1. LME price regains some ground amid technical buying at two-week lows.
LME 3M aluminum prices increased today by… % or $… per mton, closing at $… per mton. Prices tested a new two-week intraday low of $…
2. SPECIAL ALERT! – US SECTION 232. EXPANDING SCOPE: $65B of derivative aluminum articles are added to S.232.
The US Department of Commerce has expanded the list of derivative aluminum articles covered by the 50% Section 232 Tariff, with 122 new products worth approximately $65 billion added this week. This is bullish for US aluminum demand as we see buyers further prioritizing domestic sourcing alternatives (upstream and downstream).
The Section 232 aluminum derivative articles list now contains 253 different products. The Department of Commerce published on August 15 a list of 122 new products to be considered aluminum derivative articles. Effective on August 18, 2025, these goods have become subject to a S.232 Tariff of 50% applicable to the aluminum content of the article. HARBOR estimates that the full updated list of aluminum derivative articles is worth approximately $…. billion, based on US import data for 2024.
The updated full list is available in…
3. ALERT! – EUROPE P1020. DIFFERENT STORIES: European remelters requesting early deliveries, mills delaying them.
Spot P1020 market remains muted amid LME spread tightness and declining logistics costs. Secondary remelters are looking for…
4. LME Cash-3M spread remains in a tight contango, far end spreads still insufficient for financing deals.
The Cash-3M contango narrowed to $… per mton (a… % annualized yield), from $… per mton yesterday. The Cash-September spread loosened to a contango of $…
5. China’s aluminum price continues to hold support at two-week lows.
Prices bounced back in after-hours from previous two-week lows. SHFE front-month aluminum prices fell by … %, closing overnight at a two-week low of… yuan per mton ($… per mton, ex-VAT). Prices edged lower early in the session along with weaker domestic…