What goes up must come down, goes the old adage. Buying Aluminum in 2018? Download MetalMiner’s free annual price outlook Although that adage does not always hold true, it has for aluminum this week following a change of tone from Washington. According to the Financial Times, the U.S. Treasury made two important announcements this week, […]
Category: Supply & Demand
Aluminum Consumers Pose a Not-Unreasonable Question: How High Can Prices Go?
Higher is the simple answer. The world with the exception of China was in deficit before U.S. sanctions against Oleg Derispaska and his aluminum company Rusal. So when the three million tons of primary metal Rusal exports outside of Russia are taken out of a market already worried by the recent partial closure of Norsk […]
Renewables MMI: Cobalt, U.S. Steel Plate Post Big Price Jumps
The Renewables Monthly Metals Index (MMI) rose seven points on the month, hitting 107 for our April reading.
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Within the basket of metals, Korean, Chinese and U.S. steel plate posted price increases, while Japanese steel plate traced back slightly. U.S. steel plate jumped significantly, posting a 13.6% increase for the month.
U.S. grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) coil fell on the month, while neodymium picked up by 0.7%.
The always volatile cobalt price shot up significantly last month, rising 10.6%.
Tesla Strategy Places Premium on Neodymium
As we mentioned earlier this week, growing demand for neodymium from electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla will put even more pressure on what is already a constrained market.
In short, that means rising prices for the material, reflected in this month’s activity.
Tesla is looking to neodymium for magnetic motors in its Model 3 Long Range cars, as mentioned in the Reuters report we cited Tuesday. Last year, supply fell short of demand by 3,300 tons, according to that report.
DRC Looks to Shake Up 2002 Mining Charter
When it comes to anything cobalt, the Democratic Republic of Congo is typically at the center, being the source of the majority of the world’s cobalt.
Earlier this week, MetalMiner’s Stuart Burns wrote about President Joseph Kabila’s move to readjust the nation’s 2002 mining charter to, essentially, secure a bigger piece of the pie vis-a-vis the country’s vast mineral resources.
It comes as no surprise that the multinational miners doing business in the DRC aren’t exactly thrilled by the proposition of increased royalties and levies. However, as Burns noted, value of materials like cobalt and the demand they draw, combined with their relative scarcity, means such multinationals will continue to do business there, no matter what happens with the charter.
“If the state takes a little more of the pie, it will probably be reflected in prices,” Burns wrote. “But with limited alternatives for products like cobalt, it is unlikely to dent mining companies’ enthusiasm for investing in the DRC.”
MetalMiner’s Annual Outlook provides 2018 buying strategies for carbon steel
Actual Metal Prices and Trends
This Morning in Metals: Output, Profit Up for Chile’s Codelco in 2017
This morning in metals news, 2017 was a good year for Chilean miner Codelco, the city of Handan in China has called for a 25% reduction in steel mill production and the impact on Mexico of a terminated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). State Miner Says Profit, Output Rose Last Year Codelco announced that its […]
This Morning in Metals: DOC Announces Exclusion Process for New Tariffs
This morning in metals news, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its tariff exclusion process for steel and aluminum, world leaders announce the intention to work together on steel overcapacity, and bank accounts have been seized in connection to a corruption probe involving Rio Tinto’s Mongolia mine. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months […]
Have Zinc Prices Already Peaked?
This month, zinc prices started to trade lower, returning to the $3,200 level. This activity represents the first short-term price pullback we’ve seen in zinc prices since June 2017, when prices started their latest rally. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook But going back even further, the zinc price […]
This Morning in Metals: Brewers Association Expresses Concern Over Tariffs
This morning in metals news, the Brewers Association issued a statement expressing qualms about the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs, one analyst says U.S. Steel might actually be worse off after the tariffs, and copper miners are looking to the Mongolian dunes. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook […]
Buyer Beware When it Comes to Cobalt
Cobalt may be a minor constituent of lithium ion batteries, but it is a crucial one. Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook Lithium has been the metal in the news this year. Bolstered by rising demand for hybrid and electric cars, however, the supply market has been struggling to […]
Gravity May be Reasserting Itself in China’s Aluminum Smelter Sector
In an effort to curb horrendous atmospheric pollution, particularly during the winter heating season, Beijing’s crackdown on energy-intensive and polluting industries resulted in widespread closures across the Chinese aluminum smelting industry. Buying Aluminum in 2018? Download MetalMiner’s free annual price outlook But even as expectations rise that those smelters from Shandong to Shanxi may soon […]
Is the Lithium Market a Bull or a Bubble Set to Pop?
A while back I was called by a journalist at a prominent paper and asked what I thought about the lithium market. Was it another rare earth metals story – limited supply and rapidly escalating demand? Or, worse, was the world simply going to run out of lithium in the face of surging battery demand […]
