The Aluminum Monthly Metals Index (MMI) continued to drop, with a 5.14% decline from July to August. The price of aluminum continued to deflate before finding a bottom at the close of July. Overall, aluminum prices witnessed a 9.07% decline throughout the month, followed by a modest 2.26% rise during the first half of August. […]
Category: Commodities
Renewables MMI: China’s Battery Metals Stockpile, What Does it Mean for U.S. Companies?
The Renewables MMI (Monthly Metals Index) continued to plateau, moving sideways with only a slight 1.29% drop. Currently, there isn’t enough bullish or bearish price action to yank the index too far out of its sideways trend. The historically volatile movements of grain-oriented electrical steel prices are currently the only factor adding any significant volatility […]
Iron Ore Prices Sink Below $100 as China’s Steel Mills Face Crisis
Iron ore prices hit the headlines again after dipping below the psychological barrier of US $100 per ton this Monday. It was the fourth time it crossed the threshold in a fortnight. This recent drop was nearly 30% below iron ore’s peak of $144 a ton, which it achieved in January this year. As a […]
Construction MMI: US Manufacturing Boom or US Manufacturing Recession?
The Construction MMI (Monthly Metals Index) finally broke free of its year-long sideways trend, but only slightly. All in all, price action moved down by 3.52%, adding to questions about the state of US manufacturing. Iron ore, h-beam, and steel rebar prices dropping were the main components driving the index down. In general, numerous factors […]
Stainless MMI: Nickel Prices Unravel Gains as Stainless Market Remains “Soft”
Overall, the Stainless Monthly Metals Index (MMI) continued to decline, with a 4.47% drop from July to August. Nickel prices continued to plunge throughout July, shedding an additional 4.43% over the course of the month. Although prices appeared to stabilize in early August, they continued to trend near their early 2024 range, having wiped out […]
Liberty Steel Flats Producer in Dunaújváros Planning on Targeting Automotive and Defense Sector
According to Liberty’s Steel’s parent company, GFG Alliance, the steel industry leader’s flats producer at Dunaújváros plans to target the automotive and defense sectors. This shift will occur upon the commissioning of two electric arc furnaces, which will replace the two blast furnaces currently occupying the Hungarian site. A source at the company told MetalMiner […]
Raw Steels MMI: Steel Prices Flatten Despite Bearish Conditions
The Raw Steels Monthly Metals Index (MMI) moved sideways, with a 1.15% decline from July to August. U.S. steel prices remained in search of a new bottom by the close of July. HRC prices dropped a total of 8.26% during the month, pushing them to their lowest level since December 2022. However, prices appeared to […]
Europe’s Answer to China’s Rare Earth Monopoly
Rare earth elements and semiconductors have taken on that critical national development role once occupied by oil and petroleum products. Despite the ongoing U.S.-China competition, the latter country controls a full 90% of the global rare earths supply, transforming these elements into potential political weapons. With regard to semiconductors, China’s Civilian-Military Integration Strategy aims to […]
Automotive MMI: EV Demand Failing to Boost Overall Metal Demand
The Automotive MMI (Monthly Metals Index) maintained a steady sideways trend month-over-month, only moving down 2.53%. Overall steel demand remains tepid, which left little bullish sentiment for hot-dipped galvanized steel. Meanwhile, other metals prices, including copper, dropped after their speculative rallies cooled off in July. Overall, the components of the automotive index had little to […]
Rare Earths MMI: China’s Metal Demand Weakens: What It Means for U.S. Rare Earth Buyers
The bears continued to make their way into the Rare Earths MMI (Monthly Metals Index), with yet another drop in price action, this time by 6.93%. Many factors pulled at rare earths prices overall, including oversupply, weak demand for metals within China and shifting dynamics in global rare earths supplies. It seems China’s over-production of […]
