Copper end use trends

MOSCOW, June 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's electricity monopoly will cease to exist on Tuesday when wide-ranging reforms to the electricity market come into effect.

This all comes from these chaps, Tuscan Foundry Products, who have done some 'research' that says, the whole life cost of copper and cast iron rainwater products is a third of that of PVC and Aluminium over a 100 year life cycle.

the top 4 contenders are: 1. Green building materials - I'm not sure it would be my thing, but investors across the board seem to think this area is ripe for a hit. 2. Carbon IT - With some sort of cap and trade a near certainty, the interest is picking up in one of the few areas in carbon that looks like a "venture bet". I should know, I have one of these companies myself. 3. Food related technologies - High food prices and rising fertilizer costs, what can I say? 4. N-generation solar technologies - Everyone not in the first wave is looking to get in to the 4th wave. Not sure venture investors will fare better in the 3rd or 4th wave than they did in the second, but they are going to try.

Applications include making more efficient and cheaper catalysts for fuel cells and industrial processes and creating microstructured surfaces to make new types of conductors that would carry more information across microchips than conventional wires do.

Hawaii has become the first state to require solar water heaters in new homes. The bill was signed into law by Governor Linda Lingle, a Republican. It requires the energy-saving systems in homes starting in 2010. It prohibits issuing building permits for single-family homes that do not have solar water heaters. Hawaii relies on imported fossil fuels more than any other state, with about 90 percent of its energy sources coming from foreign countries, according to state data.

Brazilian Solar Heating market grew 32% in 2007.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - China will help build a $400 million aluminum smelter in Trinidad's southern region, according to the leader of the Caribbean island.

In less than 7 years, Mercedes-Benz plans to ditch petroleum-powered vehicles from its lineup. Focusing on electric, fuel cell, and biofuels, the company is revving up research in alternative fuel sources and efficiency.

China's fast-growing number of mobile phone accounts has risen more than 8 percent since the start of the year to 592 million, while demand for traditional fixed-line service is falling, a state news agency reported Thursday.

Several rolled copper makers in Japan have announced plans to increase the rolling margin of their rolled copper products as a result of higher copper ingot, energy and subsidiary materials costs. Sumitomo Light Metal Industries says it plans to increase the rolling margin of its rolled copper products by between ¥30-50 per kilogram for orders from July 1st..The company said it sold 59,000 tonnes of rolled copper products in the fiscal year ending March 2008 and expects raw materials and energy costs to increase by ¥2.7 billion in the 2008 fiscal year. Gonda Metal Industry will increase its brass bar rolling margin by ¥20 per kilogram for orders after July 15. Hitachi Cable has increased its rolling margins by 5%, Furukawa Electric by ¥50 per kilogram and Kobelco & Materials Copper Tube have a higher rolling margin of between ¥20-30.

So the CO2 in your soda is, in fact, stored industrial carbon. So when we hear about refrigerators and air conditioners becoming far more efficient by using CO2 as a coolant, we don't have to worry about the CO2. All we have to worry about is how to get this new refrigerant adopted as quickly as possible.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will outline its plan on Thursday for meeting its renewable energy targets that environmental groups cautiously welcome but others say is unrealistic.

These projects include new railway lines connecting Guiyang and Guangzhou, Lanzhou and Chongqing, Kashgar and Hotan in Xinjiang; highways between Wanyuan and Dazhou in Sichuan Province, Shuikou and Duyun in Guizhou Province; airport expansion projects in Chengdu, Chongqing and Xi'an.\n\nThey also include the building of hydropower stations, coal mines, gas and oil transmission tube lines as well as public utilities projects in western regions.

They've developed a miniature refrigeration system small enough to fit inside laptops. Unlike conventional cooling systems, which use fans to cool chips down to ambient temperature, these small refrigerators will cool them below surrounding temperatures. It is an interesting idea to get compressors instead of fans in our laptops, but these tiny fridges are still more expensive than fans.

MOSCOW, June 24 (RIA Novosti) - Metalloinvest and Interros financial holding are proposing that billionaire Viktor Vekselberg's Renova join forces to create a major mining and metals company, Metalloinvest's owner Alisher Usmanov said on Tuesday.

The price rises have added to explosives companies' profits but for miners it is an added cost, along with higher diesel, energy and labor expenses, narrowing their margins at a time when metals and coal are in big demand.

Data suggests that China's apparent consumption of refined copper fell in May by over 10% month-on-month. High output and weakening exports markets also curbed import demand. Traditionally, demand is softer over the summer months as orders for air conditioning units for example have already been completed. This year the seasonal weakness is likely to be compounded by downturns in the real estate and construction markets. In Japan, output of rolled copper products increased in May by 0.2% month-on-month to 82,677 tonnes. This also represents year-on-year growth of 0.2%.

The Optical Cable Corporation has announced its second quarter financial results. Net sales increased by over 21% to $13.5 million due to a broad customer base and product mix and sales increases in both speciality and commercial markets the company said. Gross profit was up by over 41% to $5.7 million in the second quarter and was due to higher sales volumes as well as enhanced manufacturing efficiency.