Emirates Global Boosts Aluminum Sales to US Amid Tight Market

Emirates Global Aluminum, the United Arab Emirates’ largest metal producer, is increasing its shipments to the United States despite stiff tariffs as growing shortages push American prices to levels that offset tariffs.

President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on aluminum imports to 50% last year; The move led manufacturers in Canada and elsewhere to shift supplies away from the U.S. market. While U.S. demand for the metal used in cans, cars and cables remains strong, shortages have forced American manufacturers into a bidding war to find alternative materials.

While global aluminum prices are set on the London Metal Exchange, US buyers pay additional fees to have cargoes delivered to their facilities, and these premiums have now risen to more than 50% of the LME price; This means overseas manufacturers can once again make a profit by shipping cargo to the United States.

EGA is one of the companies sending more to the US. The Dubai-based company has a metal recycling facility in the US, which also benefits from the so-called US Midwest premium.

“As you may have seen from some of our competitors, we have diverted some of the volumes from Europe to the U.S. because there is more metal flowing from Canada to Europe,” EGA Chief Financial Officer Pal Kildemo said in an interview. “The amount of volume is more or less the same, but it has varied slightly between regions depending on movements on the geopolitical side.”

EGA is expanding recycling facilities in Minnesota and another in Germany, but these account for a small share of sales compared to primary metal production at smelters in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The company is also building a 750,000-ton smelter in Oklahoma.

The producer sees no signs that U.S. metal tariffs will change this year. Last week’s Supreme Court decision striking down some of the Trump administration’s tariffs does not apply to tariffs on aluminum, which is subject to sectoral tariffs on national security grounds.

Kildemo stated that the demand for aluminum will remain good this year as well. Some buyers switched from copper to aluminum, creating space for new demand after the prices of this metal increased.

“The market outlook looks quite constructive,” he said. “Historically, gaps in demand have been filled by the construction of facilities in China,” but as China approaches a production capacity where it won’t be building new smelters, “we may end up with markets that are quite undersupplied going forward,” he said.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to the text.