Western world shipments of magnesium metal increased by 5.5 percent per year throughout the 1990s, according to the report by Roskill analysts, The Economics of Magnesium Metal (8th edition, 2001). Most of this growth was driven by increased output of magnesium die castings. Considerable interest in new magnesium production capacity and a number of major projects in the pipeline create an optimistic scenario for the magnesium industry.However, doubts about expanding the supply base for magnesium remain. In recent years, both China and Russia have exported significant quantities of magnesium to the West. These exports have filled the gap in the market left by the closure of the Dow Magnesium plant in Texas in 1998. The shift in the pattern of supply has eroded the ability of Western producers to maintain a producer price for magnesium, resulting in a steady fall in the U.S. spot price from
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