[Ferro-Alloys.com] Aluminium billet premium outlooks have diverged as annual contract negotiations shift into high gear, with consumers arguing that premiums should ease in 2014 on less-than-robust demand and increased capacity, while producers insist they will hold or increase premiums and that additional capacity is not yet a factor in the market.

 

The disagreement comes as the Aluminum Extruders Council’s Management Conference and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries’ Commodities Roundtable Forum get under way in Chicago this week. Many producers and consumers are expected to hammer-out annual deals during or soon after the events. Metal Bulletin sister title AMM’s spot billet premiums have dipped to 11 to 12.4 cents per pound from 11.5 to 12.75 cents previously. While some producers said they had booked business at premiums of 11 cents, others insisted they would not let metal go for less than 12 cents.