This morning in the metals news: UC Rusal demerge its high carbon assets; in the meantime, steel industry groups have re-appealed to the Biden administration asking it to keep the Section 232 steel tariff in effect; and the price of copper picked up this week.

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UC Rusal demerges its high carbon assets

Group In +, parent group of Russian aluminum giant UC Rusal, today announced that the latter will dismantle its high-carbon assets.

In addition, UC Rusal also plans to change its name to AL +.

The company plans to focus on the development of inert anode technology and work on the production of carbon-free aluminum.

“This announcement is another major step in our journey to lead the global aluminum industry towards a low carbon economy,” said Lord Barker, Executive Chairman of the En + Group. “AL + will be a market leader in the production of green aluminum as measured by the carbon footprint and other environmental benchmarks. However, this split further secures the future of large assets in Russia that also have a future in a low-carbon world, but require a fundamentally different approach to technology and a different investment trajectory than our big ones. international companies.

During this time, the higher carbon assets dissociated will form a new company under a new name. This includes alumina refineries in Russia (Achinsk, Pikalevo, Bogoslovsk and Ural) and smelters in Bratsk, Irkutsk, Novokuznetsk, Volgograd and Kandalaksha, which it says will undertake a “long-term modernization program”.

From Steel Groups to Biden Administration: Keeping Section 232 in Place

A number of US steel industry groups have again called on the Biden administration to maintain the current Section 232 tariffs on steel.

Groups writing to the President were: American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), United Steelworkers Union (USW), Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), Pipe and Tubing Import Committee ( CPTI), Specialty Steel Industry of North America (SSINA), the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM).

“Eliminating steel tariffs now would jeopardize the viability of [the American steel] industry, ”they said in the letter. “Opponents of steel tariffs argue that they should be eliminated to increase supply, given the current environment of rising prices and long lead times. This ignores the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented, but temporary, challenges to global supply chains in many industries – including wood, semiconductors, concrete, products. agricultural and cleaning products – as manufacturers respond to rapid and unpredictable changes in customer demand. and logistical difficulties. The same goes for steel. “

The price of copper is on the rise again

After declining from an all-time high last week, the price of copper rose again to start this week.

The LME three-month copper price closed Tuesday at $ 10,496 per metric tonne, up from $ 10,239 per metric tonne to close last week.

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