In 2018, a pair of us on the MetalMiner team attended the “premier aluminum conference in Europe” — Aluminum 2018 Dusseldorf. Although Dusseldorf felt like a charming Ohio blue collar town with good beer, one of us left the event with a deep cough (obviously pre-Covid). Oddly enough, the weather alert app kept displaying daily […]
Category: Green
No respite for European zinc smelters in face of high energy costs
European zinc producers will continue to face volatile energy costs until more renewable sources and LNG gas become more accessible, industry watchers said. “Zinc smelters are really struggling as electricity is a bigger proportion of the cost compared with copper or nickel smelters,” one analyst told MetalMiner. This has led to rising zinc prices. Renewables […]
Rising Lithium prices fuel EV anxiety
MetalMiner welcomes Henk Van Alphen, CEO of Wealth Minerals, (WML – TSX.V) a company focused on the acquisition and development of lithium projects in South America. He can be reached at: henk@wealthminerals.com. As the price of lithium has skyrocketed over 400% in the past year, the demand for lithium-ion batteries appears more intense than ever. […]
Rare Earth Metals MMI: Dramatic price increases last seen in 2012
The Rare Earth Metals Index (MMI) rose by over 17% month over month. MetalMiner launched the entire MMI series in January, 2012. At that time, all of the rare earth metals began with an index reading of 100. By June of 2013, the rare earth metals MMI plummeted to 29 and reached a low in […]
Renewables and GOES MMI increase despite steel price decline
The Renewables Monthly Metals Index (MMI) rose by 4.6% month over month. California to add more renewables, batteries The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved plans in early February to expand renewables and batteries as part of California’s power resources. The decision supports California’s larger ambitions to procure all of its electricity from clean sources […]
Natural gas markets under extreme duress
Ordinarily, rising oil and natural gas prices serve as positive signs of a recovering global economy. However, the rate and extent of price increases threatens to derail that very recovery. These increases, on top of rising interest rates, rapidly increasing inflation and constrained global supply chains, all continue despite more than a year into the […]
British Steel moving to EAF production to meet carbon emissions targets
British Steel aim to slash their carbon emissions 82% by 2035. This would fall in line with the UK’s commitments to the Paris Agreement and the country’s own carbon reduction targets, a company official said on Jan. 25. One way the company plans to achieve the decreases involves a new electric furnace in two to […]
On the heels of COP26, India aims to expand renewable energy projects
In line with India’s commitment at the COP26 summit in Glasgow last year, the country aims to reach net-zero by 2070. Furthermore, India seeks to meet 50% of its energy needs by 2030 through renewable sources and expand non-fossil fuel power generation capacity to 500 GW in this decade. In light of these targets, the […]
Renewables/GOES MMI: EIA forecasts rise in electricity generation from renewables
The Renewables Monthly Metals Index (MMI) rose by 2.9% for this month’s reading. EIA: electricity generation from renewables to rise in 2022, 2023 The Energy Information Administration forecast the U.S. share of electricity generation from renewables will rise in 2022 and 2023. “Our forecast for the natural gas share as a generation fuel declines primarily […]
This Morning in Metals: Copper prices move sideways; construction employment rises; Northvolt assembles first lithium-ion battery cell at Swedish gigafactory
This morning in metals news: copper prices have moved sideways to close 2021; meanwhile, the U.S. construction sector added jobs in November; and, finally, Northvolt said it had produced the first lithium-ion battery cell at its gigafactory in Sweden. MetalMiner should-cost models: Give your organization levers to pull for more price transparency, from service centers, […]
