In one of yesterday’s posts on MetalMiner, involving steel anti-dumping cases, we alluded to a change in position on international trade on behalf of President Obama. Today we thought we would devote an entire post on the subject because it signals a major shift in policy and will help support US value-added exports. The concern [...]
This is part one of a two part series examining key consumption trends over the next few years and how they will impact metals markets Are we agreed the world has changed a little since this time last year? It’s an interesting question because you will get a different answer depending on who you speak [...]
Whoever said, the older I get the less I know, got it right and in particular, around free trade as it relates to the steel industry. We have consistently written about the subject of free trade, both at a macro level such as these recent posts on the trade deficit and potential solutions to redress [...]
True to form the protagonists in the annual iron ore negotiations game are playing the media for their own ends. In separate Reuters reports, China has been building the argument for lower prices. China’s no.2 steel producer, Anshan Steel came out on Thursday saying the negotiations are gridlocked as neither side could agree on the [...]
In what may not be good news for shipping companies we can find some encouraging rumors for those consumers of metals that are keen to see lower costs. 2007 was a record year for new ship orders and though 2008 was down on 2007 it was still up on 2001-2005. With freight rates dramatically reduced [...]
Pun intended. A friend of mine had posted a link on his Facebook page (yes, I admit a presence on it) to an article from Forging Magazine on how Alcoa and the UAW came to a mutually agreeable labor agreement extending the existing contract for another two years. That in and of itself does not [...]
The Democratic Republic of Congo, is anything but the law abiding democratic country its name suggests. The DRC has often slipped into chaos since independence nearly 50 years ago and even when it has managed to elect a democratic regime it has all too rapidly slipped into blatant corruption and administrative incompetence. (Not that the [...]
I’m not talking about a yummy pico de gallo sauce, though I have no objection to it. I’m talking about a new breed of company calling El Paso and perhaps other US border cities and towns home. A friend of mine who sources machined parts, plastics, fabrications etc in Mexico expressed some frustration when a [...]
