AL Circle Analysis: Import rise meets demand growth on aluminium extrusion chessboard
Aluminium’s downstream trade network is getting more fragmented as import dependence, changing end-use demand and trade-policy interventions reshape regional markets. From North America and Europe to Asia-Pacific, the aluminium industry is navigating a market where access to supply, competitive...
US industrial policy needs to be systematic, not just ad hoc – Part 2
Our current approach can win economic skirmishes, but not the geopolitical conflict. – Part 2 Impact #5 of ad hoc industrial policy: Failing to use all required tools Industrial policy is often caricatured as just tariffs and subsidies. Mis-framed debates that evaluate the merits of tariffs in...
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Century Aluminum warns of plant shutdown
Calif-based Century Aluminum may be forced to cease operations at its Hawesville aluminum smelter, the company warned on Tuesday. Citing the high price of power to keep the plant running, Century issued a federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notification to the effect that the...
Revenue from auto sheet expected to surge to $580 million
Alcoa expects to more than triple its sales of aluminium sheet to automakers by 2015 as they reduce car weight by substituting it for steel in car bodies, an Alcoa executive said. Revenue from auto sheet - mainly used in car bodies - is expected to surge to $580 million by 2015 from $160 million...
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. completes acquisition of Metals USA Holdings Corp.
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. today announced that it has completed the previously announced acquisition of Metals USA Holdings Corp. for $20.65 per share in cash, pursuant to which Metals USA has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance. This acquisition adds a total of 48 service centers...
US aluminum alloy maker Beck to shut furnace on tight scrap
US secondary aluminum producer Beck Aluminum Alloys has shut one of two furnaces at its Racine plant due to tight margins, a company source said Monday. The Beck source said the plant will operate only one of its furnaces until scrap spreads improve. The furnace has a capacity of 160,000 lbs/year....
NASAAC-based contracts to remain in secondary aluminum market
The North American Special Aluminum Alloy Contract will not die as a pricing mechanism, said Alan Dick, president of scrap supplier Alpert & Alpert Iron & Metal, during a panel session Thursday at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries convention in Orlando, Florida. He said he expects market...
Columbia Falls Aluminum's reopening increasingly uncertain
Despite occasional glimpses of hope that the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. plant would resume operations, the shuttered facility’s future is more uncertain than ever as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency begins investigating the site for hazardous pollutants and scepticism over the prospect of...
W. Brook Hamilton named President of Bonnell Aluminum Subsidiary
Tredegar Corporation announced that W. Brook Hamilton has been named President of the William L. Bonnell Company, effective June 1, 2013. Mr. Hamilton, who currently serves as Bonnell's Director, Business Planning, will succeed Duncan A. Crowdis, who will retire June 1, 2013. Nancy M. Taylor,...
Hunt continues for alternative buyer for Ormet
Investment bankers in the bankruptcy of US aluminum producer Ormet are still working the phones and holding face-to-face discussions to determine if anyone else, besides Wayzata Investment Partners, is interested in buying the company, a source involved in the case said Friday. The "bankers are...
Aluminum Association announces the addition of four new member companies
Today, the Aluminum Association announced the addition of four new member companies during its Spring Meeting in South Carolina. "We are thrilled to have these companies come on board to strengthen the Aluminum Association's impact," said Layle "Kip" Smith, Aluminum Association Vice Chairman and...
Reliance Steel & Aluminum raises $2 bn for Metals USA Holding acquisition
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co, North America's largest metals service centre company, today said that it has closed a $2-billion financing deal for its proposed Metals USA Holding Corp acquisition. The Los Angeles-based company said that it has amended and restated its existing $1.5-billion...
AEC Board of Director results announced
The results of the annual election of officers and directors of the Aluminum Extruders Council were announced at the 64th Annual Meeting & Leadership Conference on March 14, 2013 in Orlando, Florida. Richard A. Merluzzi, President and CEO of Pennex Aluminum Company in Wellsville, Pennsylvania, was...
Estimated aluminum demand in US and Canada up 4.4%
Aluminum demand in the United States and Canada (shipments by domestic producers plus imports) totaled an estimated 1,996 million pounds during January 2013, up 4.4 percent over January of 2012. Demand for semi-fabricated (mill) products totaled 1,299 million pounds, rising 4.2 percent. Apparent...
Superior Aluminum Alloys recognized as 2012 Supplier of the Year winner
Steel Dynamics, Inc. announced today that General Motors recognized one of the company's subsidiaries, Superior Aluminum Alloys LLC, as one of its best global automotive suppliers on Wednesday, March 13 during its 21st annual Supplier of the Year awards ceremony. The event was held at the Charles...
Century Aluminium seeks deal for restarting Ravenswood plant
Officials with Century Aluminum say they are still interested in restarting the Ravenswood plant and honoring their commitments to the plant's retirees. Karen Gorrell, spokesperson for the Century Aluminum retirees, said in a statement that company officials were seeking another agreement to get...
Alcoa prepares to move forward with next phase of Massena modernization
Alcoa today announced that it is prepared to proceed with the next phase of the modernization of its Massena, NY operations, once the company receives a Record of Decision on the Grasse River that is in line with the Proposed Remedial Action plan issued by the Environmental Protection Agency last...
Sadoff buys Aluminum Resources,Inc.
Sadoff Iron & Metal Company of Fond du Lac has reached an agreement in principle to acquire Aluminum Resources, Inc. Aluminum Resources, a processor and supplier of foundry and mill grade recycled aluminum products, was founded in 1988. “This acquisition adds a niche market for us that complements...
Alcoa to invest $42 million on aluminum plant modernization
State officials say Alcoa Inc. is set to invest $52 million in northern New York under an agreement that continues to provide low-cost hydropower to the aluminum company. Gov. Andrew Cuomo says Alcoa will spend $42 million to prepare for modernization and added capacity at its plant in Massena....
Century Aluminum power rate negotiations resume in Kentucky
Century Aluminum is again trying to negotiate an agreeable electricity rate in Kentucky, according to a March 28 report from Reuters. The Kentucky General Assembly worked on two bills that would have given aluminum smelters the ability to get power on the open market – measures the Kentucky Chamber...
