This morning in metals news, the U.S. is reportedly considering reimposing tariffs on Canadian aluminum, U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports have plunged and global copper mine production ticked up 0.5% in Q1 2020.
Fouad Egbaria
May global crude steel production drops 8.7% year over year
Although demand and overall economic activity in China has begun to recover in recent weeks, overall global steel production in May remained down compared with May 2019 levels.
This Morning in Metals: Supreme Court rejects Section 232 challenge
This morning in metals news, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs on steel, British MPs are calling for government assistance for the British steel industry and ArcelorMittal is reportedly considering the sale of some of its Canadian iron ore assets.
Fed: U.S. industrial production rises 1.4% in May as automakers restart production
While positive coronavirus cases are on the rise in several parts of the country, industrial production bounced back in May after posting the largest monthly drop in the history of the Federal Reserve’s industrial production index in April.
Week in Review: U.S. hits wind power records; China’s semi-finished aluminum exports drop; Tesla makes cobalt deal
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:
This Morning in Metals: Vale announces plan to resume operations at Voisey’s Bay mine
This morning in metals news: Vale has announced a plan to resume operations at the Voisey’s Bay mine in Canada; U.S. imports of blooms, billets and slabs have surged in recent months; and Hindalco plans to sell a majority of its output outside of India this year.
This Morning in Metals: Ford employees could get chance to continue working remotely
This morning in metals news, thousands of Ford Motor Co. employees who have been working remotely as a result of the coronavirus pandemic might be allowed to continued doing so during the remainder of the year, Chinese coal imports dropped in May and Chinese steel rebar prices lost some ground on oversupply concerns.
This Morning in Metals: U.S. import prices rise 1.0% in May
This morning in metals news, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported prices of U.S. imports increased in May, Alcoa will begin the formal process of dismissing employees at the San Ciprián aluminum smelter, and India wants its oil and gas producers to use more domestically produced steel.
This Morning in Metals: U.S. steel capacity utilization ticks up to 54.0%
This morning in metals news, the U.S. steel sector’s capacity utilization rate moved up from the previous week, Australia’s Pilbara Ports Authority recently released shipping data for May and Tesla reportedly plans to expand its cobalt supply relationship with Glencore.
Introducing Maria Rosa Gobitz, Nick Athanis to the MetalMiner team
MetalMiner is happy to introduce two additions to the analyst and client services team: Maria Rosa Gobitz, who joins as senior research analyst, and Nick Athanis as the client services manager.