Joe Deaux | The Seattle Times

Containers sit stacked next to gantry cranes as trucks operate at the Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan in Ningbo, China, on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018.

August 12, 2021 at 2:04 pm

China’s port shutdown raises fears of closures worldwide

China's shutdown of the world's third-busiest port because of a COVID-19 outbreak has investors worried. In June, the Port of Los Angeles experienced a dip...

Business

A finished steel coil is lifted and moved at the NLMK Pennsylvania plant in Farrell, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019. U.S. raw steel production rose to 1.48 million tons from 1.446 million tons a week earlier, the American Iron and Steel Institute said in an email. Photographer: Allison Farrand/Bloomberg

April 2, 2021 at 1:00 am

Biden’s Rust Belt revival plan risks luring more foreign steel

Arguably the biggest beneficiaries of President Joe Biden’s plan to spend $620 billion on highways, roads and bridges are the steelmakers. Mostly the ones in...

Business

March 4, 2021 at 9:06 am

Biden Commerce chief says steel, aluminum tariffs ‘effective’

Tariffs that Donald Trump placed on foreign steel and aluminum may not be abolished any time soon. Industry groups representing the top U.S. steel producers...

Business

December 14, 2020 at 8:20 am

Butler on wheels, robot cutting salad: How covid sped automation

Because human contact spreads the disease, some machines are now viewed not exclusively as the workers' enemy but also as their protector. That has accelerated...

Business

An employee inspects aluminum beverage cans as they pass along the production line at the Ball Packaging Europe Ltd. plant, in Belgrade, Serbia, on Wednesday, March 14, 2018. The U.K. will rely on the European Union to make the case for an exemption from U.S. President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs, even though the country is due to leave the bloc in a year’s time. Photographer: Oliver Bunic/Bloomberg 775141700

October 19, 2019 at 4:00 pm

Aluminum is replacing plastic as the greenest bottle

The drive to turn products more eco-friendly is sweeping through the U.S. beverage market, with plastic being replaced in everything from red Solo cups to...

Business

May 23, 2019 at 10:57 am

U.S. Beer Industry Blames Trump Tariffs for 40,000 Job Losses

Two trade groups says 40,000 jobs have been lost since 2016 as metal tariffs boosted aluminum-can costs, leading to a drop in investment.

Business

May 17, 2019 at 8:56 am

U.S. to lift steel, aluminum duties on Canada and Mexico

The move would lift the 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs the U.S. placed on the two trading neighbors almost a year ago in the...

September 17, 2018 at 9:00 am

As Trump touts steel revival, investors still await payoff

A lot of investors seem to have lost the memo on the revival of the American steel industry. President Donald Trump took to Twitter Monday...

Business

Aluminum billets cut to various lengths move along the production line at the Alcoa Inc. Mt. Holly plant in Goose Creek, South Carolina, U.S., on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, predicted earlier this month that global aluminum demand will grow 7 percent this year, compared with 10 percent in 2011, and will exceed supply. Photographer: Stephen Morton/Bloomberg

November 7, 2015 at 8:00 am

Global glut of aluminum sinks once strong U.S. industry

U.S. aluminum production has gone from 2.5 million tons in 2005 to 1.6 million in 2015.

Business