I've spent about as much time reading up on the medium term prospects for the oil market as anyone this past week to try and gauge what the market for steel castings and ductile iron castings is likely to be as we head into 2016 . A few stories that kind of sum up the picture [...]
I've belabored the plight of the downtrodden oil market enough to communicate the point that the foundry world, especially as it pertains steel castings and ductile iron castings (and to some extent gray iron), is suffering under the weight of low oil prices. However, the entire commodity picture is a bleak one. In light of the [...]
As if the Steel Foundry industry was not already reeling enough as it is... I think this article says it all: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-20/after-year-of-pain-opec-close-to-halting-u-s-oil-in-its-tracks To expound on what the article says, OPEC will continue to crush the U.S. Oil Boom with production levels that won't allow the price of oil to return to $60-$70 per barrel until mid [...]
We are seeing some real trouble out there in the steel castings world folks. Despite news that all sectors of the US economy are holding their own, the industrial world, steel foundries in particular, are doing their best to tread water while oil and most other commodities find an equilibrium, but it's painful. There are several [...]
Low oil prices seem to be pushing some of the big guys to decide they are going to team up, as the perception is that there are some value acquisitions out there to be had in light of low prices. The assumption of course is that prices will rise again and value will return to this [...]
As a steel castings foundry, our industry has taken a hit by low oil pricing. Many of our peers in the industry are significantly off their 2014 numbers due to the pricing slump, but it obviously isn't just the steel foundry guys. Exxon, Chevron, and many of the other household names are continuing to feel the [...]
For years economists have been arguing over not whether the Chinese Yuan was undervalued, but by how much. Now we're being told the value is appropriate relative to the state of the Chinese economy. For a review of how this conclusion was reached, see: http://qz.com/412082/chinas-yuan-is-no-longer-undervalued-says-imf/
Additive manufacturing continues to be a sexy topic of conversation, and our industry (steel foundries) continues to discuss when and how it will be rolled out in a significant way. Right now the sense among all the bigwigs is that price is still too high, production too slow, and commercial viability in terms of replacing current [...]
The oil price continues to bounce upward. I'm not convinced there's any momentum behind it. Global consumption of oil is still growing at a rate less than half of what it was in 2010, all while supply continues to go up significantly as previously untapped sources of oil come online. The numbers I'm seeing show oil [...]
The machine shop is really coming together. We just added an OKK horizontal mill that should help us finish machine some of the smaller parts we produce. Now it's time to re-arrange the furniture and get the machine setups optimized as best we can. I'm looking forward to getting some old machines rebuilt and adding one [...]