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Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) reported that the average operating rates of copper cablemakers in China rose by 10 percentage points to reach 78.7% in August. Newly tendered contracts from the State Grid Corporation of China during July and August led to the production increase. Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics also indicate that cable output rose by 2.5% m-o-m to 3.53M km in August. In addition to this, an August survey of Chinese copper wirerod fabricators by SMM showed a 2 percentage point increase in the industry's average utilisation rate from the previous month, reaching 75%.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported an acceleration in automotive sales and production on both a sequential and y-o-y basis in August. Auto output rose by 4.5% m-o-m and 7.8% y-o-y and sales rose by 8.4% m-o-m and by 8.3% y-o-y in August. The industry's performance in August compared to last year has resulted in an improvement in the year-to-date production figure, which now stands at 12.47M units, up by 5.2% y-o-y. Production of passenger vehicles has outperformed those of commercial vehicles, up by 8.7% y-t-d (reaching 10.0M units) and down by 7.2% y-t-d (reaching 2.5M units), respectively.

China's Customs General Administration reported that import of refined copper declined by 11.9% y-o-y in August 2011 to 235,509t. August imports of copper concentrate, on the other hand, increased by 42.1% y-o-y to 675,928t. Copper scrap saw a y-o-y decline of 4.0% in August.

Mexican copper output fell to 21,609 tonnes in August, down 16.7 percent from the same month a year earlier, the government said on Friday.

According to data released by the Japanese Electric Wire and Cable Makers' Association, wire and cable shipments in Japan amounted to an estimated 50,100t in August compared to 58,032t in July. On a y-o-y basis, that was a decline of 17.7%. While there are signs that market demand is improving, the figure indicates that the widely expected economic recovery is not solid yet.

"The Kazakhstani project is designed to resolve power deficiencies caused by expansive urban and industrial development in Almaty, the capital city. LS Cable & System will provide products, such as 127km of 220kV level extra high-voltage transmission cables and joints, and technical consultation until August next year. In addition, 140km of OPGW (optical ground wire, see glossary) and 1,100km of 220kV level gap conductors (see glossary) will be supplied together with installation support by year end to San Lorenzo and Guarambare for national backbone power and communication network implementation in Paraguay. "

Japan Copper and Brass Association has reported that August output of rolled copper was down by 6.5% compared to a year earlier, at around 66,050 tonnes. It was the 14th monthly y-o-y decline in a row.

BLYTH, NORTHUMBERLAND, UK, August 4, 2008. The New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) in the UK and CENER, National Renewable Energy Centre of Spain are working together to find new ways of generating and distributing power from small-scale renewables within communities. The one year project will investigate ways to allow communities to generate and use their own power from renewable energy resources, in a reliable and cost-effective way. With increasing use of renewable energy sources, a significant amount of interest has developed across Europe in so-called 'smart-grid' systems better capable of transmitting and distributing power from different renewable resources in a reliable, flexible electrical network. The team is currently identifying existing communities within Spain and the UK with populations of between 10 and 25 000 which can be used as test subjects for 'smart-grid' renewable systems. The project aims to demonstrate the most appropriate technical solutions for integrating low carbon power generation technologies into a localised, community-based electrical system.

August 12, 2008 What will the electric carInnovation-At-Big-Companies Dec-07 ownership experience be like? NissanNissan Motors has given us a glimpse of what early adopters are letting themselves in for - rather than bundling expensive, consumable battery packs into the price of the car, Nissan plans to sell its 2010 mass-market battery-electric car for around the same price as a standard petrol car, and lease the battery pack to the buyer on a monthly fee. And the battery lease plus electricity charges should still end up cheaper than a petrol bill. Don't worry, it won't look anything like the test vehicle pictured! In an encouraging auto industry trend, more and more major players are committing to launching hybrid, hydrogenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen and battery-electric carsElectric car in the next few years. Nissan is the latest to outline its plans, which will include a production-model lithium-ion plug-in electric car by 2010. There's also a clever high-tech hybrid on the way, and Nissan has also announced a cheaper way of building a high-power density hydrogen fuelGM-Coskata-Alternative-Fuels cell stack. But it's the imminent battery-electric vehicle (BEV) that offers the most immediate chance for car buyers to get away from gas stationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filling_station and look into green motoring. And while no details have yet been officially released about range, charging time, body shape or power, Nissan has clarified that its first mass-market BEV will use a lithium-ion battery pack from partner AESC - an expensive option, but the cost (and eventual replacement cost) will be spread out over a lease plan.

RUEIL-MALMAISON, FRANCE, August 15, 2008. Schneider Electric has signed a CAD 498 million definitive arrangement agreement with Xantrex Technology Inc for the acquisition of all common shares of Xantrex. Xantrex is said to be a top three global player in the solar and wind inverter market with strong growth potential. It also has a leadership position in the North America. Awaiting approval from Xantrex shareholders, the deal is expected to be closed by October 2008. Schneider Electric says it expects to realise significant synergies in acquiring Xantrex, leveraging the strengths of both companies. Xantrex provides experience in advanced power electronic technology for renewable energy, and dedicated solar and wind channel access. Schneider Electric boasts a wide international footprint with solution centres and leverage with APC in purchasing, technology and operations. Xantrex Chairman Mosaadiq Umedaly comments: "We think it is the best way to develop our business, taking advantage of our leading technology, products, market knowledge, and distribution channels together with Schneider Electric's global sales, service, supply chain, and solutions capabilities."

DOE announced on August 12 that it plans to invest up to $24 million over a number of years to develop products that connect solar power systems with the electrical grid in an interactive way. DOE has selected 12 industry teams that will receive $2.9 million in current fiscal year funding to develop conceptual designs and market analyses for such Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS) projects. The projects will focus on solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and will involve such efforts as developing systems that can communicate with an interactive utility grid and advanced power meters to respond to power price changes over the course of a day, systems that can work with energy storage devices and "smart" appliances to respond to utility price signals, and systems that can interact with building energy management systems.

LONDON, UK, August 12, 2008. Analyst New Energy Finance says the days of easy carbon trading may be over as the low hanging fruit of the cheap carbon credits in the developing world have now been harvested. To date, the cheapest way of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have come from projects eliminating high global warming potential (GWP) gases in developing countries, notably China. These projects involve the destruction of two waste gases from industrial facilities: the hydrofluorocarbon HFC-23 and nitrous dioxide, or 'laughing gas' (N2O), both of which are several thousand times more potent in terms of global warming that CO2. The size of the emissions reductions achievable from these projects relative to the scale of the investment required, that these carbon credits are so cheap - around €1/tCO2e. In comparison, costs claimed by project developers of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects are €5-15 per tonne and the global market price for carbon countries from developing countries are around €20/tCO2e.

South African steel producer Highveld Steel & Vanadium on Friday announced that the disposal of vertically integrated assets Vanchem and its 50% stake in South Africa Japan Vanadium (SAJV), to Swiss firm Duferco Investment Partners, would be effective from August 29. The producer said in a statement to shareholders, that it had received approval from the European competition authorities, the South African competition authorities and the South African Reserve Bank, as well as the consent of the other shareholders of SAJV. The Competition Tribunal earlier this month announced that it had approved the sale of the assets, which formed part of the European competition regulatory body's conditions of the 2007 Highveld Steel acquisition by Evraz.

Upgrades on Eve of Democratic National Convention's 'Greenest Political Convention in History' Held in Denver\n\nDENVER, CO--(Marketwire - August 22, 2008) - Data393, a Managed Data Holdings Company and a leading provider of colocation, managed hosting, disaster recovery and IP network services, announced today the completion of "Green" initiatives to decrease the facility's carbon footprint. The announcement was made in support of the City of Denver's role as host of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, which is touted as the "greenest political convention in history." Data393's Green initiative also follows in the footsteps of the City of Denver's efforts to leave an enduring legacy of sustainability programs in the Denver metro area. \n\nResulting from the expansion of its multi-million-dollar, 30,000-square-foot data center, Data393 has implemented technological advances and infrastructure upgrades at its Englewood data center, just south of Denver, that reduce its environmental impact. \n\n

The latest figures released on the Chinese Customs' website show imports of unwrought copper and semi-finished copper products in August fell 4% month-on-month, to 178,047 tonnes. The fall comes despite many traders predicting an increase as prices on the international markets fell relative to the SHME price. One analyst commented on the news that, "the Olympics probably depressed imports even though the narrowing of the spread should have supported them. Chinese stocks are low and prices in Shanghai are pretty firm so we could see a bounce in September."

Zambia's copper cathode production rose 12.9 percent to 377,598 tonnes for the eight months to August compared with last year's output during the same period, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

Companies wishing to develop the world's third largest Udokan copper deposit have requested the tender be postponed for a month. All requests will be accepted by mid-June, and the tender's results announced on August 14. According to off-the-record reports, this was mostly done in the interests of an alliance between the state-owned defense industry super-corporation Rostekhonologii, nickel giant Norilsk Nickel and one of Russia's fastest growing mining and metallurgical holdings Metalloinvest because they have so far failed to coordinate joint operations.

Japan's output of rolled copper products rose 2.2% in August from July, preliminary data showed on Friday, in a sign of recovering metals demand as the country's economy appears to be on the mend.