We wrote recently about the impact power rationing and rising coal costs were having on metals producers in Europe. Well, it would seem that is not the only driver pushing semi-finished product prices higher this month. Each month, MetalMiner hosts a webinar on a specific metals topic. Explore the upcoming webinars and sign up for […]
Category: Supply & Demand
This Morning in Metals: Steel demand to rise 4.5%, World Steel Association forecasts
This morning in metals news: the World Steel Association forecast steel demand to rise by 4.5% this year; U.S. import prices increased in September; and, lastly, the Energy Information Administration forecasts U.S. coal-fired electricity generation will increase this year for the first time since 2014. Are you under pressure to generate steel cost savings? Make […]
China raises rare earth production quotas to record levels as prices surge
China has previously been cast in a sinister role with respect to restricting the production and export of critical rare earth metals, usually salts, used to produce a host of products. Those products include magnets for consumers electronics and electric cars, defense equipment and advanced ceramics. But while the country deliberately created a near monopoly […]
Energy crisis in China hits more than just metals output
Much is being made of Beijing’s efforts to meet its environmental emissions targets — the country states it will hit peak emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 — and its restricted steel and aluminium production. But a recent Reuters post by John Kemp suggests output is being impacted more by a widening electricity […]
This Morning in Metals: Steel capacity utilization rises to 85.2%
This morning in metals news: U.S. steel capacity utilization reached 85.2% for the week ending Sept. 25; meanwhile, most planned U.S. battery storage additions in the next few years will be paired with solar; and, lastly, unemployment rates in August declined in nearly all metropolitan areas. Steel prices have been rising for over a year, […]
Single-family housing starts slump in August
U.S. housing starts overall picked up in August, the Census Bureau reported this month. Request a 30-minute demo of the MetalMiner Insights platform now. Housing starts overall rise, but single-family starts drop Privately owned housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,615,000. The August rate jumped by 3.9% from the previous month. […]
EUROFER: EU steel demand shows growth in early 2021
As has been well documented by now, demand for a wide variety of materials plunged on the heels of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Among those materials, of course, is steel. Consumer demand for steel-using products declined and construction projects came to a halt. However, data from the European Steel Association show […]
What’s next for Afghanistan’s vast rare earths supply after US pullout?
While the world looks on with growing concern at the political play unfolding in Afghanistan with the takeover of the Taliban, another sidebar to this developing story that is slowly creeping into public consciousness is the vast treasure-trove of minerals in that country, and how the Taliban government will exploit it. One estimate by the […]
Steel prices in China looking more vulnerable in the face of falling input costs
Unusually, the global steel market is diverging in the opposite direction from “normal.” Historically, China would show signs of strength driven by robust construction activity while Europe and the U.S. struggled, facing more mature markets and relatively higher levels of foreign penetration. The U.S. continues to power ahead. There, mill lead times remain stubbornly protracted. […]
This Morning in Metals: Global semiconductor shortage may continue into 2023
This morning in metals news: The global semiconductor shortage may continue into the next year or more. In other news, after failing to reach an agreement Thursday on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, the U.S. Senate aims to finalize it Saturday. Also in the news, South Korea plans to raise its stockpiles of 35 “critical […]
