More tariff adjustments, expansions and closures, and what our survey says about lead times and scrap trends

Meanwhile, survey participants suggested the aluminum scrap market is shifting from May. They’re seeing increasingly differentiated conditions in scrap and primary/semi-fabrication aluminum products. Those distinctions were often most apparent among scrap recyclers and processors. There’s a lot more to dig into here.

LME and prices

On the London Metal Exchange, prices have been retreating while warehouse stocks have remained low. The price pullback followed reports of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding and early indications that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz could resume. But several physical market indicators remained near historically tight levels even as outright prices and the gap between cash aluminum prices and forward contracts narrowed sharply. Here’s a look at where things stand.

LME Clear, the clearing house for the London Metal Exchange, will increase the amount of offshore renminbi (CNH) each member can hold as collateral to CNH 135 million (about US $20 million based on June 16 exchange rates) from CNH 90 million. It also will reduce the advance notice required to lodge and withdraw CNH collateral to one US business day from two days.

Participants across the LME aluminum market reduced outstanding positions during June as aluminum prices declined and immediate supply concerns eased. Unlike the sharp increase in participation observed during the rally earlier this year, the latest Commitment of Traders data showed nearly every participant category reducing both long and short exposure. Commercial undertakings also reduced positions, continuing a broader pattern that has distinguished the subset of market participants from the rest of the market over the past year.

Around the market

Rio Tinto has started commissioning its AP60 expansion at the Arvida smelter in Québec, bringing a major primary aluminum modernization project into its startup phase. The project is also tied to the development of a 30,000-metric-ton-per-year recycling facility at the site, which is scheduled to open in Q4 2026.

Oklahoma Attorney General Genter Drummond filed a petition June 2 seeking to block the proposed Oklahoma Primary Aluminum smelter in Inola, the project backed by Emirates Global Aluminium and Century Aluminum. AMU looks at how this could impact this project.

Hydro plans to close two US facilities in 2027 as the company consolidates production within its North American network. Hydro plans to shutter is Delhi, La., plant, which produces remelt billet, and its extrusion facility in City of Industry, Calif.

ENKEI America plans to permanently close its Jacksonville, Fla., aluminum wheel manufacturing facility, ending operations at a site equipped with aluminum melting, remelting, casting, machining, and finishing assets.

Century Aluminum signed a memorandum of understanding with Brimstone under which the companies would work toward supplying domestically produced alumina from Brimstone’s planned commercial-scale facilities to Century’s US smelters. The non-binding agreement outlines a potential future supply relationship rather than a purchase contract. Brimstone has not yet commercialized its alumina production process, which would produce smelter-grade alumina from calcium-bearing silicate rock instead of imported bauxite.

Steel Dynamics Inc. expects to record a $16 million asset write-down in the second quarter after deciding to relocate a planned Aluminum Dynamics recycled aluminum slab casting center from Benson, Ariz., to Columbus, Miss. The company disclosed the change in its second-quarter 2026 earnings guidance, ending plans for a facility that had become the subject of litigation, appeals proceedings, and local political opposition.

Sims Limited raised its fiscal year 2026 earnings guidance from its March estimate. The improvement has been driven by the stronger-than-expected market for recycled scrap metals, particularly copper and aluminum.

Those of us in the aluminum space know the advantages of beverage cans. They’re lightweight, shatterproof, stackable. They can be chilled quickly and, of course, recycled repeatedly. But once you open one, you’re kind of stuck with a drink you can’t close up again. Canovation is one of the companies working to fill that gap.

Trade

“Steel, aluminum, and copper are not just commercial commodities. They are the building blocks of defense production, grid infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence, and US economic security.” That’s according to a report from SAFE’s Center for Strategic Industrial Materials.

And Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the Canadian and US governments should cooperate more closely on auto manufacturing, steel, critical minerals, and aluminum.

June saw another change to tariffs on certain aluminum, steel and copper derivative products under the Section 232. The changes took effect June 8, and will remain in place through Dec. 31, 2027. Here’s a look at what’s included.

However, aluminum was excluded from some additional Section 301 tariffs. Find out more here.

Canada is considering plans to extend tariffs on certain steel and aluminum products for one year. The measure, subject to cabinet approval, would extend its steel tariff-rate quota regime for imports from non-USMCA partners; the existing horizontal tariff relief for eligible steel and aluminum products from the United States; and for eligible steel products subject to derivative tariffs.

The US Department of Commerce issued preliminary antidumping and countervailing duty determinations covering imports of van-type trailers and certain subassemblies from China and Mexico. Meanwhile, it terminated the countervailing duty investigation involving Canada following a withdrawal request from the petitioners.