Week in Review: Aluminum Prices, Section 232 Analysis and the VIX

Before we head into the weekend, let’s take a look back at the week that was and some of the stories here on MetalMiner:
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  • What’s up with aluminum? After a strong 2017 the metal hasn’t seen as much upward movement as some other base metals. Our Stuart Burns looked into why that might be.
  • Meanwhile, the British steel industry could be due for a jolt of investment, leading to some signs of a recovery, Burns writes.
  • There’s a new name entering the electric vehicles fray, Burns writes, and it might not be a brand you’d associate with the automotive sector.
  • In light of the markets’ recent volatility, Irene Martinez Canorea surveyed the relationship between the VIX — the ticker symbol for the CBOE’s Volatility Index — and commodities.
  • In case you missed it, last Friday the Department of Commerce made public it Section 232 reports and recommendations on steel and aluminum (the reports had already been sent on to the president last month). Lisa Reisman and Irene Martinez Canorea broke down the reports and their implications for aluminum, specifically. Check out the three-part series at the following links: Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
  • Lithium is a material that’s both rare and increasingly coveted for applications like electric vehicle batteries. So, is the world doomed to run out of it, or will demand encourage investment in finding new supply? Burns delved into the matter earlier this week.
  • The U.S. International Trade Commission voted last week that imports of carbon and alloy wire rod from South Africa and Ukraine are injurious to the domestic industry.
  • We touched on Section 232 aluminum above — what about steel? Reisman added her thoughts on the steel investigation, ranging from capacity utilization rates to trade remedies to talks of a looming trade war.

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