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Primary aluminium foundry alloy premiums in Europe were steady on Friday May 10 in a quiet market, while bearish sentiment from the automobile industry continued to cap premiums. The premium for silicon 7 aluminium wheel alloys over London Metal Exchange cash prices delivered to the Ruhr region with 30-day payment terms was assessed Friday at $340-360 per tonne, steady from April’s assessment the first time since February that the premium has not moved down.
Spot demand for aluminium billet in the United States has remained low, forcing producers to offer discounts in order to move material and pushing the 6063 extrusion billet upcharge to its lowest since late November 2017.
US tariffs on a number of Chinese minor metals and ferro-alloys have been increased to 25%, affecting shipments of material from China from May 10. Minor metals and ferro-alloys affected by the latest tariffs include: bismuth, cadmium, gallium, germanium, germanium dioxide, selenium, tellurium, silicon, magnesium, mercury, arsenic, rhenium, hafnium, ferro-tungsten, ferro-vanadium, ferro-silicon, ferro-manganese, vanadium pentoxide, titanium, cobalt sulfate, cobalt metal and cobalt tetroxide.
The United States government also has increased its existing 10% additional duties on imports of base metals, ferrous metals and associated products from China to 25% from May 10, citing a lack of progress on ongoing trade talks. These duties will be imposed on Chinese exports to the US of tariff lines including items and products of copper, zinc, nickel, iron and steel and other base metals.
The alumina price on the Chinese spot market is likely to break through this year’s peak and move up even further in response to the local authorities’ investigation into Xinfa Group regarding the chemical leakage in its alumina smelters in Xiaoyi city, Shanxi province in China, sources told Fastmarkets on May 10.