U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. The bill includes funding to upgrade the country’s transportation infrastructure, electric grid and more. As such, the projects will certainly need metals like steel, copper and aluminum, among others. In that vein, we recently chatted with Mike Stier, […]
Year: 2021
This Morning in Metals: Merchants Fleet expands BrightDrop EV order to 18,000
This morning in metals news: Merchants Fleet will expand its purchases of BrightDrop electric vehicles to 18,000; meanwhile, the Producer Price Index for metals and metal products increased in October; and, finally, the United States International Trade Commission issued a vote on freight rail coupler systems from China. You want more MetalMiner on your terms. […]
Metals industry to play major role in curbing carbon emissions
Metals will play a significant role in helping governments and companies to address climate issues by aiding the transition to cleaner energy and ultimately decreasing carbon emissions, industry watchers said. “The metals industry is crucial to facilitating this,” one analyst told MetalMiner. “If you want energy transition, it is not going to happen without metals […]
Inflation and tariffs — what’s the connection?
Inflation is currently a hot topic on Wall Street and in Washington. For many, it’s a much more immediate issue than other major issues, like the impact of climate change. A recent Financial Times post in the paper’s Trade Secrets newsletter posed a somewhat controversial but not inappropriate question: could removing tariffs be the answer […]
This Morning in Metals: Rio Tinto invests to increase low-carbon aluminum production
This morning in metals news: Rio Tinto said it is investing US$87 million to increase its low-carbon aluminum production in Canada; new natural gas pipeline capacity came on stream in Q3 2021; and, lastly, the U.S., E.U. and Japan released a joint statement affirming their trilateral trade partnership. Stay up to date on MetalMiner with […]
U.S. steel capacity utilization rises to 84.1%
The U.S. steel sector’s capacity utilization rate reached 84.1% for the week ending Nov. 13, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported. Make sure you are following the five best practices of sourcing steel. Steel capacity utilization Steel capacity utilization reached 84.1%, up from 83.4% the previous week. Steel output last week totaled 1.86 million […]
This Morning in Metals: President Biden signs infrastructure bill
This morning in metals news: U.S. President Joe Biden signed the over $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law Monday; meanwhile, import prices rose by 1.2% in October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today; and, lastly, manufacturers’ and trade inventories increased in September. MetalMiner has launched a full suite of precious metals as part of […]
US, Japan to initiate talks on Section 232 steel, aluminum tariffs
The United States and Japan have agreed to initiate talks regarding the former’s Section 232 tariffs on Japanese steel and aluminum imports, Reuters reported this week. According to a report by AP, Japan’s industry ministry said Japan’s Industry Minister Koichi Hagiuda and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo attended the meeting. However, a ministry official said […]
Is the LME running out of metal?
The headline poses a rhetorical question — we can all see the rundown in LME inventory this year. However, the question is intended to raise two issues. First, while in many cases analysts will point to falling inventory levels as a reason for rising prices, the current ultra-low levels of LME stocks support the point […]
Renewables/GOES MMI: Northvolt produces battery cell with 100% recycled nickel, manganese, cobalt
The Renewables Monthly Metals Index (MMI) rose by 3.9% this month. (Editor’s note: This report also includes the MMI for grain-oriented electrical steel, or GOES.) Want MetalMiner directly in your inbox? Sign up for weekly updates now. Northvolt produces first battery cell with 100% recycled cobalt, nickel, manganese In the battery market, Swedish firm Northvolt announced […]