This Morning in Metals: U.S. steel capacity utilization rate rises to 75.4%
This morning in metals news: U.S. steel capacity utilization reached 75.4% for the week ending Jan. 9; General Motors announced the launch of BrightDrop; and Rusal America announced a new line of aluminum additive manufacturing powders.
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Steel capacity utilization reaches 75.4%
The U.S. steel sector’s capacity utilization rate reached 75.4% for the week ending Jan. 9, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported.
The rate increased from 74.6% the previous week.
Production during the week ending Jan. 9 totaled 1.71 million net tons, up 3.6% from the previous week. However, output during the week declined 10.3% year over year.
General Motors launches new BrightDrop business
General Motors today announced the launch of a new business called BrightDrop, which it says will “offer an ecosystem of electric first-to-last-mile products, software and services to empower delivery and logistics companies to move goods more efficiently.”
“GM estimates that by 2025, the combined market opportunity for parcel, food delivery and reverse logistics in the U.S. will be over $850 billion,” the automaker said in a release. “According to the World Economic Forum, demand for urban last-mile delivery, fueled by e-commerce, is expected to grow by 78 percent by 2030, leading to a 36 percent increase in delivery vehicles in the world’s top 100 cities. At the same time, this increase in demand is expected to cause delivery-related carbon emissions to rise by nearly one-third.”
Rusal America announce line of aluminum additive manufacturing powders
Meanwhile, Rusal America recently announced it is offering a new line of additive manufacturing powders.
“The new powders portfolio is comprised of four traditional Al-Si based casting alloys and five specialty alloys designed for use in the aerospace and automotive industries, and more broadly in general industry,” the firm said in a release. “Rusal America’s expanded portfolio makes high-performance solutions available to more AM applications than ever before through holistic alloy design that optimizes composition to maximize properties and printability while minimizing material cost.”
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