nese materials, the International Trade Commission revoked the antidump- ing order on Russia in early February. Members of the domestic magnesium casting industry have expressed hope that this could lead to improvements in the market for their products.
Sand Slipping Away On the subject of the tighten-
*Scrap price represents a composite of #1 Bundle/Busheling
According to AMM, the price of low residual steel scrap was at or below $140/ton for nearly 20 years and then spiked in 2004. Pig iron also has seen price increases.
day) that ends up in landfi lls because people don’t know where it is,” Cobett said. “One third of the copper that is mined is sitting in landfi lls.” Magnesium also has caused pur-
chasers problems in the past several years. Because the majority of the material is produced in China (about 85%), it is disproportionately more expensive than alternatives and there- fore diffi cult to market to end-users.
Export taxes have traditionally pushed the price even higher. “[Magnesium] is an economic chal-
lenge due to a raw material cost imbal- ance,” said Rob Bailey, president of B.S. Metallugy Inc., Manitowoc, Wis. In the past, the cost of magnesium
was compounded yet again by the ap- plication of an anti-dumping duty on lots coming from Russia and China. While the duty remains on the Chi-
ing silica sand supply around the metalcasting industry, a procurement engineer for a major North American OEM’s metalcasting division was unequivocal. It’s happening. “We’re having signifi cant prob-
lems getting sand sourcing for future products,” said the buyer, who wished to remain anonymous. T e main cause of the shortage is
a syphoning of supply by the “frack” industry. Fracking refers to hydraulic fracturing, the process of using sand in oil or gas drilling to draw more fossil fuels to the surface. By drilling holes around a well site and pumping in a slurry at high pressures, fuel harvest- ers can create additional cracks in the earth’s surface through which oil or gas can rush, making their job quicker and easier. Silica sand is a primary ingredient in the slurry, but historically, the min- ing industry consumed less of the sand and a diff erent type than that used by metalcasters. In 2005, the process of fracking was turned on its side. “Previously, they drilled the well
vertically,” said Dave Jablonski, who handles metalcasting sales for sand miner and distributor Badger Min- ing Corp., Berlin, Wis. “T ey would harvest the oil only around the well. Now, they have the technology to go horizontally, and they can do more.” Doing more means a need for
greater amounts of sand (Jablonski estimates the industry’s consump- tion has jumped fi vefold in the last 10 years). And breaking through the earth horizontally into certain rock forma- tions (e.g. shale) requires a diff erent grade of sand. For vertical fracking, the industrialists wanted only round grains with high integrity, no impurities and 20-30-40 mesh particles. “With the advent of horizontal drilling, there were two changes,”
22 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | Sept/Oct 2011
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