October 2009

Caterpillar in Profit While JCB Struggles

by Stuart Burns on October 30, 2009

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As Caterpillar posts a return to profit and JCB still teeters on the edge of continuing losses the relative position of the two companies firmly underlines the diverse fortunes of the construction and mining industries. Caterpillar’s focus this time last year was on contingency plans they drew up on the basis of poor copper prices. [...]

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European Aluminium Market for Rolled and Extruded Products

by Stuart Burns on October 30, 2009

Style:    Category: Non-ferrous Metals

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The aluminum semis market in Europe is still in the doldrums according to reports we are hearing from the market place. Mills have tried introducing modest price increases in the third quarter but with demand still not picking up the increases have been accepted only in some areas. Automotive demand has picked up due to [...]

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Five Recent Demand Trends – What to Make of Metal Consumption?

by Lisa Reisman on October 29, 2009

Style:    Category: Macroeconomics, Supply & Demand

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A spate of headlines this week, when aggregated, paint an interesting picture of Western demand from key metal industry segments. We’ll examine those headlines and summarize what the signals tell us from a demand standpoint. The first headline, from the Wall Street Journal, discusses Honda’s operating results released earlier this week. Rather than commenting on [...]

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Solar Powered Backpack Keeps Cell Phone Charged in the Wilderness

by Stuart Burns on October 29, 2009

Style:    Category: Minor Metals, Product Developments

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Occasionally on MetalMiner, we like to report on interesting developments for metal that hold some novel or more futuristic application. Flexible dye sensitized electronic pads on backpacks, tents and other outdoor equipment is one such development. Dye-coated semiconductor nano-crystals are embedded in plastic along with an electrolyte. The dye absorbs light and creates electrons, which [...]

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Energy Industry Split Over Climate Change Legislation

by Stuart Burns on October 29, 2009

Style:    Category: Green, Macroeconomics

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The once united oil and gas industry is probably well aware that their current infighting over climate change legislation is counter productive in terms of the mutual support, but it is as firm an indication as any that climate change and the legislation resulting from it is being taken seriously by the energy industry. According [...]

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Should MetalMiner Offer Metal Market Webinars?

by Lisa Reisman on October 28, 2009

Style:    Category: Ferrous Metals, Non-ferrous Metals, Sourcing Strategies

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A client of ours recently suggested that we take a look at putting on regular metal market and commodity update webinars, particularly for ferrous and non-ferrous metals. We have done a number of webinars over the years as well as having given numerous speeches covering metals markets. But rather than take the time to “build [...]

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Metal Purchasing Volumes, Sourcing Strategies and Cost Reduction

by Lisa Reisman on October 28, 2009

Style:    Category: Sourcing Strategies, Supply & Demand

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In the last six weeks, our firm has had the opportunity to view purchasing data from a number of manufacturing firms cutting across multiple industry sectors including oil and gas, HVAC, storage, and safety seats, among others. And what we see should not surprise us yet when examined from the aggregate, once can pull out [...]

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China Aluminum Smelters Finally Making Money

by Stuart Burns on October 28, 2009

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

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Aluminium Corpn. Of China, (Chalco), the industry leader in China, has returned to profit in the third quarter for the first time in a year as the stimulus package and state assistance finally fed through into increased demand according to Bloomberg. The profit was pretty anemic, just $3m down 88% from last year’s $25m for [...]

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