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Bipartisan legislation has been introduced by US representatives Ken Buck (Republican-Colorado) and Jim Costa (Democrat-California) that would grant the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the ability to ensure a fair and free market for the pricing of aluminium in the United States, according to Buck.
It would also allow the US Department of Justice to consult with the CFTC to be sure that all regulatory and oversight actions align with anti-trust statutes.
“Our beverage and beer industry, along with so many other job-creating industries, rely on a fair and free market for aluminium purchases,” Buck said. “To avoid perversions of the free market, like monopoly pricing, we need to fully equip the CFTC, alongside the Justice Department, to investigate pricing irregularities that have been plaguing the aluminium market for months now.”
According to Buck, end users in Colorado have noted that producers are selling 100% of their aluminium on a duty-paid basis even though only around 30% of the aluminium they are selling was subject to a duty when they purchased it from the original supplier.
Much of the other 70% comes from recycled aluminium that does not have a duty assessed, Buck said.
Beer industry The move to introduce legislation follows a bipartisan letter led by Buck and signed by 31 of his colleagues in June, requesting that US Attorney General Jeff Sessions examine possible anti-trust violations occurring in the US aluminium market.
The letter stated that consumers of aluminium are increasingly concerned that S&P Global Platts, the price reporting agency that sets the US Midwest premium, had deviated from its standard practice of using spot transactions to set the price and was instead working with a few producers, merchants, traders and banks to set a potentially artificial price.
Consumers who purchase aluminium for use in the soft drink and beer sectors are particularly at risk, the letter noted.
The beer industry, which has been vocal about the allegedly unfair nature of the duty-paid aluminium premium, welcomed the introduction of legislation for the Aluminum Pricing Examination (APEX) Act.
“We need to ensure the CFTC and US Department of Justice examine aluminium pricing irregularities so unfair market practices do not disproportionately harm end users such as the beer industry,” said Jim McGreevy, president and chief executive of the Beer Institute.
According to McGreevy, the Midwest premium, created by metal producers years ago, was intended to cover the logistical costs of moving metal into North America, and was therefore essentially a shipping and handling fee.
“But over time, the Midwest premium has become a device to speculate and artificially inflate the price paid for aluminum at the expense of end-user businesses and consumers. Since January it has increased by as much as 135% – far more than the 10% tariff would warrant,” he said, referring to the Section 232 tariffs ordered in June by the US on aluminium and steel imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union. A round of retaliatory tariffs followed.
“Industries thrive when there is predictability and accountability in the metals market. In order to compete, American brewers need a fair and transparent pricing system for aluminium,” McGreevy added.
Last year, the beer industry purchased 36 billion aluminum cans and aluminum bottles, which contain about $2.7 billion worth of aluminum. The Beer Institute estimates that the beer industry could lose 20,000 jobs due to the aluminium tariffs and increased cost of aluminium and has called for the end to Section 232 tariffs.
Fastmarkets AMM Last month, Fastmarkets AMM said it would rename the P1020 Midwest aluminium premium the “aluminium P1020 duty-paid premium delivered Midwest cents/lb” or “aluminium P1020 Midwest duty-paid premium.”
However, it said it would not launch a US duty-unpaid aluminium premium after market feedback suggested a different approach was required. This was due to a lack of liquidity given the infrequency of duty-unpaid transactions, with the concept failing to meet Fastmarkets AMM’s standards of quality.
After further feedback, Fastmarkets AMM launched a weekly price assessment for the US cost insurance and freight (cif) premium for aluminium sent to the port of Baltimore.
Fastmarkets AMM’s latest assessment of the P1020 premium placed it at 20.25-20.75 cents per lb on Monday October 1, down from the more than three-year high of 22-23 cents per lb on April 10 but more than double the 9.4-9.5-cents-per-lb range recorded at the start of this year.