Macroeconomics

Falling Iron Ore, Coal Prices: The Start of a Steel Market Collapse?

by Stuart Burns on May 23, 2012

Style:    Category: Commodities, Ferrous Metals, Global Trade, Macroeconomics, Supply & Demand

Keywords: , , , , , ,

All the signs suggest the steel market, particularly the steel market outside of North America, has further to fall. In Asia, the FT reports the benchmark 62% Fe iron ore contract fell this week in Singapore to $133.25 a ton, the lowest since early November 2011, while thermal coal prices in the Australian port of [...]

{ 0 comments }

What China Bull Story Tells Us About Where Metals Prices Headed

by Stuart Burns on May 3, 2012

Style:    Category: Commodities, Macroeconomics, Manufacturing

Keywords: , ,

Continued from Part Two. As we have seen in the past, when Beijing sets its mind in a particular direction, it generally achieves the desired result — so while the pace may slacken or rise, the general trend is clear. Where does that leave metals prices and those industries, indeed those countries, which have set [...]

{ 0 comments }

Caterpillar, Eaton’s Fortunes at Whim of Chinese Demand

by Stuart Burns on May 2, 2012

Style:    Category: Global Trade, Macroeconomics, Manufacturing

Keywords: , , ,

Continued from Part One. An article in the FT explores the impact on several US corporations who have invested heavily in Chinese manufacturing capacity, but who are finding domestic Chinese demand slowing much faster than they had expected. This is not a case of nearshoring, of rising Chinese costs undermining the economics of manufacturing in that country; [...]

{ 1 comment }

What Changes in China Mean for the Rest of the World

by Stuart Burns on May 2, 2012

Style:    Category: Commodities, Global Trade, Macroeconomics

Keywords: , , , , ,

We and others in our industry write often about the impact on metal prices and supply as a result of rising demand in the emerging markets and, in particular, China. China has without doubt been the largest single driver of metal prices over the last ten years as the country’s phenomenal growth, much of it [...]

{ 0 comments }

ETM Manufacturing: Economic Outlook for Q2 – Part Two

by Taras Berezowsky on April 26, 2012

Style:    Category: Macroeconomics, Manufacturing, Sourcing Strategies

Keywords: , ,

Continued from Part One – the continuation of a Q&A with Rob Olney of ETM Manufacturing. How would you rank the biggest roadblock to achieving the profit margins you want to be seeing? For us, labor is the biggest part, then materials, then, for our customers, logistics costs. Labor’s going to be what it’s going [...]

{ 1 comment }

ETM Manufacturing: Economic Outlook for Q2 – Part One

by Taras Berezowsky on April 26, 2012

Style:    Category: Macroeconomics, Manufacturing, Sourcing Strategies

Keywords: ,

MetalMiner recently took a look at manufacturers across the country and their economic outlooks for manufacturing for the year. We decided to follow up with Rob Olney, CEO of ETM Manufacturing in Littleton, Mass. — a metal fabricator with a $1-$2 million metal buy that supplies leading New England OEMs — to get his take. [...]

{ 0 comments }

Should the US Join OPEC? – Part Three

by Stuart Burns on April 24, 2012

Style:    Category: Commodities, Environment, Green, Macroeconomics

Keywords: , ,

Continued from Part Two.  For the US to become self-sufficient in energy would have significant benefits on a number of levels. The balance of payment would be significantly improved as the US gradually spent less money buying oil from Canada, Nigeria, Venezuela, Mexico and Saudi Arabia – its current top five suppliers. It may not [...]

{ 1 comment }

Should the US Join OPEC? – Part Two

by Stuart Burns on April 23, 2012

Style:    Category: Commodities, Environment, Green, Macroeconomics

Keywords: , ,

Continued from Part One. The NY Times agrees, quoting Rex W. Tillerson, the chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil at a recent conference where he said, “The transformation unfolding in North America represents a potentially decisive shift in the history of energy.” The article explores the potential for North America to be self sufficient in hydrocarbons [...]

{ 1 comment }

← Previous Entries