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.

Aluminum takes the wheel: Passenger car reaches a crossroads

For domestic automotive manufacturers, first quarter earnings results defined by a familiar theme: suspended guidance and constant references to “tariff uncertainty”.

Buried in the footnotes: Overlooked numbers that mattered in earnings season

With earnings season largely behind us it’s time to move past the headline numbers and into the filings – where a few key items across major downstream players deserve closer scrutiny.

The new math of Trump's auto tariffs

The purpose of the tapered tariff reduction is to allow time to readjust supply lines or onshore manufacturing to the U.S., a phaseout that incentivizes shifts in components production.

Muscle Shoals shuffle: Constellium's scrap strategy

The company noted improvements in North American scrap margins, but the details demand a closer read.

Upcycling scrap: Sorting out separation

Sortation technology is often puzzle where the end goal determines the methods employed, making it hard to gauge what companies are capable of going beyond standard processing.

Cross-border castings: Hydro and Nemak rethink scrap to power low-carbon cars

Aluminum producer Norsk Hydro and automotive casting manufacturer Nemak agreement focuses on expanding the use of post-consumer scrap and shifting to lower-carbon energy sources.

Parts vs. pileup: Reading between the lines of LKQ's Q1 shifts

As pressures mount across the aluminum value chain, key signals buried in LKQ’s latest earnings both hint and obscure deeper shifts in how auto-related aluminum flows are being sourced, stockpiled, and sold.

Kaiser’s business units tell different stories in 1Q 2025

Kaiser Aluminum's first-quarter 2025 results reveal a company pulled in different directions, its' end sectors diverge in trajectory.

LME's Hong Kong expansion highlights market in transition

This is less about warehousing and more about relevance.

Court of International Trade sets limits on extrusion duty appeals

The ruling might not be the last word – but it’s a signal on where future cases my land.