Market
May 3, 2024
CRU: Prelim antidumping duties announced, Porsche looks at aluminum for Taycan
Written by Deborah Idowu
The LME 3-month price has moved down slightly from May 2 and was last seen trading at $2,547 /t. The LME will be closed on Monday, May 6 due to a bank holiday, so the next aluminum daily will be on May 7.
Daily data released May 3 shows that LME cancelled warrants for aluminum decreased by 88,625 t to 269,250 t May 1. This decline entirely occurred in Gwangyang, South Korea. This reversed more than half of the sharp increase in cancelled warrants that has happened since the LME introduced rule changes when the UK and U.S. introduced sanctions against Russian aluminum on April 12.
SHFE is closed May 3, as part of the International Workers’ Day Holiday until May 5 and will reopen as usual on May 6.
U.S. Commerce department announces preliminary antidumping duties on imports of aluminum extrusions
The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced its preliminary findings regarding aluminum extrusion producers and exporters in several countries, including China, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.
The announcement states that these countries have sold aluminum extrusions in the United States at less-than-fair value. The U.S. Aluminum Extruders Coalition and certain unions, acting as petitioners in this case, have applauded Commerce’s decision to impose duties on these imports, emphasizing the importance of protecting U.S. producers and workers from unfair trade practices.
Robert E. DeFrancesco, trade counsel to the petitioners, has highlighted the significance of these findings in combating global dumping practices and ensuring fair competition for U.S. businesses and workers.
Commerce has calculated preliminary dumping rates for each country, ranging from 2.02% to 602.72%, establishing the initial duty rates for the dumping segments of the investigations. These duties will be enforced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection through the suspension of liquidation and the collection of preliminary duties in the form of cash deposits on imports from the aforementioned countries.
For imports from China, Mexico, Indonesia, and Turkey, antidumping duties will be added to previously announced countervailing duties. It’s important to note that these determinations are preliminary, and the Commerce Department will continue to gather information while allowing parties to comment on the calculations. Final determinations are expected in mid-July, with the possibility of extension to late September 2024, and the calculated rates may change accordingly.
Latest Italian quarterly production shows return to growth in rolled products for 2024 Q1
According to the Italian Non-Ferrous Metals Association, Assomet (Associazione Nazionale Industrie Metalli non Ferrosi) Italian rolled products production strengthened to 147,700 t in Q1 2024 an improvement of 3.1% y/y.
Italian production of extrusions saw a large increase q/q, of 29%, from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, but fell 6.7% y/y to 166,800t y/y.
Porsche finds aluminum roof reduced Taycan weight by 40%
New research from Porsche released last week revealed that replacing steel heavy roof of the Taycan electric sedan with aluminum could decrease it weight by approximately 40%, while maintaining performance and safety standard.
This change would also simplify the manufacturing process and reduce the number of production parts by about 20%. The study, conducted by Porsche and Alumobility, an association of major automotive aluminum producers, support the idea that aluminum components could aid automakers in achieving lightweighting goals and enhance factory efficiency.
Mark White, Alumobility’s Technical Director, suggested that reducing vehicle weight could lead to more efficient battery usage in electric vehicles (EV) or even smaller battery sizes, making EVs more appealing to consumers concerned about range.
Jens Christlein, Porsche’s Director of R&D for body-in-white, praised the study for providing valuable insights into lightweight structures that will inform future vehicle optimization efforts.
Aluminum manufacturers are advocating for their material over steel as the automotive sector transitions to producing more EVs. Despite the recent uptick in vehicles featuring aluminum bodies, steel continues to dominate.
