Battery Metals

A steel distribution company in Central Texas is changing the way it does business due to the imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

President Donald Trump’s Office explained in a statement, the tariff to protect America’s national security from the effects of a global oversupply of steel and aluminum. Now, aluminum from those countries have a 10 percent tariff and steel imports have a 25 percent tariff.

Metals 2 Go General Manager Dwayne Turnbo said in the past months, his company used to buy more of its steel from Mexico but that changed when the 25 percent tariffs went into effect last month.

“They started holding that steel at bay and not that many imports were coming from the U.S. and so at that time, it’s an even playing field,” Turnbo said.

Most of their product comes from the U.S. where the price is a little bit cheaper or the same as the Mexican import.

However, he said the price of steel, in general, is more expensive than at the beginning of February.

“Short term. The market has gone up in pricing so that does affect the end user. It costs more to build your end product and the end user usually ends up paying for that,” Turnbo said.

Steel is used to make trailers and equipment that farmers and ranchers use every day.

Texas Farm Bureau Director of Communications Gene Hall said the change will put pressure on the price of farm equipment.

“I think you probably would see them using what they have and putting off the decision to buy new stuff but in some cases, it cost more to use the older, less efficient equipment,” Hall said.

Hall hopes that the current tariffs and the proposed tariffs for China will not become a long-term.

“It’s better to sit down and negotiate trade disputes rather than to launch tariffs. We are hoping any continuation of a trade dispute is short-lived because a lot of damage is going to be done to markets in the meantime,” Hall said.

However, Turnbo said he thinks the current tariffs would have a positive effect on the job industry.

“A lot of steel mills are booked. A lot of steel mills are running three shifts, running around the clock. There are a lot of jobs to be offered here in the U.S. in the steel industry,” Turnbo said.

According to Hall, TFB members are inclined to give the president time to make his ideas work.

“It goes without saying that there is a lot of anxiety, a lot of nervousness in the tariff situation,” Hall said.

The tariffs the U.S. has proposed for China and the tax that the country intends to implement on U.S. products has already affected commodity prices.

According to the TFB, the price of corn and cotton has decreased, which experts are crediting to the threat of tariffs. Farmers are now concerned about the possibility of having fewer sales in the future.

‘Surplus produce may come to India; it will hit local makers’

Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh on Friday said the 25% tariff imposed by the U.S. on steel import can ‘indirectly’ affect the domestic sector.

U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed a 25% import tariff on steel and 10% on aluminium.

Mr. Singh had earlier said the U.S.’ levy of heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium would not have any major impact on steel production in India as steel export to U.S. was only 3.3% of total exports.

However, speaking at a conference here, he said: “The U.S. decision to impose 25% tariff on steel imports will have negligible direct impact [on India’s export] as India’s share of U.S. steel imports is very small as compared to other countries but there might be an indirect impact.” He added, “Countries which are exporting to the U.S. will be forced to look at other major steel consuming markets like India to sell their surplus [produce] and [can] slightly distort our domestic market considerably due to dumping,” he said.

‘85 MT may target India’

N.A. Ansari, CEO Steel Business, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd., who also attended the conference on steel and trade, said: “In the global steel business about 300 MT [million tonnes] is… traded between the countries… and due to this U.S. tariff move, at least some 85 MT of steel might find its way to India.

“We need to be very careful at this point.”

Tata Steel is planning to sell some of its South-East Asian businesses in order to focus on the Indian market, The Economic Times reported.

The company has appointed a banker in Singapore to look for buyers for its subsidiaries NatSteel Holdings Pte Ltd (Singapore) and Tata Steel Thailand, the report said.

The Tata Group company has valued these businesses at around $500 million. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the news.

Both units have reported negative growth in operational profit, despite improved selling prices, primarily because of the negative sentiment in the construction sector in both Singapore and Thailand and elevated scrap prices, the company said in its annual report for 2017-2018.

Tata Steel acquired NatSteel in 2004 and Millennium Steel in 2006. Millennium Steel’s name was later changed to Tata Steel (Thailand).

The turnover from the South-East Asian businesses was Rs 9,542 crore in FY18, or almost 16 percent of the company’s total revenue of Rs 60,519 crore.

But with a profit of Rs 437 crore, the businesses contributed only roughly 2 percent of its total EBITDA of Rs 22,045 crore.

Tata Steel recently formed a joint venture with German steel maker ThyssenKrupp AG to merge their European steel businesses.

China’s aluminum exports exceeded half a million tonnes for only the second time ever in June while steel exports hit an 11-month high, as strong international prices and a weak yuan meant shipments continued to defy U.S. tariffs.

China is the world’s top producer of steel and aluminum, which have been subject to 25 percent and 10 percent import tariffs, respectively, in the United States, since March 23.

Its ability to keep exports of both metals buoyant even amid these tariffs is likely to frustrate Washington, which imposed the duties to protect U.S. industries and has called on China to rein in excess capacity.

Separate customs data on Friday showed China’s trade surplus with the United States swelled to a record in June as exports accelerated, potentially further inflaming a bitter trade row between the world’s top two economies.

China’s unwrought aluminum and aluminum product exports were 510,000 tonnes last month, worth 9.41 billion yuan ($1.41 billion), customs said..

That was up 10.9 percent from 460,000 tonnes a year ago and topped a revised 480,000 tonnes in May, previously the second-highest figure ever behind only the 542,700 tonnes exported in December 2014.

July exports will remain high because of the weak currency and quiet domestic market, said Paul Adkins, managing director of consultancy AZ China.

UBS analyst Lachlan Shaw said anecdotal evidence suggests U.S. companies are still buying aluminum from China – even with the tariffs – because U.S. smelters have not ramped up output.

He noted aluminum prices in the United States and Europe were strong, whereas they had weakened in China.

“The arbitrage is open, there is metal available. All the factors are in place for that export trade to continue and obviously it has done,” he said.

U.S. sanctions on Russian aluminum producer Rusal have “impacted metal availability” in Europe, “so that’s certainly going to be drawing a bit of demand out of China,” Shaw added.

Meanwhile, China’s steel product exports for June climbed 1.9 percent year on year to 6.94 million tonnes, their highest since July 2017. They also nudged up from 6.88 million tonnes in May amid higher output in the second quarter and stronger global prices.

Richard Lu, an analyst at CRU in Beijing, noted that the direct trade volume for Chinese steel exports to the United States was “very small,” so the March tariffs had only a “limited impact.”

On July 10, however, a range of steel and aluminum products were targeted in another list of tariffs that the United States has threatened to slap on $200 billion worth of goods from China, which has vowed to respond.

Four times stronger than stainless steel, a unique alloy blends chromium, cobalt, iron, manganese and silicon.

It’s not Black Panther’s vibranium or Captain America’s proto-adamantium shield, but a new alloy designed by University of North Texas researcher has come pretty close.

Researcher Saurabh Nene has been working with UNT’s College of Engineering Department of Materials Science and Engineering to mix and flow material simultaneously, giving the alloy new strength.

The alloy, which has no catchy name like its fictional counterparts, is created by melting and casting the materials, then taking the thin, flat mold to start “friction stirring,” Nene said.

Nene, who has been working on this piece of research for eight months, said the process intensely deforms the metal’s makeup by forcibly inserting a rotating tool into the cold metal.

“When you insert the tool in the metal, it generates frictional heat,” Nene said “When you move the tool ahead, it starts mixing the metal. The mixing and flow of the metal creates an intense deformation.”

The only problem with using Nene’s alloys commercially is the cost. While he said he could not estimate that exactly, he is trying to change the chemistry of the alloy to replace the cobalt element. For reference, cobalt costs $78,500 per ton. Iron costs $65.

“We are still trying to look for a good substitute that is not costly but can have the same result,” Nene said. “The main goal is to maintain the properties.”

Nene, alongside lab colleagues Michael Frank, Kaimiao Liu, Brandon McWilliams and Kyu Cho of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory in Maryland, published a report July 2 in the online journal Scientific Reports.

A paper related to the topic was also published in the journal in November 2017.

Transnet SOC Ltd has taken over operations at an inland terminal for the loading and handling of manganese at Lohatlha in the Northern Cape. The terminal which is situated about 100km from South Africa’s manganese belt in the Hotazel area is specially designed to service emerging mines.

The move to operate an inland terminal will position Transnet to strategically reconfigure one of the critical logistics channels by allowing emerging miners to pile and load manganese onto rail instead of using road.

Transnet took control of the terminal as of the beginning of July 2018, five years after it was operated by a private operator, SAFreight Logistics (Saflog). Saflog’s contract to operate the Lohatlha terminal came to an end in May 2018.

The manganese terminal will be operated by one of Transnet‘s operating divisions, Transnet Port Terminal (TPT) with the commodity transported through Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) networks to the ports.

The Lohatlha terminal is the biggest inland terminal out of the three operated by TPT. The terminal handles about 1.8 million tons of manganese per annum which could reach up to 2 million tons at full capacity.

TPT also operates two other inland terminals, the Pendoring multi-purpose terminal in Brits, west of Pretoria, Gauteng and the Newcon terminal in Newcastle, KwaZuluNatal.

Commenting on this new development Gert De Beer, Chief Business Development Officer at Transnet, said: “Transnet is continuing to positioning itself as a lead solutions provider, where customers can benefit from a one-stop and reduced cost solutions in a quick and efficient way. Operating cargo aggregation and consolidation for effective rail transfer, not only in coastal ports but also in inland terminals, demonstrates Transnet’s ability to apply its core competencies innovatively as we continue to connect the region. ”