By Stuart Burns
The normally pragmatic Netherlands has been strangely agitated recently, as both the construction and agricultural industry have protested on the streets of the capital, the Hague, against the government's measures for combating nitrogen and PFAS-based pollution.
In itself, this would barely be newsworthy for MetalMiner if it weren't for the impact it is having on an already subdued metals industry.
Even before the widespread disruption to the Dutch construction industry, demand for steel and aluminum was suffering from depressed German industrial consumption, largely due to a downturn in the automotive