Key transactions & industry news Weekly Update 01/24/2025

Metals & Mining

Trade tensions emerge early in Trump 2.0 with tariff threats on China, Mexico and Canada; aluminium industry on edge. At the dawn of the new presidential era on January 20, 2025, Donald Trump announced his intent to impose a 10 per cent tariff on Chinese product imports, including aluminium, as early as February 1. Following the news, the three-month aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange decreased by 0.9 per cent to US$2,611 per tonne, feeling the pressure of trade tensions.

SMM: Alumina profit margins narrow significantly; bauxite prices face pressure at the top. Recently, no new transaction prices have been observed for imported bauxite from Guinea, as buyers and sellers remain in a standoff. However, both supplier quotations and the intended prices from bauxite buyers have shown a decline, suggesting that the price of imported bauxite from Guinea may experience a certain degree of pullback. The supply fundamentals of domestic bauxite remain relatively tight, providing some price support. However, the significant drop in alumina transaction prices has still stimulated the desire of some domestic ore buyers to bargain down prices. In the short term, domestic ore prices may exhibit volatile movements, and further developments need to be closely monitored.

Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor’s potential acquisition of US Steel. In a dramatic turn of events for the U.S. steel industry, Cleveland-Cliffs and Nucor are reportedly preparing a joint bid to acquire U.S. Steel, following the White House’s recent blockade of Nippon Steel’s Sl 4.9 billion takeover attempt. This_potential deal could reshape the domestic steel sector, raising questions about market consolidation, national security, and antitrust concerns. The implications of this proposed acquisition are far-reaching, touching on everything from job security to global competitiveness.

Transportation & Logistics

Costs from acquisitions, rapid growth weigh on Knight-Swift’s Q4. Management from Knight-Swift Transportation acknowledged improving data points over the past few weeks but said it’s still too soon to say the truckload market has seen a meaningful positive inflection. The Phoenix-based company reported adjusted earnings per share of 36 cents for the fourth quarter Wednesday after the market closed. The result was at the high end of management’s guidance range of 32 to 36 cents and 3 cents better than the consensus estimate.

Amazon to close 7 warehouses in Canada and eliminate 1,700 jobs. Online retailer Amazon said Wednesday that it’s closing all seven of its warehouses in the Canadian province of Quebec in the next two months. The e-commerce giant said the move would provide “even more savings to our customers over the long run.” However, a Canadian union that successfully unionized one warehouse accused the company of closing its sites to fend off organizing efforts in the region. The closures will eliminate about 1,700 permanent full-time jobs in the greater Montreal area, Amazon said. The warehouses also employ 250 temporary employees.

US says China pressed unfair advantages to dominate shipping, shipbuilding. China is leveraging unfair trade practices to dominate the global ocean shipping and shipbuilding markets, a U.S. investigation has found. The investigation under Section 301 of the Trade Act of unfair practices determined that China for decades has taken aim at specific industries by undercutting competition in order to command dominant market share. The results of the probe initiated in April 2024 were summarized in a report by the office of the United States trade representative (USTR).

Energy

Trump propels pro-fossil fuel agenda with day-one orders. President Donald Trump, in his first hours back in the White House, ordered the government to resume processing LNG export permits, reversed the previous administration’s actions to close parts of Alaska and federal waters to oil and gas development, pumped the brakes on the transition to electric vehicles and bid adieu to the Paris climate accords.

Freeport LNG Says Liquefaction Production Offline Due to Power Interruption. Freeport LNG’s liquefaction production operations have been taken offline due to intermittent CenterPoint Energy power interruptions beginning early Tuesday morning. That’s what a Freeport LNG spokesperson told Rigzone Wednesday, adding that the company’s liquefaction production operations “will remain offline until power transmission conditions stabilize”.

Others

Abu Dhabi’s MGX helps bankroll Trump’s $100 billion AI plan. A day after his inauguration as U.S. President, Donald Trump unveiled a $100 billion venture to fund artificial intelligence infrastructure, backed by three of the biggest names in tech – OpenAI, SoftBank Group and Oracle.