Heavy minerals face firm demand but shakier supply

Subject Heavy minerals market dynamics. Significance Prices for titanium dioxide feedstocks, including ilmenite and rutile, have recovered since 2017. Ilmenite prices have stabilised at 150-200 dollars/tonne, while those for higher-grade products, including rutile, have risen. Inventories are being reduced; destocking by pigment producers is reducing feedstock demand. Nevertheless, environmental restrictions on pigment production and domestic gas shortages are helping to underpin prices in China. Upstream, environmental restrictions are constraining Chinese ilmenite mining. Impacts There are no signals that the heavy storm season in East Africa this year caused lasting damage to the supply of heavy minerals. Relatively good weather in the United States augurs well for the seasonal painting season in coming months. Any further delay in the start-up of Indian operations in Tamil Nadu would intensify existing projections for a market deficit. Vietnamese export quotas appear to be exhausted, which could potentially decrease the supply of ilmenite into China. The US Federal Trade Commission is allowing producers Tronox and Cristal to merge, provided Cristal divests from its US operations.

Author(s):  
Gilles Duruflé ◽  
Thomas Hellmann ◽  
Karen Wilson

This chapter examines the challenge for entrepreneurial companies of going beyond the start-up phase and growing into large successful companies. We examine the long-term financing of these so-called scale-up companies, focusing on the United States, Europe, and Canada. The chapter first provides a conceptual framework for understanding the challenges of financing scale-ups. It emphasizes the need for investors with deep pockets, for smart money, for investor networks, and for patient money. It then shows some data about the various aspects of financing scale-ups in the United States, Europe, and Canada, showing how Europe and Canada are lagging behind the US relatively more at the scale-up than the start-up stage. Finally, the chapter raises the question of long-term public policies for supporting the creation of a better scale-up environment.


Significance Follow-on action from Washington and responses from foreign actors will shape the US government’s adversarial policy towards China in semiconductors and other strategic technologies. Impacts The Biden administration will likely conclude that broad-based diversion of the semiconductor supply chain away from China is not feasible. The United States will rely on export controls and political pressure to prevent diffusion to China of cutting-edge chip technologies. The United States will focus on persuading foreign semiconductor leaders to help develop US capabilities, thereby staying ahead of China. Washington will focus on less direct approaches to strategic technology competition with China, notably technical standards-setting. Industry leaders in the semiconductor supply chain worldwide will continue expanding business in China in less politically sensitive areas.


Significance The growing numbers of senior citizens in the United States, their rapidly increasing adoption of social media and their high levels of voter turnout make their vulnerability to disinformation a matter of special concern. Other advanced democracies likely mirror the US experience. Impacts Older US adults' use of television as their primary news source may provide some bulwark against being targeted by disinformation online. The rapid evolution of news distribution technologies will challenge older adults used to a more slowly changing media landscape. Further research is necessary to determine the causes of age-based vulnerability and levels of resilience.


Significance The US-led diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in February will increase the pressure on US companies to decide whether China or the United States is their more valuable market. Some of that pressure to decide is coming from employees and customers in both countries. Impacts More frequent and sharper confrontations between US companies and China could accelerate the decoupling of the two economies. Renewed emphasis on human rights concerns will encourage the further shifting of some supply chain elements out of China. Consumer brands are particularly vulnerable to human rights concerns, as are their suppliers.


Author(s):  
Malyshev ◽  
Kushchevska ◽  
Bruskova

The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the global nanopowder market. Materials and methods. The study used such research methods as system-logical method, method of statistical generalization, comparative and factor analysis. Research results. It is known that nanopowders are obtained by chemical, physical, physico-chemical and mechanical methods. One of the major problems in the production of nanopowders is the tendency of nanoparticles to form aggregates and agglomerates that complicate the production of compact materials. To overcome the forces of agglomeration, a mechanical force or an increase in the sintering temperature must be applied. According to estimates from the consulting company Lux Research, in 2012, the nanotechnology market was $ 190.3 billion. Its annual growth is 15-17%. The world market leaders are the United States ($ 59 billion), Europe ($ 47 billion) and the Asia Pacific region ($ 9.4 billion). The US is the leader in both the commercial market and the number of publications (about 25,000 in 2015) and patents in nanotechnology (45% of patents). Following the results of 2015, more than $1.4 trillion worth of nanotechnology products were manufactured. In the structure of production of nanoproducts the chemical industry, scientific researches (intermediary products, as a rule, not serial) and electronics are leading. Global investments in nanotechnology in 2015 totaled $ 18.1 billion. This indicator increased by 18% compared to 2013. Corporate investments ($ 8.6 billion) became the main source of financing (public - only $ 8.3 billion). The leaders in terms of public investment are the US and the EU. Experts estimate that, by 2020, investment leadership may shift to Japan. Today, the leader in the nanomaterials market is the United States with a projected revenue level of 2018 of $ 1.46 billion. The main products on the world market for nanopowders are metal oxide powders. In the product group of metal oxides 4/5 the production volume accounts for the three most common types of raw materials: silica (SiO2), titanium dioxide (TiO2) and alumina (Al2O3). At the same time, silica occupies more than half of all production, alumina - 18% and titanium dioxide - 10%. The most available oxides are oxides of iron, zinc, cerium, zirconium, cuprum, magnesium, yttrium. The most complex oxides and mixtures are: tin oxide, barium titanate, cobalt carbide, silicon nitride and indium tin oxide. An analysis of the patents presented for nanopowder research has shown that the most promising area of ​​scientific development is aluminum and precious metal nanopowders. Conclusions. Analysis of the world nanopowder market makes it possible to identify the following indicators that characterize its development: the common problem in the nanomaterials market is high cost of production, low volume of production and accessibility for the end consumer; the most developed nanopowder markets: USA, Europe and Asia-Pacific; projected growth rates during 2015-2020 The three largest components of the nanomaterials market: energy, production of catalysts, structural materials - 60%, 13% and 30% respectively; production of metal oxide products prevails in the world market of nanopowders; the most common types of raw materials: silica) - more than half of all production, titanium dioxide - 10% and alumina - 18%.


2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 625-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jairo Buitrago Ciro ◽  
Lynne Bowker

PurposeThis is a comparative investigation of how university libraries in the United States, Canada and Spanish-speaking Latin America are responding to predatory publishing.Design/methodology/approachThe Times Higher Education World University Rankings was used to identify the top ten universities from each of the US and Canada, as well as the top 20 Spanish-language universities in Latin America. Each university library's website was scrutinized to discover whether the libraries employed scholarly communication librarians, whether they offered scholarly communication workshops, or whether they shared information about scholarly communication on their websites. This information was further examined to determine if it discussed predatory publishing specifically.FindingsMost libraries in the US/Canada sample employ scholarly communication librarians and nearly half offer workshops on predatory publishing. No library in the Latin America sample employed a scholarly communication specialist and just one offered a workshop addressing predatory publishing. The websites of the libraries in the US and Canada addressed predatory publishing both indirectly and directly, with US libraries favoring the former approach and Canadian libraries tending towards the latter. Predatory publishing was rarely addressed directly by the libraries in the Latin America sample; however, all discussed self-archiving and/or Open Access.Research limitations/implicationsBrazilian universities were excluded owing to the researchers' language limitations. Data were collected between September 15 and 30, 2019, so it represents a snapshot of information available at that time. The study was limited to an analysis of library websites using a fixed set of keywords, and it did not investigate whether other campus units were involved or whether other methods of informing researchers about predatory publishing were being used.Originality/valueThe study reveals some best practices leading to recommendations to help academic libraries combat predatory publishing and improve scholarly publishing literacy among researchers.


Subject The US intelligence community in a year after purported reforms. Significance On December 29, an agreement between the United States, Japan and South Korea to share intelligence on North Korea went into effect. This ended a year in which the US intelligence community was the subject of broad domestic public scrutiny in the light of continued fallout from former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden's leaks to a Senate report on the CIA's use of torture. The White House's support for reforms has been watched by tech and telecoms businesses that have lost considerable revenue from reputational damage as a result of the growing awareness of requirements on them of US intelligence activities. Impacts The Obama administration will rely on the US intelligence community as its main counterterrorist instrument. A Republican Congress will be less likely to support intelligence reforms, though only marginally so. There is no indication that the balance of power on intelligence issues between the executive and legislative branches has shifted.


Subject US relations with North and South Korea under the incoming Trump administration. Significance The period of transition to Donald Trump's presidency in the United States has displayed neglect and misunderstanding of Korean peninsula affairs, adding to risks for the region as it approaches a period of significant strategic challenge. Impacts Until Trump's team enunciates policy on the Koreas, responses to events will be unprepared and reactive. Trump's policy will influence presidential elections in South Korea, where left-of-centre candidates question the value of the US alliance. The Trump administration’s policy and communication via Twitter heightens risk of misunderstanding within the region.


Subject PROSPECTS 2018: Global economy Significance Global GDP growth is likely to edge higher in 2018 as trade, investment and employment expand. However, monetary policy is gradually tightening, fiscal expansion is limited and there is little chance of a repeat of the surprise boost from trade seen in 2017 or a recovery in productivity. Inflation may remain obdurately low in the United States, Japan and the euro-area but not sufficiently to deter the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and the ECB from gently reeling in their bond-buying programmes. Modestly higher commodity prices should support economic recovery in resource producers. Impacts The timing of elections in the United States, Canada and Mexico may prolong the NAFTA trade talks into 2019 or beyond. China will battle any US attempts to constrain its innovation and access to technology, which it sees as key to its rebalancing. Technological progress and more open markets exacerbate the unpredictability of jobs and wages, but policy will increasingly address this. Automation means the job intensive low-cost industrial growth engine is now less effective; developing countries must consider new models. A better balance of power between multinationals, international organisations and governments will be key to global tax cooperation.


Subject Asylum-seekers and Canada. Significance After an uptick in asylum claims in recent months, including via the United States, asylum policy is likely to feature more heavily in Canadian state and federal politics. Impacts New migrant flows to Canada will likely be triggered as the US government reduces its grants of Temporary Protected Status. Quebec’s government will face off against the Ottawa federal government over responsibility for new migrant arrivals. Ottawa and Washington will likely eventually update the Safe Third Country Agreement, but this could require bargaining. Canada may invest more in border policing and associated technologies.


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