Zimbabwe’s got itself a brand new iron and steel manufacturing plant, courtesy of the Chinese. This U.S. $1.5 billion Chinese-built plant’s blast furnace recently came online and is already producing pig iron, a crucial ingredient for making steel. The team over at Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Disco), the Zimbabwean subsidiary of Chinese steel giant […]
Category: Manufacturing
Liberty Steel Ostrava’s Conundrum: a Plunge into Insolvency
Liberty Steel Ostrava, a steel manufacturing plant in the Czech Republic, recently entered an insolvency process. This comes after its parent company, GFG Alliance, put the plant up for sale and filed for judicial reorganization in mid-June. A source within GFG Alliance told MetalMiner that a regional court in Ostrava, which lies in the eastern […]
Battle for Steel Supremacy: India vs. China in the Global Steel Trade
With a new government in place following the recent general elections, Indian steel manufacturing firms are again clamoring for the imposition of more import duties and other measures to curb cheap steel imports from China. India ended up being a net importer of steel during the April-March 2024 period. According to provisional government data, this […]
China’s Economic Recovery Stumbles: Industrial Output Disappoints
Clearly, China’s economy is not yet back on the recovery track, as evidenced by the mixed bag of data for May released on Monday. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), industrial production in China saw a 5.6% increase in May 2024 compared to May 2023. However, overall production was also down […]
European Steel Mills Brace for July: Import Caps and Tariffs Shake Market
Sources said that steel manufacturing entities in northern Europe are unlikely to seek price increases on hot rolled coil until July, despite events since May that could create conditions to raise them. “If you do that, you seem very opportunistic,” one source told MetalMiner. Mills were seeking €630-650 ($675-695) per metric ton EXW in late […]
Anglo American Rejects £39 Billion Offer from BHP, Citing Regulatory Risks
Australian mining multinational BHP recently abandoned its bid for London- and Johannesburg listed Anglo American after the target company rejected the latest offer. “While we believed that our proposal for Anglo American was a compelling opportunity to effectively grow the pie of value for both sets of shareholders, we were unable to reach agreement with […]
Renewables/GOES MMI: Despite Slight GOES Supply Gut, U.S. Still Lacks Enough Transformers for Renewable Energy
The Renewables MMI (Monthly Metals Index) witnessed more notable declines month-over-month than last month’s MMI, declining by 7.09%. Renewable energy news sources indicate there exists a number of renewable energy projects within the U.S. currently ready to begin work, but are on hold due to an array of factors. Furthermore, solar and wind fields still […]
Secret Weapon in the ‘Copper War’?
Copper demand continues to surge globally. And as the rest of the world struggles with the rising price of copper and the ever-changing copper market, guess who is sitting pretty? Hint: it’s China. Despite fears of a worldwide copper shortage driving copper prices to new highs, the world’s largest producer and consumer of refined copper […]
Norsk Hydro Comments on Current Aluminum Market Conditions
Recently, MetalMiner had the pleasure of speaking with Norsk Hydro about aluminum market trends, market insights and the general market outlook for the aluminum industry, especially in the U.S. As the premier green aluminum producer in the United States, Europe-based Norsk Hydro continues to make significant strides in helping to convert the aluminum extrusion market […]
New Heat-Resistant Aluminum Alloys Developed by Tianjin University to Revolutionize Aerospace Engineering
Chinese scientists recently announced the development of a technique to significantly enhance the heat resistance of aluminum alloys. The breakthrough will address a major challenge that has long restricted the use of this lightweight metal in critical fields such as aerospace and transportation. According to a report in the South China Morning Post, the team […]