jpmschweitzerandClaude Opus 4.6
68867894e9
All 36 commodity stubs fleshed out with lore context, production chain descriptions, and economic intelligence briefing voice. Key treatments: fusion_fuel (D-187 8:1 ratio), services (location-bound mechanics), brands distinguished from commodities per D-185. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2.0 KiB
Refined Metals
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Refined Metals |
| Tier | intermediate |
| Elasticity | inelastic |
| Base Price (Tractus) | 30 |
| Bulk Class | standard |
| Unit | tonnes |
| Production Ubiquity | common |
| Demand Model | market |
| Commission Certified | No |
| Compact Contested | No |
| Shadow Viable | No |
| Panic Threshold (weeks) | 0 |
| Description | Structural steel, copper wire, aluminum. Backbone of construction and manufacturing. |
Refined metals are the basic structural material of every construction and manufacturing sector in the Reach. Smelting reduces two tonnes of metallic ore plus 0.3t of fusion fuel to one tonne of output — structural steel, rolled aluminum, copper wire, and the general-purpose metal stock that goes into buildings, vehicles, equipment, and infrastructure. Common production ubiquity reflects the fact that ore is common and smelting infrastructure is well-distributed across the Reach.
The commodity feeds four final production chains either directly or as a critical input: freight hauler construction (1.5t), heavy equipment assembly (1.0t), rail infrastructure construction (1.0t), and consumer goods (indirectly, via textiles and panel components). Inelastic elasticity means demand holds regardless of price fluctuations — manufacturers don't stop building because steel costs more, they pass the cost forward. The absence of a panic threshold reflects durability; refined metals stockpile without degradation and buyers hold inventory against supply variability without triggering hoarding dynamics.
Smelting throughput is energy-constrained. A frontier smelter running at 30 Tractus/t output pays more than an inner corridor smelter to produce the same tonne, because fuel input costs are structurally elevated by water transport economics. This means refined metals prices quietly encode the fuel cost geography of wherever they were produced — metal from deep frontier carries a structural premium over the same specification produced at hop 2.