Contributor: Nicholas Bell

Nicholas Bell

Nicholas brings over half a decade of experience covering metals markets, pricing trends, and supply chain dynamics. Prior to joining AMU, he reported on aluminum, high-temperature scrap, and ferro-alloy markets at Argus Media, with additional coverage of minor metals and rare earths. His work has built deep expertise in North American metals pricing and trade flows. A native of Houston, Nicholas holds a bachelor’s degree in Media Production and an MBA with a concentration in Finance, both from the University of Houston.

Plugging the leaks, Part 1: How aluminum trade groups are closing gaps in Section 232

The first installment explores how trade groups representing extruders and die casters are pressing to expand Section 232’s coverage.

Tracking construction, Part 2: Building out the indicators

Building on the backlog analysis, this follow-up connects Dodge Construction Network's construction starts data, the Dodge Momentum Index, and the AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index to map how project planning, design, and execution are aligning - or diverging - across the construction cycle.

Tracking construction, Part 1: Weighing the construction backlog

This installment examines August's Associated Builders and Contractors Construction Backlog Indicator, breaking down shifts by industry, region, and company size to show where contractors' forward workloads are expanding - and where they're stalling.

AMU Survey: Stability on the surface, fractures beneath

September's survey shows stability, but a closer look reveals diverging conditions: scrap recyclers facing oversupply, semi-fabricators holding ground, and softer price expectations on Midwest premiums and UBCs.

Arconic doubles high-purity output at Davenport

Arconic's Davenport expansion has doubled its high-purity aluminum capacity, a development that fills part of the void left by Century's idled Hawesville smelter and an opaque import market.

Ball, Red Bull, and Rauch break ground on Concord plant: A new era for beverage cans

The long-delayed Concord facility marks Ball's return to the Carolinas and highlights a broader shift in beverage can demand, with energy drinks and specialty drinks driving growth as supply chains and consumer preferences evolve in tandem.

Quantifying Oswego's interruption for the auto industry

Novelis' Oswego mill fire has sidelined the largest producer of automotive body and structural sheet in North America, disrupting a closed-loop scrap system and removing over half of regional BIW/closures sheet supply, with limited options for domestic backfill and costly import alternatives.

Honda opens Ohio pilot plant as Europe tightens end-of-life vehicle rules

Honda's Ohio Resource Circularity Center marks the first automaker-led EOL vehicle recycling facility in the U.S., contrasting with EU initiatives driven by rules to discourage zorba and twitch in favor of alloy-specific recovery.

Canada’s $5bn relief fund with aluminum focus rekindles debate over subsidies

Canada's new Strategic Response Fund for tariff-hit industries has triggered sharp criticism, drawing in questions over subsidies, trade imbalances, and whether U.S. and Canadian aluminum markets are as different as an industry group suggets.

Quarterly tariff cycle: Section 232 inclusions reopen... again

Section 232's recurring inclusions, layered alongside overlapping and contested tariff regimes, have turned aluminum trade policy into a rolling mechanism that boosts GDP on paper, stokes inflation in practice, and leaves buyers navigating uncertainty as the only constant.