A number of US aluminium consumers are lobbying for the introduction of the Aluminum Pricing Examination (APEX) Act, designed to enhance regulatory oversight over benchmarking entities for the Midwest premium.
These consumers - the Beer Institute, the American Beverage Association, the Brewers Association and the Can Manufacturers Institute - say that aluminium users have faced dramatic supply chain cost increases to the tune of millions of dollars because of an artificially inflated US Midwest premium. The US Midwest premium, they say, is supposed to reflect the logistical costs of buying metal, but has more than doubled since the start of 2018, and is now disconnected from true logistical costs or market fundamentals. The US Midwest premium started to move higher at the start of last...