As our colleague Fouad Egbaria noted this week, rising power costs in Europe, almost wholly down to the cost of natural gas, resulted in reduced output at Europe’s largest aluminum smelter, Aluminium Dunkerque Industries France. Losses there ballooned to €20 million ($22 million) during November, as natural gas prices quadrupled this year. Most aluminum smelters […]
Category: Commodities
This Morning in Metals: Nickel prices consolidate; NAS reduces fuel surcharge; US LNG exports surged in H1 2021
This morning in metals news: nickel prices have consolidated in December; North American Stainless announced a reduction in its fuel surcharge; and, lastly, the Energy Information Administration reported U.S. liquefied natural gas exports reached a record high in the first half of 2021. Are you under pressure to generate stainless steel cost savings? Make sure […]
This Morning in Metals: Steel prices cool to close 2021
This morning in metals news: steel prices continue to cool heading toward the year’s end, MetalMiner Insights data indicate; meanwhile, global crude steel production continued to decline in November; and, finally, the U.S. exported more petroleum and crude oil products than it imported in the first half of 2021. Cut-to-length adders. Width and gauge adders. […]
Europe faces severe energy risks heading into coldest part of winter
It seems perverse to say that COVID could come to the rescue of the European energy market. But the reality is the market is in a precarious state. Restrictions hindering businesses and industries’ power consumption could alleviate the energy crunch by reducing power use. At the height of the 2020 lockdowns, power demand fell by […]
Week in Review: Steel prices decline; inflation’s impact on metals; US stainless steel output forecast to rise 16%
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, including declining steel prices, a look at inflation’s impact on metals and much more: All the metals intelligence you need in one user-friendly platform with unlimited usage. Request a MetalMiner […]
This Morning in Metals: US import prices rise 0.7% in November
This morning in metals news: U.S. import prices gained in November; meanwhile, U.S. construction starts surged in November; and, lastly, the Energy Information Administration forecasts record monthly natural gas production in 2022. Better time your metal market purchases with the MetalMiner Insights platform. Request a demo. Import prices rise 0.7% According to the Bureau of […]
Iron ore prices surging on higher imports
It is always a challenge reading markets, whether you look at fundamentals of supply, demand and macro economic developments or whether you are a chartist looking at price trends to see how they compare to previous models, assessing price movement relative to Fibonacci levels and indications from high/low daily pricing data. One issue we repeatedly […]
Week in Review: Aluminum prices move sideways; GM announces rare earth magnet collaboration; copper prices consolidate
Before we head into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the week that was and some of the metals coverage here on MetalMiner, including coverage of aluminum prices, a General Motors collaboration with MP Materials aimed at developed a fully integrated U.S. rare earth magnet supply chain and much more: See why technical […]
This Morning in Metals: GM to invest $51M in Indiana aluminum die casting foundry
This morning in metals news: General Motors will invest $51 million to install equipment at its Bedford, Indiana aluminum casting die foundry; nickel prices have gained this past month; and, lastly, the U.K. trade minister reportedly told the U.S. they could consider expanding tariffs on U.S. goods if the U.S. does not remove the Section […]
This Morning in Metals: Winter weather to further strain energy supplies in Europe
This morning in metals news: a cold winter season will continue to put strain on European energy supplies; the U.S. international trade deficit declined from September to October; and, lastly, U.S. job openings increased in October. Does your company have a zinc buying strategy based on current zinc price trends? Energy prices under the microscope […]