Platts is proposing to begin a new twice-weekly price assessment for B390 secondary aluminum alloy, delivered US Midwest, effective June 10. Platts is accepting feedback on the proposal until May 24.
The proposed specifications will be: US B390.1 – 16-18% Si, 1.3% max Fe, 4.0-5.0% Cu, 0.50% Mn, 0.45-0.65% Mg, 0.10% Ni, 1.4% Zn and 0.20% Ti. Platts will assess the B390.1 market twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays (except for changes during holiday weeks). The assessment will reflect B390.1 for Midwest delivery within 30 days, delivered customer works, payment net-30 to net-60 days, 45,000-lb truckload amounts. The assessment will be published in a narrow low-high range reflecting the majority of concluded deals, bids and offers reported in a survey of US secondary aluminum smelters, diecasters, foundries, automotive companies, traders and brokers.
Please address any feedback or questions to: Tina Allagh, (202) 383-2257 (tina.allagh@platts.com) or Sarah Baltic, (412) 431-0416 (sarah.baltic@platts.com).
Ford: 66 Percent Of All New Vehicles Will Come Equipped With Four-Cylinders By 2020
The Detroit News (5/21) reports Ford Motor Co. “anticipates that by 2020, 66 percent of all new vehicles will come equipped with four-cylinders.” The News reports, “The shift to the smaller engines is a result of strict federal fuel-efficiency standards — known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE — and means a growing share of cars, SUVs and trucks will join the four-cylinder fray by 2020.” The article also notes, “General Motors Co. is reluctant to release long-term powertrain forecasts, but said four-cylinder penetration will ‘remain very significant.’”
Die Casters Question NASAAC’s Effectiveness
The AMM (4/30, Laliberte) reports that The North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) has filed a letter of complaint with the London Metal Exchange calling for immediate changes to the North American special aluminum alloy contract (NASAAC). NADCA, which represent more than 95 percent of all North American die casters, has been experiencing “significant issues with the effectiveness” of the NASAAC contract, the group said in an April 25 letter to the chairman of the LME’s aluminum committee Gavin Prentice.
“Unless (the) LME can make changes to the contract immediately, NADCA will encourage all die casters to discontinue support of the NASAAC for pricing finished aluminum parts within the industry,” NADCA said in the letter.
Representatives from the LME didn’t respond to requests for comment. NADCA states that it has multiple issues with the contract’s effectiveness. For example, the group alleges that many producers of 380 aluminum alloy will no longer sell to consumers on a NASAAC basis; material purchased on NASAAC isn’t deliverable within the stated LME contract period; and producers and consumers can’t acquire physical NASAAC material from the LME-listed warehouses in less than nine months from the time of order. NADCA also alleges in the letter that “the market is perceived as being manipulated by the trading, financial and warehouse industries given financial ownership of LME warehouse facilities.” These issues have together led to a lack of correlation between the LME’s NASAAC prices and the physical price of 380 aluminum alloy, NADCA alleged in the letter.
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