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This morning in metals news, the U.S. steel sector’s capacity utilization checked in at 82.1% for the year to date, General Motors is working to transform its international operations, and copper prices have shown some upward momentum so far this month.
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Before we head into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the week that was and the metals storylines here on MetalMiner, including coverage of: U.S. steel prices, 2019 metals sector M&A activity, palladium prices, the copper market amid the coronavirus outbreak, the British automotive sector and more.
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This morning in metals news, U.S. Steel recently underwent another round of layoffs, Braidy Industries‘ new CEO said the company still needs $500 million for its Kentucky aluminum mill, and the Aluminum Association announced its new president and CEO.
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This morning in metals news, Thyssenkrupp’s earnings fell last quarter, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced affirmative preliminary circumvention rulings regarding imports of corrosion-resistant steel products and Brazil’s Vale has been overtaken as the world’s No. 1 iron ore producer.
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This morning in metals news, the U.S. steel sector churned out 1.90 million tons of steel during the week ending Feb. 8, a U.S. Steel electric arc furnace is near completion and miner Rio Tinto says the coronavirus in China has impacted copper ore flows.
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This morning in metals news, Novelis Inc. reported its quarterly financial results, steel trade in China slows amid coronavirus fears and India’s carbon emissions are projected to soar over the next 30 years.
M&A activity in global metal firms dropped 10% by volume compared to 2018, but the value of all deals declined by a third driven by fewer “megadeals” — transactions with disclosed values greater than $5 billion — compared to the previous year, according to PwC’s Global Metal Deal Insights report for 2019.
The PwC report cited weakness in the automotive sector and U.S manufacturing overall for playing a part in layoffs at U.S. Steel and a 64% falloff in 2019 deal activity in the steel sub-sector compared to the previous year, even when including the $1.1 billion acquisition of AK Steel by Cleveland Cliffs in Q4.
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This morning in metals news, Norsk Hydro unveiled its Q4 and full-year 2019 financial results, Nippon Steel projected a net loss of $4 billion for the recent fiscal year, and President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on steel and aluminum derivatives took effect over the weekend.
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Before we head into the weekend, let’s take a look at the week that was and some of the metals storylines here on MetalMiner, including coverage of: copper prices and the coronavirus’ impact; European steel consumption; Jingye’s British Steel takeover bid; U.S. steel production; automotive sales and more.
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This morning in metals news, miner Glencore released its 2019 production results, the coronavirus fallout continues and U.S. Steel is planning to temporarily close its Gary Works No. 4 blast furnace in April.