Week in Review: IPCC report takeaways; copper market trends; tax credits for rare earth magnet production?

Before we head into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the week that was and some of the metals storylines here on MetalMiner:
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Week of Aug. 9-13, 2021 (copper market, steel capacity utilization and much more)

• Maria Rosa Gobitz overviewed the copper market in this month’s Copper MMI report.
• Oil prices dipped earlier this week.
• Stuart Burns on the Chinese steel sector’s output curbs.
• Christopher Rivituso delved into a collaboration between Salzgitter-Flachstahl and Anglo American aimed at decarbonizing the steelmaking process.
• U.S. steel capacity utilization dipped slightly last week to 84.8%.
• Burns on the recent IPCC climate report and what it means for metals markets and metal-using industries.
• Rivituso on potential refractory relines at Tata Steel Netherlands’ IJMuiden facility.
• Steel demand and prices remain robust, Gobitz explained.
• The U.S. Senate approved a $1 trillion infrastructure package earlier this week.
• Meanwhile, strong stainless steel demand is likely to continue well into next year.
• China Molybdenum announced plans to invest $2.5 billion to boost output at the Tenke Fungurume mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• The Producer Price Index for final demand increased by 1.0% in July.
• Representatives in the House recently introduced a bill calling for tax credits to incentivize domestic rare earth magnet production.
• The gold price dropped last month as the U.S. dollar gained strength.
• Electric vehicle maker Tesla is teaming up with Re|Source to implement a pilot project that aims to trace responsibly sourced cobalt from mine to electric vehicle.

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