The Renewables Monthly Metals Index (MMI) lost one point this month, falling for an October MMI reading of 103. Need buying strategies for steel? Request your two-month free trial of MetalMiner’s Outlook Rare Earths Removed From Final Tariff List The U.S. Trade Representative’s office announced a list of Chinese products worth $200 billion that would be […]
Tag: L1
Automotive MMI: Several Top Automakers Slump in September U.S. Sales
The Automotive Monthly Metals Index (MMI) held flat this month, holding for a reading of 96 for our October MMI. Need buying strategies for steel? Request your two-month free trial of MetalMiner’s Outlook U.S. Auto Sales General Motors, which now reports sales on a quarterly basis, reported a Q3 year-over-year sales decline of 11%. “The U.S. […]
China is Taking a Breather in its War on Smog This Winter
In recent years China’s steel sector — particularly the large, state-owned steel mills — have benefited from the enforced closure of capacity on environmental grounds during the winter heating season. Need buying strategies for steel? Request your two-month free trial of MetalMiner’s Outlook Contrarian as it may at first sound, closure of private mills largely […]
Tariffs’ Impact on the Automotive Industry Takes Center Stage During Senate Finance Committee Hearing
The Senate Finance Committee hosted a hearing on the impact of tariffs on the automotive industry Wednesday morning. Need buying strategies for steel? Request your two-month free trial of MetalMiner’s Outlook The Department of Commerce self-initiated a Section 232 investigation of automobiles and automotive parts back in May. “In short, the U.S. auto industry is […]
Is Oil Heading for $100/Barrel?
Oil prices have been quietly rising for the last six weeks. The Brent crude benchmark has now breached the U.S. $80/barrel level to $81.20 this week, a level not seen since late 2014, the Financial Times reports. In the U.S., ample shale oil supply and constrained infrastructure remains a drag on the West Texas Intermediate price, […]
Productivity Growth (Or Lack Thereof) in the Age of Technology
You can’t open a newspaper, of the online or paper variety, without coming across an article on productivity. Productivity growth has been meager for the last decade. How to achieve productivity levels seen in the latter part of the 20th century and early part of this one has plagued the minds of economists, politicians and […]
India Takes Cautious Approach in a Time of Tariffs
By now, much has been written on U.S. trade tariffs, the latest being the 10% tariff on Chinese imports amounting to a value of $200 billion. While almost all the countries against whom the U.S. has imposed tariffs have chosen to retaliate and go in for a tit-for-tat policy, India, curiously, has decided to be […]
When and Where is the Next Recession Coming From?
At a recent forum for business leaders, I was surprised the topic of conversation was not Brexit or Donald Trump’s latest tweet, or even cricket, but when the next recession would hit. That hasn’t been the case for many years now. Since 2009, we have experienced a more or less constant bull market, giving us […]
European Commission Proposes Changes to Modernize WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO) came to be in January 1995, and has since served as a global body for mediation of trade disputes between nations. But much has changed since 1995. Need buying strategies for steel? Request your two-month free trial of MetalMiner’s Outlook Now, nearly a quarter of a century later, some are […]
Norsk Hydro Backs Out of Deal to Buy Rio’s Icelandic Smelter
The aluminum market is facing much more uncertainty now than it was in February 2018 when Norsk Hydro agreed with Rio Tinto to buy the 205,000-ton-per-year capacity ISAL aluminum smelter, located in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland. According to the Financial Times, that deal included the balance 53.3% share in the Aluchemie anode plant in the Netherlands that Hydro […]
