Aluminum Pricing Policy Updates for Apex Aluminum Extrusions
Recent developments in the geopolitical climate has caused massive disruption to the supply of global aluminum. These developments are putting unprecedented inflationary pressure on the production of aluminum. Specifically the US Government, on April 11, 2018, announced sanctions on the Russian firm of Rusal, the producer of approximately 6% of the global aluminum supply. Just prior to this announcement the US Government also implemented a 10% tariff on aluminum imports from several countries. For the time being, Canada is exempt.
As such, the global supply of Aluminum product eligible for American markets without a tariff penalty has been greatly diminished, leading to an aluminum price surge of +/- 13%. Experts remain uncertain about how the shortage will be met, and how much or how long prices will continue to surge.
With the current market conditions, and the vast reduction in global supply, we are being limited to our contractual volumes of billet. Therefore, we can only accept orders at current month pricing until our current allotment has been fully expended.
In addition, it is due to this volatility that effective Monday, April 23, 2018, Apex Aluminum Extrusions will be implementing pricing actions to reflect current market prices. We will be monitoring the May order intake to ensure we do not take orders in excess of our allotment. In fairness to all of our customers, we will limit each client’s May orders to the previous month’s average order. Please also note that lead times may be impacted due to supply shortages.
Despite the necessity for a price adjustment as well as the need to manage customer order capacities, we remain committed to ensuring that we evolve our processes and aggressively pursue optimization efforts in order to minimize the effect felt by you, our valued customers.
For up to date pricing data, please contact your Apex Sales Representative. Pricing will be updated on a regular basis to ensure any relief felt in the marketplace, is passed along to you.
While we can’t completely mitigate the challenges that the current geopolitical climate is confronting us with, we at Apex Aluminum Extrusions, are working hard to minimize these effects on you. Thank you for your continued support and patience as we navigate through these turbulent times together.
Yours Truly,
Bill de Koning
Vice President, Apex Aluminum Extrusions
