There are some industries, as there are some products, which have long promised but failed to deliver. Think of robotic house servants: Ever since the 1960s, the idea of robots to clean your home has been supposedly just on the cusp of becoming a reality and yet here we are at the start of 2008 […]

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China, the world’s largest producer of stainless steels, is adding capacity so quickly that supply is exceeding demand in the domestic market, and China will become a net exporter next year. Current predictions suggest China may have 500,000 tons available for export next year and 1 million tons by 2010. Meanwhile, European steelmakers are lobbying […]

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Copper consumers must feel giddy from this year’s roller coaster ride. Trying to predict when to buy has been a nightmare. Now we have a new question: What will the red metal do in 2008? The International Copper Group reports that the main engine of demand, China, will become a net exporter of metal in […]

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Chairman and Chief Executive Officer S. Claus narrowly avoided an angry crowd gathered at the headquarters of Christmas Entertainments Inc following reports of a catastrophic failure in their Global Supply Chain. In what was seen as a deliberate leak to the press just days before the news of the appointment of Aptium Global Inc, Strategic […]

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Before MetalMiner begins our short holiday hiatus, we would like to introduce contributing writer and associate editor Amy Edwards, who plans to write the occasional blurb and even in-depth features articles for MetalMiner. A graduate student at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., Amy looks forward to learning more about the metals industry and sharing that […]

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A recent tongue-in-cheek article on Spend Matters about the U.S. becoming the low-cost country source for Europe due to a falling dollar looks like it may have substance as well as humor on its side. Rolls Royce has announced that they are establishing a manufacturing and assembly facility in Virginia to service the growing corporate […]

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I saw yet another tidbit of news this week that will further erode the savings coming from China’s steel exports. This Interfax news article reports a 5% export tax increase (from 20-25%) for all steel billet and long products coming from China. Long product refers to rebar and wire. There are no changes to the […]

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It is not often that we would take issue with Purchasing.com. It’s a fine publication packed with useful insight for metal markets. However, I feel that a recent article predicting the rise of steel prices in 2008 is overstating the effects of the weak dollar and underestimating the likely downturn in the economy. True, the […]

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I mentioned to you a couple of days back that from time to time, I would share a few war stories on these virtual pages. But since we are still getting to know each other, I won’t be able to get into some of the more scandalous stories (like about a former boss of mine […]

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Could aluminum prices rise in the face of a recession?
Citing opinions from some 25 metal market analysts, Harbor Intelligence is predicting a better than 50% chance that the aluminum price will rise in 2008, hitting a peak of over $2600/mt in 2008 and over $2700/mt in 2009. At the same time that Morgan Stanley is […]

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