Here are five Fastmarkets MB stories you might have missed on Friday May 10 that are worth another look.
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.
