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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
 Posted - 10/27/2007 : 22:30:48
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I may be going out on a limb here, but does anyone know how susceptible the Bessemer and Hall-Héroult processes are to other energy/resource costs? I know the HH process relies substantialy on large amounts of resources and energy to maintain efficiency. What I'm getting at is: at what point do the input costs significantly affect the output costs, and thus the prices of aluminum and steel? Can the companies that utilize these processes weather an economic storm reasonably well? I don't know which companies these would be, but I'm probably speaking of Alcan, Alcoa, et al.
If I'm not making any sense (as I'm wont to do sometimes) how about this: what would cause my beer cans to be worth two to three cents apiece at the scrap yard instead of a little over a penny? Or this: what would cause more restaurants to find a cheap alternative to stainless steel cutlery, because so many customers are pocketing the spoons?
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
Posted - 10/27/2007 : 23:01:57
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I'm such a metal nerd, I know....but these are the questions that keep me up at night. 
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
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Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2007 : 14:12:45
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I do know that it takes a lot less energy to recycle aluminum than it takes to convert raw materials into aluminum in the first place. So I assume that higher energy prices will bring higher aluminum scrap prices.
As per stealing spoons from restaurants; "Would you like that spoon to go sir?" ;-)
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Aluminum and Steel question
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