Aerospace end market check-in: 2025 aircraft deliveries
A review of 2025 Airbus and Boeing aircraft deliveries, with context around production and supply-chain structure.
Category: Transportation
The question of aluminum and substitution
Decisions to swap materials are not made in the spur of the moment. Significant engineering changes have to be made, tooling has to be redesigned. With current lead times for heavy industrial equipment, substitution could take 1-2 years to execute. Substitution, whether good or bad for aluminum, is not happening quickly.
Recreational vehicle wholesale shipments slump
US RV wholesale shipments declined more sharply than typical seasonal norms in November 2025, signaling mounting pressure on discretionary consumer spending amid inflation and elevated interest rates.
Novelis says Oswego repairs to cost $255 million, restart TBD
The most recent blaze in November damaged the hot mill's finishing mill, which is highly specialized.
Lead time takeaways from AMU's survey
December survey data showed lead times rising across aluminum products even as respondents reported steadier conditions.
Novelis' Oswego plant sees management shakeup
The changes are happening months after recent fires took parts of the facility offline.
Midwest premiums: How high is high?
The Midwest premium has risen beyond replacement economics, driven by thin liquidity, depleted US inventories, slow import response, and limited near-term substitutes - raising questions about sustainability and forward risk.
Focus on Demand: Trailer orders take a turn for the worse
Trailers represent a significant source of demand for aluminum extruders and sheet mills, consuming a lot of 6061 alloys. So, any softness in trailer orders is not welcome news.
ALUKO Group expands US manufacturing footprint
ALUKO Group plans to establish a second US manufacturing facility in Tennessee, expanding its domestic manufacturing presence beyond the EV-focused Jackson site.
Teamsters ratify first-ever contract at Real Alloy Morgantown after strike authorization
Workers at Real Alloy's Kentucky facility unanimously ratified their first collective bargaining agreement following a strike authorization vote, concluding months of negotiations.