material cost and availability

Question 1

what are short term fluctuations affected by?

Answer 1

unbalance between supply and demand

Question 2

what are long term fluctuations caused by?

Answer 2

demand

Question 3

what is availability of a material affected by?

Answer 3

resources
reserves

Question 4

what are the differences between resources and reserves?

Answer 4

resources - all on planet
reserves - known deposits that can be currently extracted

Question 5

how can consumption of a material change with time?

Answer 5

increase exponentially

Question 6

how can we conserve materials?

Answer 6

substitution
recycling of scrap
using scarce materials more economically