Home Metal Articles Metal Articles Purchasing - Metals News Purchasing?s metals channel covers steel prices and supply, carbon steel price and supply, steel price forecasts, stainless steel price and supply, metals service centers, alloy steel, specialty steel, scrap steel prices, aluminum prices and supply, copper prices and supply, nickel prices and supply Global chemical purchasing conference scheduled for September in Boston Information to help purchasing and supply chain managers prepare for the 2009-2010 global economy, energy feedstocks and key chemical families will be presented at the Chemical Purchasing Summit in Boston on Sept. 17-18. Zinc mine shut due to low prices HudBay closes Balmat, N.Y., operations Metalworking firms are cautious As summer vacations end, North American metalworking companies usually have higher expectations for improved orders, shipments and general economic conditions--but not this year. Rhodium price plunges to 8-month low The daily price of rhodium dropped to $4,200/ounce today Bluescope studies more North American acquisitions Bluescope Steel of Australia plans to expand its ownership of steel-related operations in North America. Goldman Sachs also cuts gold price forecast Precious metals analysts at Goldman Sachs in New York have reduced their gold price forecast to average $745/ounce over the next three months Wheel maker to close Kansas plant Aluminum wheel maker Superior Industries International will close its Pittsburg, Kan., manufacturing plant in December World steel output up 6% through July World crude steel production in July dropped 1.6% from June but remained 6.2% ahead of the year-ago month Gold prices make sudden drop Dollar?s rebound has caused gold prices to plunge to $800/oz Nonferrous Prices Could Slide A growing number of analysts are projecting lower copper, nickel, lead and zinc prices in 2009 after the spikes of the past two years. Not so, for aluminum prices, thought. Production downturns in Australia, China and South Africa could boost aluminum prices by as much as 10% next year. Diesel Costs Drive Platinum Demand As gas prices continue to escalate and more carmakers look at diesel technologies, demand for platinum will increase, says analyst James Moore at TheBullionDesk.com.. "Emission controls are getting tighter and tighter," he says, "and there is more demand for diesel vehicles, which use more platinum in catalysts. Zinc Supply May Tighten Zinc supply is in excess worldwide but it could tighten slightly this summer when Teck Cominco and Xstrata close their joint-venture Lennard Shelf Pillara zinc mine in Western Australia earlier than planned?due to the continuing decline in zinc prices. "This demonstrates there is a lot of production that has increased in recent years that is comparatively on the high-cost side," says mine... AK Steel to Slow Output Flat-rolled steelmaker AK Steel is forecasting slower seasonal third-quarter shipments, compounded by the still-slumping automotive and appliance market. At the same time, hot-rolled sheet prices appear to have plateaued. So, the Ohio-based steelmaker plans short-term outages at its hot strip mills. Arcelor Mittal Buys Coal Firms Concept Group and Mid Vol Coal Group Arcelor Mittal has purchased two U.S. metallurgical coal miners as it expands ownership of steel raw materials amid rising costs. The purchased firms are Concept Group and Mid Vol Coal Group both in southern West Virginia. The buyouts came as coking coal prices moved to $320/metric tons for third quarter deliveries to steel mills from $285 in the second quarter. Steel Beam Prices Not Certain Nucor, Steel Dynamics and Gerdau Ameristeel have increased scrap-related surcharges on wide-flange beam products for August deliveries. This action brings the mill price for medium-sized wide-flange beams around $1,152/ton. But, the average July transactional price was $1,061 so a $91/ton hike still was open to discussion as last month closed. Steel Demand Expectations Dip With world steel demand in a summertime swoon, the latest market survey by SteelBusinessBriefing.com shows buyers worldwide expecting lower transaction prices through October. The latest Purchasingdata.com survey also finds fewer U.S. companies now expecting higher prices in the coming three months. Steel Plate Prices Strengthen Tight supplies of steel plate and rising scrap costs for producers look to translate into substantially higher prices by late summer. The July average price for spot buys of cut-to-length steel plate of $1,360/ton was 73% higher than a year earlier. Now, Nucor of Charlotte and Evraz Claymont of Maryland are leading an industry push for August list prices at $1,440 to offset another increase in ... Aluminum Prices Head Higher Aluminum market analysts are falling in line with $2/lb aluminum price forecasts for 2009 now that China, the world's biggest producer and user, has reduced smelting rates because of power shortages. The action will make China a net importer through next year, even if it slows its recent demand-growth surge. 2009 Price Outlook: Prices will stay high for metals After erupting by 26% in 2007, prices this year for a group of metals tracked by Purchasingdata.com are on pace to increase by 16%. And, then, in 2009, buyers can expect flat or a slight 2% slippage. Market economists and purchasing executives say individual metals pricing has been and will remain unsettled?inflated for some commodity metals, deflated for others. 2009 Metals Pricing Outlook: Tight supplies fuel supercycle costs Metals prices overall now are in the seventh year of a bull-pricing phase, a so-called supercycle, that actually started in 2002. Since then, nonferrous metals traded on the London Metals Exchange (LME) have increased in price by more than 300%. What caused this super cycle in nonferrous? The lack of investment in sufficient new mining, smelting and processing capacity in the 1990s. [ Back ]