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☆ Why data is the new aluminum
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-08 | by ( Sponsor Post | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Yet, it is frequently overlooked by data analysts and other data scientists because it's not readily available in an easy-to-use format. Historically, this kind of data hasn't been included in analytic data sets or data catalogs. Even those firms that sell data mesh and data fabric platforms that claim to make "all" of an organization's data visible and accessible inevitably exclude unstructured data. While most organizations will say that they're already capturing this kind of data — and even storing it in a data mart, data warehouse, data lake, etc. So, for those forward-thinking leaders aware of the value locked inside their unstructured data, the solution is to find someone in the organization with "data" in their title.

Persons: Joseph Bartolotta, There's, it's, hasn't, they're, aren't, else's Organizations: Liberty, Insider Studios

☆ Jewelry Class Echoes the Florence of Old
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Laura Rysman | More About Laura Rysman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On my right was Ms. Meukens, wearing the sinuous teardrop earrings she had completed. She drew original designs based on concept words — asymmetric, geometric — that she devised at the behest of the instructor beforehand. “I don’t look at things the same way anymore.”Alchimia provides students with brass and copper to work with, but I had brought an outmoded gold bracelet from one of my grandmothers that needed a new purpose. Eventually the caterpillar became a foot-long piece of square gold wire as slender and springy as a daisy stem. “Metal is magic,” Ms. Boieri said.

Persons: Meukens, “ I’ve, “, Alchimia, Ms, Boieri, Florence Locations: San Frediano

A worker stores aluminium ingots at the foundry shop of the Rusal Krasnoyarsk aluminium smelter in Krasnoyarsk, Russia October 3, 2018. China, meanwhile, is emerging as an increasingly important market for Rusal's finished products as Western appetite for Russian metal shrinks. China shipped over a million metric tons of alumina in 2022, of which 843,000 metric tons went to Russia. China's imports of primary aluminium vs Russian-brand metalCHINA IMPORTS MORE RUSSIAN METALWhile Chinese alumina has been flowing to Russia, increasing quantities of Russian aluminium have also been entering China. But the world's largest producer is now operating close to a government-mandated capacity cap of 45 million metric tons.

Persons: Ilya Naymushin, Rusal, China wouldn't, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: REUTERS, Rusal's, GAP, London Metal Exchange, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Hebei Wenfeng, Queensland, Australia, China, Ukraine, Russian, mushrooming, CHINA, Volgograd, Novokuznetsk, Siberia, Yunnan

☆ I visited the viral tinned fish store in NYC's Times Square that sells $19.60 cans of tuna and $44 hand-deboned sardines with edible gold flakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Kylie Kirschner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A luxury Portuguese tinned fish store just opened in the middle of Times Square in NYC. Tinned fish has gone viral on social media over the last year, in part because of affordability. Tinned fish has been having a viral moment this past year. Tinned fish is an important and engrained part of other food cultures outside of the US, like in Portugal and Spain. The Fantastic World of the Portuguese Sardine is already an established brand across Portugal, but the Times Square store is its first international location.

Persons: — Organizations: Times, Service, NYC's Locations: Olive, Portugal, Spain

☆ China export curbs choke off shipments of gallium, germanium for second month
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

China's exports of wrought germanium products stood at 1 kilogram, versus zero in August after a flurry of buying prior to the restrictions saw shipments of wrought products surge to 8.63 metric tons in July. China exported no wrought gallium products in August and September. Exporters of germanium and gallium products now need to obtain an export licence for dual-use items and technologies, meaning those with potential military and civilian applications. Some Chinese companies have obtained export licences for gallium and germanium products, the Ministry of Commerce said in September. China's exports of wrought germanium totaled 36.49 tons in the first nine months of 2023, up 47.4% on the year, while shipments of wrought gallium fell 61.9% on the year to 22.72 tons over the same period.

Persons: Amy Lv, Dominique Patton Organizations: cnsphoto, REUTERS, Rights, Ministry of Commerce, Shanghai Metals, Thomson Locations: Ningbo Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, China, Rights BEIJING, Beijing, Washington

☆ China exported no germanium, gallium in Aug due to export curbs
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s exports of germanium and gallium products in August plunged to zero，customs data showed on Wednesday, due to new export controls on the two chipmaking metals. There were also no exports of wrought gallium products in August. In July, China announced restrictions on the export of eight gallium and six germanium products starting Aug. 1, the latest salvo in an escalating war between Beijing and Washington over access to materials used in making high-tech microchips. Under the new rules, exporters of germanium and gallium products now need to obtain an export licence for dual-use items and technologies, meaning those with potential military and civilian applications. Chinese spot gallium prices slid last month as stocks piled up in the domestic market due to the export controls and subdued demand.

Persons: Florence Lo Organizations: REUTERS, Beijing, Shanghai Metals Locations: BEIJING, China, Beijing, Washington, Shanghai

☆ China gallium, germanium export curbs kick in; wait for permits starts
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Aug 1 (Reuters) - China's export controls on some gallium and germanium products take effect on Tuesday, with traders braced for a drop in international supply in August and September while exporters sort out newly required permits. China, the world's top supplier of the two minor metals used to make semiconductors, announced restrictions on the exports of eight gallium and six germanium products in early July, citing national security reasons. At the same time, the export restrictions are expected to result in a growing surplus of the products in China. Chinese exports of wrought germanium and germanium products in the first half totalled 27,825 kg, up 75.5% from a year earlier, customs data showed. Exports of wrought gallium and gallium products totalled 17,565 kg, down 53.5%.

Persons: Willis Thomas, CRU's Thomas, Andrew Hayley, Florence Tan, Jason Neely, Jan Harvey Organizations: China's Ministry of Commerce, Reuters, Commerce, China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, Beijing Newsroom, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, London, Rotterdam, Beijing

Norwegian producer Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL) has called for the exchange to reconsider its decision last November to continue accepting deliveries of Russian metal. China imported 462,000 metric tons of Russian-brand primary aluminium last year, up from 291,000 metric tons in 2021. The country has emerged as the market of first resort for Russian metal since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The top two destinations for June's "exports" were Japan (10,000 metric tons) and South Korea (20,500 metric tons). China's aluminium run-rate fell by an annualised 636,000 metric tons over the first quarter, according to the International Aluminium Institute.

Persons: Rusal, Goldman Sachs, ingot, isn't, Jane Merriman Organizations: London Metal Exchange, Norsk Hydro, Hydro, Rusal, International Aluminium Institute, AZ Global, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Norwegian, Russian, China, United States, Europe, Asia, Ukraine, Japan, South Korea, Gwangyang, CHINA, Yunnan

☆ Factbox: China's major germanium and gallium producers
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

China produces around 60% of the world's germanium, or 180 metric tons in 2022, and over 90% of the world's gallium, about 606 tons last year, according to research firm Antaike. YUNNAN GERMANIUM, AN ESTABLISHED PRODUCERHeadquartered in southwest China's Yunnan province, Yunnan Lincang Xinyuan Germanium Industry Co. Ltd. (002428.SZ) extracts germanium from its own germanium mines and germanium-containing lignite coal mines. It has an annual capacity of 47.6 metric tons of germanium ingot, 60 tons of germanium tetrahydride - used to build 5G infrastructure - and 300,000 germanium wafers for solar cells. CHINALCO, A MAJOR GALLIUM PRODUCERState aluminium giant Chinalco has three gallium production plants, one each in central China's Henan and southwestern Guangxi and Guizhou provinces. It has annual production capacity of 200 metric tons of gallium metal and produced 146 metric tons in 2022.

Persons: Duan Xiangdong, Hope, Zhuzhou, Dominique Patton, David Evans Organizations: . Ltd, Aluminum Corporation of China, Zhuhai Fangyuan, Xing'an, Gallium, AXT Inc, Beijing, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, YUNNAN, China's Yunnan, Yunnan, China's Henan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Shanghai, Zhuzhou, China's Hunan, Zhuhai, Guangdong, Shanxi, Nanjing, U.S, Beijing

☆ China's chipmaking export curbs 'just a start', Beijing adviser warns before Yellen visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Shares in some Chinese metals companies rallied for a second session as investors bet that higher prices for gallium and germanium, which Beijing's export restrictions target, could boost revenues. China is the world's biggest producer of rare earths, a group of metals used in EVs and military equipment. Asked about the metals export curbs, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday the government's actions were reasonable and lawful. WARNING SHOTSome larger chip manufacturers view China's export controls on gallium as more of a warning shot about what economic pain the country could inflict. China's germanium ingot was priced at 9,150 yuan per kg on Tuesday, also flat on the day and on the week, Refinitiv data showed.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Wei Jianguo, Wei, Yellen, Biden, China's, Wang Wenbin, Wang, Gecamines, Belgium's Umicore, Xi Jinping, Eikon, Brenda Goh, Amy Lv, Tian, Nick Carey, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Jacqueline Wong, Catherine Evans Organizations: Treasury, Thursday Analysts, Washington, Commerce, China Daily, China Center for International Economic, Independence, Analysts, Micron, Global Times, Union, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, AMS, Democratic, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Shanghai Metal Exchange, Beijing, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, BEIJING, SHANGHAI, U.S, Japan, Netherlands, United States, Swiss, Teck Resources, North, Democratic Republic of Congo, Russia, Washington, Yunnan, London

☆ Beijing's curbs on niche metal exports threaten China supply glut
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Gallium prices in China have dropped 12% this year, pressured by its slowing economy. China's germanium ingot price has advanced only 1% to 7,250 yuan per kg since Monday. Overseas price offers are rising much faster, amid fears that Beijing may use the permitting system to restrict shipments. The Chinese government enforces export controls that do not target any particular country," spokesperson Shu Jueting told a weekly press conference. China produces around 60% of the world's germanium, and over 90% of the world's gallium.

Persons: Theo Ruas, Willis Thomas, Ruas, Shu Jueting, Amy Lv, Siyi Liu, Seher, Dominique Patton, Kim Coghill Organizations: China's Ministry of Commerce, Washington, Producers, Corporation, Shanghai Metal Exchange, CRU, Reuters, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Beijing, U.S, London, Bangalore

☆ China adviser warns chipmaking export curbs are 'just a start', as Yellen visit looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Shares in some Chinese metals companies rallied for a second session, with investors betting that higher prices on gallium and germanium, which Beijing's export restrictions target, could boost revenues. Germanium is used in high-speed computer chips, plastics, and in military applications such as night-vision devices as well as satellite imagery sensors. China is the world's biggest producer of rare earths, a group of metals used in EVs and military equipment. CURBS ON EXPORTS TO CHINAWashington is considering new restrictions on the shipment of high-tech microchips to China, following a series of curbs over the past few years. China's germanium ingot was priced at 9,150 yuan per kg on Tuesday, also flat on the day and on the week, Refinitiv data showed.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Yellen's, Biden, China's, Wei Jianguo, Wei, Xi Jinping, Eikon, Brenda Goh, Amy Lv, Christopher Cushing, Muralikumar Organizations: Independence, Analysts, Micron, Commerce, China Daily, China Center for International Economic Exchanges, Global Times, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Shanghai Metal Exchange, Beijing, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, SHANGHAI, Beijing, Japan, Netherlands, China, CHINA Washington, United States, Yunnan

☆ What are Gallium and Germanium and which countries are producers?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Germanium ores are rare and most germanium is a by-product of zinc production and from coal fly ash. Gallium is found in trace amounts in zinc ores and in bauxite, and gallium metal is produced when processing bauxite to make aluminium. U.S. imports of gallium metal and gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafers in 2022 were worth about $3 million and $200 million, respectively, according to USGS. U.S.-based Indium Corporation also produces germanium, while Belgium's Umicore (UMI.BR) makes both germanium and gallium. "Zinc selenide and germanium glass substitute for germanium metal in infrared applications systems, but often at the expense of performance."

Persons: Belgium's, Eikon, Dominique Patton, Mai Nguyen, Melanie Burton, Pratima Desai, Tom Hogue, Himani Sarkar, Catherine Evans, David Evans Organizations: Alliance, . Geological Survey, WHO, Teck Resources, Shanghai Metal Exchange, Thomson Locations: China, Canada, Finland, Russia, United States, Europe, Japan, U.S, South Korea, Germany, Kazakhstan, Teck, North America, British Columbia, Beijing

☆ Which countries produce strategic materials Gallium and Germanium?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Germanium ores are rare and most germanium is produced as a by-product of zinc production and from coal fly ash. China produces around 60% of the world's germanium, according to the European association Critical Raw Materials Alliance (CRMA), with the rest coming from Canada, Finland, Russia and the United States. Gallium is found in trace amounts in zinc ores and in bauxite, and gallium metal is produced when processing bauxite to make aluminium. U.S. imports of gallium metal and gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafers in 2022 were worth about $3 million and $200 million, respectively, according to USGS. U.S.-based Indium Corporation also produces germanium, while Belgium's Umicore (UMI.BR) makes both germanium and gallium.

Persons: Belgium's, Eikon, Dominique Patton, Mai Nguyen, Melanie Burton, Tom Hogue, Himani Organizations: Alliance, WHO, United States Geological Survey, Teck Resources, Shanghai Metal Exchange, Thomson Locations: China, Canada, Finland, Russia, United States, Europe, Japan, U.S, South Korea, Germany, Kazakhstan, Teck, North America, British Columbia, Beijing

☆ Factbox: Where are strategic materials germanium and gallium produced?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Germanium ores are rare and most germanium is produced as a by-product of zinc production and from coal fly ash. China produces around 60% of the world's germanium, according to the European association Critical Raw Materials Alliance (CRMA), with the rest coming from Canada, Finland, Russia and the United States. Gallium is found in trace amounts in zinc ores and in bauxite, and gallium metal is produced when processing bauxite to make aluminium. Around 80% is produced in China, according to the CRMA. Gallium is used to make gallium arsenide for use in electronics.

Persons: Eikon, Dominique Patton, Mai, Tom Hogue Organizations: Alliance, Shanghai Metal Exchange, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Canada, Finland, Russia, United States, Europe, Japan, U.S, Mai Nguyen, Beijing

☆ China to restrict exports of chipmaking materials as US mulls new curbs
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-04 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

FILE PHOTO: Flags of China and U.S. are displayed on a printed circuit board with semiconductor chips, in this illustration picture taken February 17, 2023. The controls, which China said were aimed at protecting national security and interests, will require exporters to seek permission to ship some gallium and germanium products. China’s controls, to take effect from August 1, will apply to eight gallium-related products: gallium antimonide, gallium arsenide, gallium metal, gallium nitride, gallium oxide, gallium phosphide, gallium selenide and indium gallium arsenide. They will also apply to six germanium products: germanium dioxide, germanium epitaxial growth substrate, germanium ingot, germanium metal, germanium tetrachloride and zinc germanium phosphide. Anyone exporting these products without permission and those who export in excess of the permitted volumes will be punished, it said.

Persons: Florence Lo Organizations: REUTERS Locations: China, U.S, BEIJING, Beijing, United States, Washington, Netherlands

Summary Customs delays, tariff uncertainty and soaring global demand have hiked solar costs and delayed projects as the U.S. weans itself off Chinese dependence. The Biden administration's Uyghur Forced Labor Protection Act (UFLPA) prevents the import of goods produced using forced labour in China’s Xinjiang Province, including much of the polysilicon used in solar panels. UFLPA checks have blocked panel imports at the U.S. border, delaying projects and driving up project costs. CHART: Solar manufacturing capacity by country, regionSource: International Energy Agency's Report on Solar PV Global Supply Chains, August 2022The UFLPA requires visibility into labour practices along the solar value chain. Lightsource bp has contracted for more than 20 million solar panels through 2028 and is considering imports from Southeast Asia, Turkey and India, Smith said.

☆ Electric vehicles throw Palladium's mega-rally into reverse
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Peter Hobson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

(Graphic: Palladium's rally, )Powering the rally was rising demand from automakers who needed more palladium per vehicle to meet tightening emissions standards. Electric vehicles (EVs) that do not need palladium are gaining market share and automakers are substituting some palladium for cheaper platinum in combustion engine vehicles. (Graphic: Palladium supply from recycled vehicles, )That will shift the roughly 11 million ounce a year market to a surplus of nearly a million ounces in 2027, they said. (Graphic: Palladium market balance, )But it is too early to rule out short-term upward moves. (Graphic: Palladium speculators, )

It's the lowest end-year inventory in the system this century and reflects two years of steady withdrawals which have left exchange stocks of metals such as zinc and lead almost depleted. It's no coincidence that all the LME base metals have experienced bouts of extreme tightness over the last couple of years. Zinc stocks were down by 65% and lead stocks down by 59% on December 2021. LME stocks could desperately do with any sort of rebuild, whether seasonal or cyclical. So far, however, significant arrivals remain conspicuous by their absence and until that changes, low visible inventory is going to keep roiling the LME base metals.

SEOUL, Jan 11 (Reuters) - South Korea's Hanwha Solutions Corp (009830.KS) said on Wednesday its unit Hanwha Q Cells will invest a total of $2.5 billion to build a solar power manufacturing value chain in the U.S. state of Georgia through June 2025. The company's board approved on Wednesday a $2.31 investment to build a solar power ingot, wafer, cell and module factory, the company said in a regulatory filing. This is in addition to a roughly $200 billion U.S. investment approved late last year, a Hanwha Solutions spokesperson said. With the investment, the company is expected to increase its solar module production capacity in the United States from 1.7 gigawatts as of 2022 to 8.4 gigawatts as of 2024, Hanwha Solutions said in a press conference. Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Tom HogueOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouse stocks of the galvanising metal total 36,525 tonnes, the lowest amount this century. LME zinc price, spread and stocks; Shanghai Futures Exchange stocksSMELTER DISRUPTIONGlobal refined zinc output fell by 3.2% in January-October, according to the ILZSG, matching the drop-off in usage. Shanghai Metal Market (SMM) estimates total "social" inventories of zinc ingot across seven domestic markets at a low 56,000 tonnes. The longer-term question-mark over Europe's power-hungry smelters hasn't gone away, injecting a whole new twist in the zinc market narrative. In the short term the zinc market is going to remain beholden to the European power market.

LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - The world is going to need another 50,000 tonnes of tin per year by 2030 to meet a looming surge in demand, according to the International Tin Association (ITA). The country exported 75,000 tonnes of refined tin last year with shipments running 8% higher through the first 10 months of this year. State producer PT Timah needs around two years to develop its existing tin chemical facility and longer to secure markets, Alwin Albar, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Tin Exporters, told a parliamentary hearing. China imported 22,600 tonnes of refined tin in the first 10 months of the year with Indonesian metal accounting for 19,000 tonnes. After peaking at 5,160 tonnes in September, headline LME tin stocks have fallen to 3,075 tonnes with 535 tonnes awaiting physical load-out.

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