This week was a wake-up call, tariffs are expanding, supply chains are shifting, and pricing pressure is building. The market isn’t moving in a straight line, and companies that aren’t paying attention now will feel it later. Here’s this week’s key takeaways: Industry shifts: Openings and Closures What to watch next:
Constellium’s latest earnings report confirmed what most in the aluminum market already saw coming, 2024 was a rough one. Weaker demand, tighter scrap spreads, and a major operational hit from flooding at their Valais facility all dragged on performance. The numbers tell the story: Q4 revenue came in at $1.72 billion, down 1% YoY, with […]
The latest round of tariffs on aluminum and steel isn’t just about stopping direct imports, it’s about shutting down the backdoors that have let foreign metal, especially from China, slip into U.S. manufacturing through other countries. The new rules focus on where the metal was originally smelted and cast, not just where the final product […]
What happened this week: Why it matters: What to watch next: For now, MWP remains elevated, but the key question isn’t if a correction comes, it’s when.
(This conversation with ADI took place on February 6, 2025.) Aluminum is quietly undergoing a shake-up, and ADI is right at the center of it. Backed by Steel Dynamics (SDI), ADI is gearing up to make a serious impact, just like SDI did with steel. With new capacity coming online, shifting trade policies, and a […]
In our Final Thoughts commentary last week, we discussed how used beverage container (UBC) price had become expensive. Conversations at the Platt’s conference centered around what would break the upward trend in prices. As I learned from my oldest mentor at Cargill (when I was a very green and very naïve grain trader), “the cure […]
This first week of February 2025 saw tariffs dominate the aluminum market conversation, with Trump imposing 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, then delaying their implementation for 30 days after negotiations with both governments. China wasn’t so lucky, as the U.S. followed through with a 10% tariff on Chinese goods, prompting immediate retaliatory tariffs […]
This month has been all over the place for aluminum-tariffs, trade fights, and global supply chain shakeups. Some threats are still on the table, some haven’t gone anywhere, and some could turn into a real mess if they go through. Here’s what’s happening and what it means for the aluminum industry. United States: Trump’s big […]
The aluminum and scrap markets are currently facing a mix of challenges and cautious optimism as industry players navigate fluctuating supply and demand conditions. Scrap market dynamics Manufacturers and mills are reporting an unbalanced scrap market. Some mills believe that the supply of mid to high-value scrap has been mostly reprocessed, but there is an […]