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prices ‘remain choppy’ China not ‘self-sufficient’
in supplyThe many factors that create uncertainty in the alu-
minium markets will not let up anytime soon, accord-
ing to experts at the ISRI 2019 Convention
China’s exit from some copper scrap
markets will lead to greater US cop-
per consumption and the manufac-
ture of more copper-containing
products, according to Tim Strelitz
of brass and bronze ingot-maker
California Metal-X. But he also said
China could yet re-enter the copper
scrap market.
‘We think aluminium prices will remain
choppy for the next 18 to 24 months,’
said Jason Schenker, president of
Jason Schenker, president of Prestige
Economics, said China was not yet
self-sufficient in copper scrap and will
not be so for ‘quite some time’. Randy
Goodman of Greenland (America) said
he believed the flow of scrap into
Jason
Schenker.
Photo:
Adrienne
Angelo
Prestige Economics and chairman of
The Futurist Institute.
Tariffs, changes in automotive manu-
facturing and mills’ demand for high-
er-quality materials are among the fac-
tors creating market volatility.
Government legislation and policy
changes – especially policies
announced unexpectedly on social
media – play an increasing role in a
marketplace that used to rely solely
on supply and demand, stressed
Andy McKee, president of materials
trading at Schupan & Sons. The pro-
longed nature of this instability
prompts some analysts to ask if this
way of doing business is the new nor-
mal. In addition to ‘a strong shift’ in
supply and demand, ‘gone are the
days when you are looking strictly at
utilisation, capacity and margin,’ said
Stephen Deacon, president of non-
ferrous at EMR.
Volatile market
The automotive industry drives
change in the aluminium market
through the use of different aluminium
alloys and the volume of metal used in
vehicle production. This means the
industry’s output significantly influenc-
es aluminium markets both domesti-
cally and globally. Continued weak-
ness in the automotive sector is affect-
ing the demand for secondary alumin-
ium. ‘It’s such a volatile market that
it’s very difficult for us to give a lon-
ger-term view,’ said Richard
Mayenknecht, global aluminium cate-
gory director at Nemak.
14-15-16-18-19-20-21_isri2019report.indd 20 06-05-19 14:18
