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"Faced with aging transmission and distribution systems and limited O&M budgets, utilities are being pressed to maximize the lifespan of their current equipment while facing heavy scrutiny from both internal and external stakeholders. "

"Average Age of Cars and Light Trucks in the U.S. Rises to 12.1 years, Accelerated by COVID-19"

Salzgitter, one of Europe's leading steel and technology corporations has acquired a 5.8% stake in the German copper producer Norddeutsche Affinerie. Both companies have "agreed to investigate medium to long-term opportunities to cooperate for example in the fields of production technology, research and development as well as in procurement and sales for the benefit of both companies". There are currently no further plans for Salzgitter to increase its share in Norddeutsche, the company said.

" Every technology must compete against an incumbent: Transistors fought vacuum tubes; optical fibers fought copper wires in communications; and today, superconductors are facing off against copper cables in the electricity transmission space. "

Wieland-Werke AG, the German fabricator of brass mill products, reported sales of 475,000t, down by 0.4% y-o-y in financial year 2010/2011. Turnover increased by 24% y-o-y to reach €3,287M and profits also rose to €45M in 2010/2011 after a loss of €6M in the previous year. The rise in turnover was mainly attributed to rising metals prices, while the company said that the increase in profits was caused by a product mix composed of a larger amount of value-added products. Wieland noted strong demand in the first six months of the period, which was offset by the Euro debt-crisis as a driver of significantly weaker demand in Europe during the latter half of the fiscal year. In addition, the company saw a fall in demand in Asia from Spring 2011 and continued very low demand in North America. End-use consumer demand was weak and impacted the electronics and electrical engineering sectors as well as vehicle production. Mechanical engineering was considered to be a bright spot in fiscal year 2010/2011.

Wieland-Werke AG, the German fabricator of brass mill products, stated that demand in 2012 began weakly. After January, orders rose only slightly, but demand from important markets in Asia and Europe declined, principally attributed to cautious buying as fears remained over the impact of the course of the euro debt crisis in 2012. In addition, the company is experiencing reduced demand from the electronics industry in Asia following the closure of several plants affected by the tsunami in Japan and flooding in Thailand. Wieland has also not seen any growth support from North America and is uncertain about the global outlook for demand in 2012 due to the unpredictability of the euro debt crisis.

Milan, 18 March 2014. Today in Shanghai, a joint venture between KME Ag and the Chinese company Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group Inc. has been finalized. The project foresees the construction of a manufacturing plant for "connectors" rolled products in the province of Henan.

"At a time when Iran's economy is tied up with sanctions, limiting its international trade capacities, it managed to sell more than a million vehicles (885,000 passenger vehicles and 128,000 light commercial vehicles) in 2012, enforce Euro IV norms in 8 cities including Tehran, Karaj, Arak, and Tabriz, convert all public cars into Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) compliant vehicles, and successfully implement a vehicle scrappage program to get very old, highly polluting vehicles off the streets of Iran. The prospect of such a country opening up to trade, giving an opportunity for global automotive companies to be a part of its growth, certainly creates buzz in the industry. Iran sold close to 860,000 passenger vehicles in 2014, 88% of which were sold by Iran Khodro Industrial Group (IKCO) and SAIPA under different marquees. With around 11.7 million vehicles on the road, the aftermarket potential is massive and the average age of vehicles is steadily increasing."

"The IEA estimates that of all efforts required to deliver a 50% reduction in global emissions by 2050 24% will need to come from end use fuel efficiency, 12% has to come from end use electricity efficiency and a further 7% will need to come from power generation efficiency. There is substantial potential for improving thermal efficiency of Europe's power plants. Our coal plants operate at an average 38% (BAT - Best Available Technology - on new coal plants delivers 46%). Our gas plants operate at an average of 52% efficiency (BAT- Best Available Technology - on new gas plants delivers more than 60%). Due to the age of the installed base, the average efficiency of Chinese coal plants is now higher than in Europe."

Ireland's OpenHydro and Germany's RWE are spending millions to try to turn the power of waves into electricity With oil prices hitting almost daily record highs and global warming climbing up the public agenda, the need for alternative energy sources has never been more urgent. But while wind and solar have dominated the recent rush to invest in renewables, market watchers reckon it could now be marine energy's turn to shine. Ocean power-using the energy from waves or tidal flows to produce electricity-is quickly coming of age as a viable green resource that could help meet ambitious global targets to reduce greenhouse gases and dependency on fossil fuels. European and North American power companies such as Canada's Emera (EMA.TO) and Germany's RWE (RWEG.DE) are spending millions to fund wind and tidal projects. This investment has led to a new generation of more efficient technologies, with dozens of prototypes expected to be ready for commercial deployment within the next five years. "There's huge interest in both wave and tidal technology," says Thomas Boeckmann, clean tech analyst at market research firm StrategyEye in London. "It's gaining a lot of attention from energy companies, which will be able to offer financial backing and technical expertise to these startups."

REpower Systems AG has successfully installed the first of six wind energy turbines for the Belgian offshore wind farm Thornton Bank. The project, located about 30 kilometers off the coast, is the first Belgian offshore wind farm. For the first of three construction phases, REpower is providing six 5-megawatt (MW) offshore turbines, adding up to a total capacity of 30 MW. Gravity based foundations were erected and carried out to sea to form the foundation for the six wind turbines in Thornton Bank. All work at sea is performed in a water depth of approximately 25 meters using jack-up drilling platforms. The 5-MW turbine which has just been erected in Belgium is the twelfth of the model installed by REpower.

June 2008\nNA Copper Mail

Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (NA) said it is expecting at least EUR40 million of synergies each year from the takeover of Cumerio which was completed in March this year. The company said that it will benefit from the transfer of best practice between the two companies while cost savings mainly come from logistics and process optimization. NA also plans to increase production at its Cumerio smelters. The company expects further acquisition opportunities in Europe and in other parts of the world, including Asia. NA plans to expand its operations in southeastern Europe and the Black Sea region to capitalize on its strong economic growth before looking for growth opportunities outside Europe. In Bulgaria, the company currently expands copper cathode production capacity of its Pirdop smelter to 180,000 tonnes per year.

Norddeutsche Affinerie is to invest €62.5M to increase by 60% its copper scrap recycling capacity in Lünen, Germany by 2011. The investment will double the firm's capacity to process complex copper-bearing scrap such as shreddings, powders and electrical scrap to 140,000t/y, bringing total scrap recycling capacity up to 350,000t/y from 220,000t/y currently. The scrap will be processed into copper cathode. The investment will see the installation of a second smelting furnace, and a waste gas purification plant in Lünen. Norddeutsche's current secondary smelter in Lünen uses a range of scrap, whilst its Hamburg plant uses copper concentrate and a small percentage of high-grade scrap. Electronic scrap availability has increased in Europe as end-of-life regulations have been introduced for its disposal.

That is why Mr Miller believes large pools of money will flow into the sector in the coming years to invest in the US' ageing distribution infrastructure and much-needed new capacity. He said private capital will fill the gap developing from companies lack of access to public equity and debt markets, and to meet new energy and infrastructure needs, enabling deals to go through.

But the investment needed to restore the ageing grid infrastructure has been lacking. In the US, for instance, an estimated $50bn to $75bn would be needed to update the existing infrastructure and give the US what it has never had - a truly national transmission network that would balance the load across the entire country.

Cumerio Belgium, a subsidiary of Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (NA), announced on 20th Nov its intention to close a copper billets and cakes production line at the Olen site. The decision was made based on the fact that production volumes in the department have halved over the last seven years and the line is currently losing money due to the low capacity utilisation rate. The company said that high copper prices in the last years had caused significant substitution losses to demand for copper billets and cakes, especially those for sanitary piping and roofing applications.

Zambia's Mopani Copper Mines, majority owned by Swiss commodities trader Glencore International AG, has reversed a decision to halt operations due to a cost savings plan and higher copper prices.

Copper imports by China may plunge 64 percent in the second half after record shipments this year led to excess stocks, UBS AG said.

Zambia's Mopani Copper Mines (MCM), a unit of Swiss firm Glencore International AG, said on Monday it had reversed a plan to suspend output at its copper mines due to an uptick in prices and falling production costs.