As voices from aluminium associations across US trade-allied nations grow louder, one consensus is becoming clear that the United States’ decision to increase tariffs on aluminium imports to 50 per cent is unlikely to benefit its global partners.

[ALMAC and AR Aluminum Expand Extrusion Capabilities with $7.5M Investment] On May 21, ALMAC announced a $7.5 million equity investment in AR Aluminum, increasing its total commitment to $10 million. The funding, part of a second-round shareholder rights offering, supports the joint venture’s focus on producing high-performance aluminium billets and extruded products for the automotive industry. AR Aluminum has recently begun operating South Korea’s largest 9,000-ton extruder at its Sacheon facility, significantly enhancing production capacity. In parallel, ALMAC and AR Aluminum secured a government contract to develop low-carbon aluminium technologies, aligning with their broader strategy to lead in lightweight and sustainable automotive materials.

Since July, the domestic supply of aluminium scrap has remained tight. Coupled with multiple policy adjustments in the recycled metal industry, this has led to a decline in industry activity. Some secondary aluminium processing enterprises are facing difficulties in procuring aluminium scrap raw materials and poor industry profitability.

In the past week, the domestic aluminum ingot inventory showed slight improvement, and the pick-up from warehouses also stabilized.

Today, SMM A00 aluminum prices fell by 80 yuan/mt compared to the previous working day, reporting at 18,750 yuan/mt. Foshan A00 aluminum reported at 18,690 yuan/mt, down by 60 yuan/mt compared to the previous working day.

On July 22, 2024, SMM reported that the total social inventory of aluminum ingots was 792,000 mt, (the amount for sale stood at 666,000 mt), down 5,000 mt from last Thursday but still 247,000 mt higher YoY.