Dramatic changes in aluminium prices

While aluminium is usually cheaper than any other metal, 2014 has seen a dramatic surge in price, increasing more than 14% from an all-time low in February this year.

Low prices in previous years had led to industry members shutting down around 5 million tonnes’ worth of aluminium capacity. Now the market is healthier and there is a massive deficit of the metal everywhere except China, with the shortage especially acute in the metal-hungry USA where car manufacturers are focusing on aluminium as a way to cut the weight of vehicles, in preference to steel.

Monday August 4^th saw prices edge over two thousand US dollars per tonne at the London Metal Exchange, but the market is still edgy. Risk averse investors are concerned about fluctuating interest rates, uncertain economic predictions and various worldwide political crises, putting even more pressure on the price of aluminium.

AMS in US-based stock takeover

There’s more change at a fundamental level, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The US company Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. has bought every bit of capital stock previously owned by Aluminium Services UK Limited, the holding company behind All Metal Services, the biggest independent aerospace and defence raw material service provider in the world.

ASL’s current management team will remain in control, supporting aluminium-hungry customers across more than forty countries worldwide. The company’s five UK sites in London, Belfast, Birmingham, Bolton and Bristol, and their overseas arms, will all operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance via British holding companies.

Cutting energy use in in the aluminium production process

At the same time the The Times of India reports more change within the industry, borne out by a national conference organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre.

Delegates will be discussing processes designed to cut the aluminium industry’s energy consumption at the conference, entitled Energy Efficiency Opportunities and Challenges in Aluminium Industries. Energy consumption is a major element in the overall production cost of the metal. Cutting costs as well as reducing emissions will benefit the industry as a whole as well as its end customers.

Reliable UK aluminium suppliers

Because Metalex keep our finger on the pulse of the aluminium market, you are assured the very best service and the best possible prices, whatever is happening in the metal supply industry as a whole and the Aluminium markets in particular.

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