http://metals.about.com/ Get the latest headlines from the About.com http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hh http://www.about.com/ 118 20 en-us 2012-02-05T08:05:03Z Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:05:03 +0000 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://metals.about.com/b/2012/02/13/what-is-woods-metal.htm <p>Wood's metal (aka Lipowitz's alloy) is a <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/library/bldef-Eutectic.htm">eutectic</a> alloy - that is, it melts at a lower temperature than any of its component metals &#160;- which is made of ...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/b/2012/02/13/what-is-woods-metal.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://metals.about.com/b/2012/02/13/what-is-woods-metal.htm Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:41:55 +0000 2012-02-13T15:41:55Z http://metals.about.com/b/2012/02/05/the-10-biggest-steel-producers.htm <p>Accounting for approximately 25% of global production, the <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/suppliersbyname/tp/The-Ten-Biggest-Steel-Producers.htm">world's ten largest steel companies</a> produced roughly 340 million metric tonnes of crude steel in 2010.</p> <p><img style="float: left; margin: 4px;" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/metals/1/0/_/Z/Rolled-steel-coil---tata.jpg" alt="Rolled steel coils" width="108" height="88" />In total, the steel giants, which represent seven different countries, collect hundreds of billions of dollars in gross annual revenues and employ well in excess of 500,000 individuals.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/b/2012/02/05/the-10-biggest-steel-producers.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://metals.about.com/b/2012/02/05/the-10-biggest-steel-producers.htm Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:05:03 +0000 2012-02-05T08:05:03Z http://metals.about.com/b/2012/01/18/a-short-history-of-steel.htm <p>Steel is arguably the most important structural material ever invented.</p> <p>By discovering how to efficiently use oxygen to de-carburize iron, <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blsteel.htm">Henry Bessemer</a> is often <img style="float: right; margin: 4px;" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/metals/1/0/Z/Z/BOS-Steel---Tata.jpg" alt="BOS Steelmaking" width="160" height="106" />seen as the father of modern steelmaking. ...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/b/2012/01/18/a-short-history-of-steel.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://metals.about.com/b/2012/01/18/a-short-history-of-steel.htm Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:36:21 +0000 2012-01-18T21:36:21Z http://metals.about.com/b/2012/01/11/2012-rare-earth-export-quotas-unchanged.htm <p>China recently released its first batch of <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/properties/a/Rare-Earth-Elements-Rees.htm">rare earth element</a> (REE) export quotas for 2012. Expected to total just over 30,000 metric tons this year (including provisional and second batch quotas), the amount of export quotas available has been relatively <img class="margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 1px; margin-left: 1px; alignright" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/metals/1/0/V/Z/Sc-Metal2.jpg" alt="scandium metal" width="140" height="135" />stable since large cuts drove up REE prices in 2009 and 2010.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/b/2012/01/11/2012-rare-earth-export-quotas-unchanged.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://metals.about.com/b/2012/01/11/2012-rare-earth-export-quotas-unchanged.htm Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:41:10 +0000 2012-01-11T22:41:10Z http://metals.about.com/b/2012/01/05/2011-highlights-glencore-international-goes-public.htm <p>One of the highlights of 2011 for metals investors was the IPO for <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/suppliersbyname/a/Company-Profile-Glencore-International-Ag.htm">Glencore International AG</a>, one of the world's largest metal trading companies.</p> <p>A major player in the trading of <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/metalproperties/a/Material_Profile_-_Copper.htm">copper</a> and <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/metalproperties/a/What-Is-Zinc.htm">zinc</a> for decades, Glencore is also invested in the production of <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/properties/a/Metal-Profile-Aluminum.htm">aluminum</a>, <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/properties/a/Metal-Profile-Cobalt.htm">cobalt</a>, <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/properties/a/Metal-Profile-Lead.htm">lead</a> and <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/properties/a/Metal-Profile-Iron.htm">iron</a> ore, as well as other major commodities, including crude oil, coal, grains and oilseeds. It is not surprising, then, that <img class="alignleft" style="margin: 6px;" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/metals/1/0/L/Z/GlencoreInternational.png" alt="glencore logo" width="160" height="46" />some refer to Glencore as the '<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://seekingalpha.com/article/291801-glencore-international-the-goldman-sachs-of-the-commodities-world">Goldman Sachs of the commodities world</a>'.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/b/2012/01/05/2011-highlights-glencore-international-goes-public.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://metals.about.com/b/2012/01/05/2011-highlights-glencore-international-goes-public.htm Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:34:58 +0000 2012-01-05T23:34:58Z http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/28/what-is-spiegeleisen.htm <p><em>Spiegeleisen</em> was an early form of ferro-<a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/properties/a/Metal-Profile-Manganese.htm">manganese</a>, an ingredient critical to the production of steel.</p> <p>The first spiegeleisen, which literally translates from German as 'mirror-iron', was brought from Prussia to Britain in the mid-19th century <img style="float: right; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 3px; margin-left: 5px;" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/metals/1/0/R/Z/Spiegeleisen-PD.jpg" alt="Spiegeleisen" width="150" height="150" />and became of great interest to metallurgists who had been studying the affects of manganese in <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/properties/a/Metal-Profile-Iron.htm">iron</a> and steel production for years.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/28/what-is-spiegeleisen.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/28/what-is-spiegeleisen.htm Wed, 28 Dec 2011 03:12:37 +0000 2011-12-28T03:12:37Z http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/23/early-christmas-for-polish-miner-kghm.htm <p>Christmas may have come a bit early for <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/copper1/a/Company-Profile-Kghm-Polska-Mied-Z-S-A.htm">KGHM</a>, one of the <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/suppliersaz/tp/The-10-Biggest-Copper-Producers.htm">world's largest copper producers</a>. The Polish mining company signed a new 5-year contract with China Minmetals last week for the sale of up to 100,000 tonnes of <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/metalproperties/a/Material_Profile_-_Copper.htm">copper</a> cathode per year.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/23/early-christmas-for-polish-miner-kghm.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/23/early-christmas-for-polish-miner-kghm.htm Fri, 23 Dec 2011 23:57:19 +0000 2011-12-23T23:57:19Z http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/20/chrome-or-chromium.htm <p>'Chrome' is a term used to describe <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/properties/a/Metal-Profile-Chromium.htm">chromium</a>-plating (aka chrome-plating), a process <img style="float: right; margin-top: 4px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 4px; margin-right: 4px;" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/metals/1/0/N/Z/TriumphThunderbird.jpg" alt="Chromium plating" width="160" height="120" />that has been used since to the 1920s to protect and decorate automotive parts.</p> <p>Decorative chromium-plating involves electroplating <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/properties/a/Metal-Profile-Nickel.htm">nickel</a> and chromium onto a piece of metal, resulting in an extremely thin layer of chromium (only a few millionths of an inch thick).</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/20/chrome-or-chromium.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/20/chrome-or-chromium.htm Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:01:32 +0000 2011-12-20T01:01:32Z http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/13/what-next-for-titanium.htm <p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/properties/a/Metal-Profile-Titanium.htm">Titanium</a>'s combination of light weight and high strength makes it an ideal metal for aircraft engineers. It is not surprising that the aerospace industry is the largest consumer of titanium metal, which is used in alloys that form everything from engine blades to wing panels to the structural frames of commercial airliners.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/13/what-next-for-titanium.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/13/what-next-for-titanium.htm Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:40:19 +0000 2011-12-13T05:40:19Z http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/07/the-london-metal-exchange-visits-the-middle-kingdom.htm <p>The <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/od/commoditymarket1/a/The-London-Metal-Exchange.htm">London Metal Exchange</a> (LME) is the world's oldest and largest market for non-ferrous metals. Approximately US$ 11.6 trillion of contracts were traded via the LME last year</p> <p><img style="float: right; border: 2px solid white;" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/metals/1/0/8/Z/TheRing-LME.jpg" alt="The ring at the LME" width="145" height="223" />I recently had a chance to attend the LME's China Roadshow in Beijing. With stops also in Hangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen, the LME is consciously trying to make inroads into the world's largest market for base metals.</p>...<p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&#038;zu=http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/07/the-london-metal-exchange-visits-the-middle-kingdom.htm">Read Full Post</a></p> http://metals.about.com/b/2011/12/07/the-london-metal-exchange-visits-the-middle-kingdom.htm Wed, 07 Dec 2011 04:45:19 +0000 2011-12-07T04:45:19Z