This Morning in Metals: China releases preliminary Q1 GDP calculations

National Bureau of Statistics: GDP down 6.8% in Q1

China’s National Bureau of Statistics released preliminary calculations of the country’s GDP in Q1, during which the coronavirus outbreak wrought widespread havoc on economic activity.
According to the Bureau, China’s Q1 GDP was down 6.8%.
GDP associated with industry was down 8.5%, according to the Bureau.

China’s steel stockpiles falling

China’s steel stockpiles surged amid the coronavirus outbreak and the resulting slowdown in activity, but that has started to change as the country begins to open up slowly.
Stockpiles are beginning to come back down, the Hellenic Shipping News reported.

Aluminum Association, others support beverage container deposit programs

The Aluminum Association, along with groups from the plastic and glass industries, recently expressed support for the U.S.’s beverage container deposit program.
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“Federal guidance issued by the Department of Homeland Security’s CISA Division, along with dozens of state Executive Orders, have long recognized the food and beverage industries, along with their packaging and supply chain partners, as ‘essential,’ the Aluminum Association said in a release. “Recycled bottles and cans, similar to raw materials and other inputs, are part of this supply chain for food and beverage packaging commodities.
“Material from beverage container deposit systems generally account for 20-60 percent of the inputs our industries use to make our essential packaging. The high quality of recyclables collected and purchased by our industries from these programs require very little sortation and can go quickly back into our manufacturing processes.”