30-day Copper Slump Ended
Base Metal Prices Roundup: US Copper Prices, LME Aluminum Up June 27, 2013 Copper Price Trends The price of US copper producer grade 110 moved up 1.4 percent on Wednesday, June 26, making it the day’s biggest mover. After hitting a 30-day low on Monday, June 24, the price of US copper producer grade 122 rose 1.4 percent yesterday. Just off of a 30-day low, the price of US copper producer grade 102 rose 1.3 percent yesterday. The Japanese copper cash price held steady. Chinese copper prices were mixed for the day. The price of Chinese copper wire rose 0.6 percent yesterday, just off the 30-day low it hit on Monday, June 24. After hitting a 30-day low on Monday, June 24, the price of Chinese copper bar rose 0.6 percent yesterday. The Chinese copper cash price rose 0.6 percent yesterday. The price of Chinese bright copper scrap held steady.…
New lighter aluminum alloys to make a splash in aerospace
Jun. 20 2013, 2:27 PM EDT Aluminum makers fight plastic planes with new alloys Metal is staging a comeback, at least in the aerospace world, where aluminum has been challenged by newfangled carbon-composites in the industry’s perpetual war on weight. As plane makers showed off their latest carbon-plastic jetliners at the Paris Air Show this week, metal firms lobbied hard for new, lighter aluminum alloys. Aleris International, for example, is developing an aluminum-magnesium-scandium alloy that it says is 5-per-cent lighter than conventional aircraft aluminum and could be ready for later production of next-generation Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737MAX jets. Nearly 90 per cent of the 9,600 aircraft on order with Boeing and Airbus are metallic, said Ingrid Jorg, senior vice-president of Aleris, mainly because smaller jets won’t use composite fuselages for decades, if ever. “If you don’t expect single-aisle planes to turn to composites before 2030, then there’s a lot…