Commodity Purchasing
Every four years, the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) surveys manufacturers on their energy use. The preliminary results of the most recent survey, covering the year 2010, are in the process of being released and show that the manufacturing sector’s total energy...
As manufacturers ramp up compliance with the SEC's conflict minerals regulation, the rule is scheduled for a showdown in court. On May 15—almost precisely one year before the first corporate reports are due to the SEC on the use of conflict minerals in manufacturers' products—the D.C. Circuit Court...
After a robust recovery during 2009-10, industrial base metal prices started to fall in 2011, and the downward trend continued through the second quarter of 2012 before leveling off in the third quarter. In recent months, there were some signs that metal prices have hit bottom and are starting to...
A member recently asked for our help in identifying good resources to track commodity activity. According to our Chief Economist Dan Meckstroth, here are a few tools:
The IMF's Primary Commodity Prices dataset
The World Bank's Commodity Markets resource center
The London Metal Exchange's...
Is your company “conflict mineral free”? Do you even know what conflict minerals are and how they could potentially cost your company millions and perhaps your reputation? This one-hour webinar, featuring two prominent conflict mineral regulation experts, provides the background and detail...
On August 22, the SEC released its much anticipated final rule on corporate conflict minerals reporting. As expected, the rule requires all public companies to file a report with the SEC if any of four conflict minerals (or their derivatives) are used in the manufacture of a product. Essentially...