This Morning in Metals: MetalMiner to host webinar on coronavirus’ impact on metal prices

This morning in metals news, MetalMiner on Friday will host a webinar on the subject of the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on metal prices, the Aluminum Association responded to the COVID-19 crisis with proposals to strengthen the aluminum sector, and Paris-based Constellium will reduce or suspend some of its operations.
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MetalMiner webinar to delve into coronavirus’ impact on prices

In a time of great volatility, industrial metal-buying organizations want to know how they can time their purchases in order to minimize risk as much as possible.
The coronavirus outbreak has had wide-ranging economic impacts, leading to closures of everything from retail stores to suspension of automotive production (just to name a couple).
Metal prices, in addition to stock markets at large, have taken heavy losses of late amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Aluminum Association calls for government to designate aluminum as ‘essential’

The Aluminum Association released a policy framework titled “American Aluminum Jobs: Essential to the Nation” in which it “underscores the essential nature of U.S. aluminum production, fabrication and recycling and calls for a number of measures to support the industry during the ongoing public health crisis.”
The industry group also called on policymakers to ensure the aluminum industry in the near and long terms, also calling for “grants for capital projects, a credit insurance program, tax incentives, defense spending and other actions.”

Constellium to reduce or suspend operations

Constellium, the Paris-based producer of aluminum products, joined the list of industry firms announcing a suspension or reduction of operations in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
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“We expect these actions to facilitate prompt and efficient resumption of full production levels once market conditions allow,” the company said Thursday. “In response to these developments and given the uncertainty regarding the duration and severity of the crisis, Constellium plans to aggressively reduce costs and capital expenditures, optimize working capital, and manage the supply chain to minimize the financial impact on the business.”