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 takes a closer look at obscure but telling markets - corrugated boxes, cement, and coatings - for early clues on where aluminum demand may really be headed in 2025.
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.
As billet upcharges mount, scrap spreads stay wide, and talk of an export ban rattles recyclers, the aluminum industry heads into 2026 facing some of the toughest cost and supply negotiations yet.
The August AMU survey reveals lead times lengthening for sheet but easing for billet and extrusions, with distributors, producers, manufacturers, and recyclers each reporting conditions shaped by their position in the value chain.
Parsing out conflicting construction data from the census, Dodge and other sources to see where the market may be headed.
Conflicting reads across census spending, backlog surveys, and Dodge planning data point to a construction market where commercial may be nearing a floor, infrastructure remains buoyed by long pipelines, and heavy industrial lags.
The widening gap between scrap costs and value-added premiums is making secondary aluminum casthouses look far more attractive - time for a rethink.
Private equity-backed moves by Fulton Asset Management and KPS Capital Partners highlight how consolidation is reshaping North American extrusion capacity, with strategies aimed squarely at construction and industrial end markets.
Part 1 of a deeper look at the expanded Section 232 tariffs on aluminum derivatives.