NUE - Pessimism pervades top aluminum conference as demand seen softening

Aluminum prices will plunge 20% toward $2,300/ton by December as demand slows and supplies rise in warehouses around the world, Harbor Intelligence said Thursday at its annual industry conference, according to a Bloomberg report. Alcoa (NYSE:AA) -7.4%, challenging YTD lows; also, (NASDAQ:CENX) -5.3%, (ACH) -4.6%, (KALU) -3.4%, (NYSE:ARNC) -2.1%. Steel producers also trade broadly lower, including (CLF) -6.5%, (X) -4.1%, (MT) -3.5%, (NUE) -2.9%. Aluminum prices (JJU) surged more than 40% last year as demand soared, but "there's one component of that demand borrowed from the future, and we'll need to pay that - consumers cannot sustain this level of goods spending seen the past two years," Harbor managing director Jorge Vazquez reportedly said at the conference. Norsk Hydro (OTCQX:NHYDY) executives told the group that demand may be softening and is concerned that the trend could continue into next year. "Especially probably in Europe where there's a little more uncertainty,

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Pessimism pervades top aluminum conference as demand seen softening