This Morning in Metals: DOC finds dumping, subsidization of common alloy aluminum sheet

This morning in metals news: the Department of Commerce said imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from 18 countries are being dumped and benefiting from subsidies; Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard this week commented on the US’s economic outlook; and the copper price has retraced somewhat over the last week.

DOC makes common alloy aluminum sheet ruling

The Department of Commerce ruled that common alloy aluminum sheet imports from 18 countries benefited from either dumping or countervailable subsidization.
The affirmative final dumping determination related to imports from: Bahrain, Brazil, Croatia, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Oman, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey.
Meanwhile, the countervailing subsidy investigation referred to common alloy aluminum sheet imports from Bahrain, India and Turkey.
In 2019, Germany sent the most common alloy aluminum sheet, by value, to the US, at $286.6 million.

Brainard on economic outlook

Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard this week commented on the state of the US economic outlook and recovery.
“While the progress on vaccinations is promising, jobs are currently down by 10 million relative to pre-pandemic levels,” Brainard commented. “Improvements in the labor market stalled late last year after rebounding partway in the summer and fall of 2020. When we take into consideration the more than 4 million workers who have left the labor force since the pandemic started, as well as misclassification errors, the unemployment rate is close to 10 percent currently—much higher than the headline unemployment rate of 6.3 percent.”

Copper price pulls back

After surging to a peak of $9,563 per metric ton last week, the copper price has pulled back since.
The LME three-month copper price fell over the last week, closing Wednesday, March 3, at $9,164 per metric ton.
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