Ownership of Future Metal Producers: A National Security Question?

by Lisa Reisman on July 29, 2008

Style:    Category: M&A Activity, Product Developments

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Last week Crain’s Chicago had a story on the sale of a local titanium powder company, International Titanium Powder LLC (ITP) to a Maryland based firm, Cristal U.S. Inc (owned by Cristal Global, a Saudi company). It wasn’t a typical M&A story of so and so bought such and such. The article stated that the [...]

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Is This the Future for Titanium?

by Stuart Burns on July 29, 2008

Style:    Category: Non-ferrous Metals, Product Developments

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Outside of the industry it is often assumed that most titanium bearing ores such as ilmenite and rutile are turned into titanium metal (for well known applications in aerospace and medical implants due to its high strength and low weight). In fact 95% of titanium is used as the oxide in pigments for paints, plastics and [...]

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Titanium Pricing: Prepare For Landing

by Lisa Reisman on July 29, 2008

Style:    Category: Product Developments, Supply & Demand

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It’s Titanium Tuesday here at MetalMiner. We’ll cover three topics on the sector, beginning with a general look at the titanium producer segment and pricing. A second piece will cover product innovations to reduce metal costs, and afterwards, you can read a third piece on the controversial acquisition of a US titanium producer. According to this article, [...]

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Palladium, Who’s Pulling the Strings?

by Stuart Burns on July 28, 2008

Style:    Category: Precious Metals, Supply & Demand

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I was intrigued reading a Reuters report on Mineweb covering the projected rise in platinum prices to find out to what extent palladium was driven by the same fundamentals. The report forecast rising palladium prices next year due to the (as with platinum) power shortages in South Africa and the reduced sales from dwindling Russian reserves. [...]

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