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What we're seeing now is an anti-bubble. It's across the entire economy, and in fact cleantech appears to be more insulated than many other sectors, but people just aren't putting money out there.

NEW DELHI: The Centre Government has imposed a provisional anti-dumping duty on certain high-end stainless steel products to guard the domestic industry from surges in cheaper imports from China, Thailand and the U.S.

It was reported that Brazil's trade protection authority launched an investigation into the dumping of Chinese copper tube, which is equal or less than 108mm, on the Brazilian market. Two of the firms involved in the practice include Shanghai Hailiang Copper and its subsidiary, Zhejiang Hailiang. Both firms are reported to have achieved a turnover of RMB310M in exports to Brazil during the first three quarters of 2011. The China Hailiang Group announced that it will continue to export copper tube to Brazil, but through a subsidiary in Vietnam in order to avoid further anti-dumping allegations.

It was reported that US State authorities have signed an agreement with China headquartered Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group Inc. for the construction of a new copper tube plant in Wilcox County, Alabama. Development of the facility will involve an investment of US$100M, however, the production capacity of the operation is not yet known. This follows September news that the company had not broken ground at its proposed US$100M, 45,000t/y copper pipe and tube project in neighbouring Clarke County, Alabama. The delay was attributed to a larger than originally anticipated site requirement, leading to the development of new plans to relocate the facility. Production will supply the US heating, ventilation, refrigeration and air conditioning sector.

NEC Electronics America Inc. introduced to the Americas twenty-two new 16-bit All Flash microcontrollers (MCUs) for compact, low-power, battery-operated, and sensor-enabled systems. Based on NEC Electronics' high-performance 16-bit 78K0R CPU core, the new 78K0R/Kx3-L MCUs offer very low power consumption to extend battery life, and more on-chip integration to help reduce the size and cost of battery-driven and sensor-enabled systems, such as fire and security alarms, meters, industrial sensors, anti-shake digital cameras, handheld medical diagnostics devices, and data-logging and point-of-sale terminals. In addition to low power consumption, the new lineup offers high-performance on-chip oscillators, built-in circuits for sensor functions, and extended system operating time. "As environmental awareness has grown, energy-saving systems have become particularly reliant on MCU technology," said Jim Trent, Vice President, Multipurpose Microcontroller and Automotive Group, NEC Electronics America. "Over the past several years, NEC Electronics has delivered many ultra-low-power 8- and 32-bit MCUs that have met the demand for energy efficiency. With the introduction of the new 78K0R/Kx3-L devices, however, NEC Electronics is now delivering the benefits of energy efficiency in its 16-bit products."

Zhejiang Hailiang Co, a Chinese manufacturer of copper tube, announced on 4th February that it has received notification of the ending of a 16-month-old anti-dumping investigation into copper tubes imported from China. The case, which was being investigated by the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, was originally instigated and later cancelled at the request of the Brazilian Copper Association (ABC). Zhejiang Hailiang Co said after the announcement that the decision will allow it to further develop its business in Brazil.

In a meeting held on 7th March, the Korea Copper Industry Cooperative and the Korea Research Society of Copper and Copper Alloy began to draw up a strategy for the development of the local copper industry until 2025. The strategy will look at how to improve the region's competitiveness in the copper semis sector, by coordinating research and development initiatives, looking at the effects of the recently imposed VAT on scrap copper and analyzing the problems associated with facility expansion. The strategy will also aim to publically promote new copper technologies, including products utilising copper's anti-microbial properties.

According to MarketWatch, copper semis fabricators are increasingly looking at supplying niche markets as a result of stagnating demand for more traditional copper semis products and pressure from substitute materials. For example, Luvata, a leading copper semis fabricator, is increasingly focusing on promoting uniquely thin and flexible copper wire utilised in efficient solar panels, as well as, anti-fowling wire for cages utilised by the fishing industry. Other fast growing markets that utilise niche copper semis products include oil and gas exploration, mining and wind generation.

The US Department of Commerce concluded that a revocation of the antidumping duty order on brass sheet and strip from Germany would likely lead to a recurrence or continuation of dumping. This follows a 5-year review that was initiated on 1st March 2011. An essential aspect of the results was the calculation of the weighted-average percentage margins for German exporters, which it measured to be 3.81% for Wieland-Werke AG and 7.30% for all others.

Copper theft has become such an issue that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a warning stating that copper theft is a threat to critical homeland infrastructure. In a 2009 survey published by the Electrical Safety Foundation International, utilities in the United States reported approximately $60 million in losses and 450,000 minutes of outage time annually because of copper theft.