U.S. may require importers to get aluminum import license

Alcoa (AA +11.2%) and other aluminum names surge to their highest levels in weeks as the Trump administration proposes rules to track aluminum imports more closely, in a move that could address industry demands to block Chinese supply that skirts tariffs.

Also: CENX +9.5%, KALU +9.1%, CSTM +25.5%.

Under the proposed new U.S. rules, importers would be required to identify the country from which the aluminum was originally obtained and would need to obtain a license for shipments.

The program is modeled on a steel import monitoring system which has been in place for years.

Also, Russia's United Co. Rusal said this week that aluminum producers face a growing surplus as demand for the metal deteriorates across all regions.

The group said COVID-19 has "completely changed the market outlook" for 2020, and it expects greater supply surplus and weaker consumer demand.

The global aluminum market was in a surplus of 1.7M tons in Q1, while demand for primary aluminum fell 6.4% Y/Y to 14.43M tons.

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