Metals & Mining Theme, Non-Ferrous

May 16, 2025

Platts proposes minimum volume, lot size adjustments for US aluminum premium assessments

HIGHLIGHTS

Proposed minimum volume aligns to most commonly observed 100-1,000 mt volume specification

Proposal would introduce standard lot size for MOC increments aligned to typical practice

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, proposes adjusting the minimum volume specification for its US aluminum premium assessments, including the Midwest Transaction Premium, to 100 mt, effective Aug. 1, 2025.

Under this proposal, the minimum volume specified would align to the typical volume range of 100-1,000 mt reflected in Platts specifications and with volumes published in transparent bids, offers and trades in the Platts Market on Close assessment process.

Platts additionally proposes to introduce volume lot sizes of 25 mt for bids, offers and trades in the MOC after the 100 mt minimum has been reached, also effective Aug. 1, 2025, consistent with typical trading increments observed within the 100-1,000 mt volume range.

Minimum volume

The volume reflected in Platts US aluminum premium assessments would be a minimum of 100 mt and a maximum of 1,000 mt.

Platts nonferrous specifications guide currently states "minimum full 45,000 lb truckloads," equivalent to around 20 mt. Under the proposed adjustment, volumes under 100 mt and above 1,000 mt may still be considered for assessment purposes and may be normalized to the typical specification.

The proposed adjustment would impact the following assessments:

Assessment nameSymbol
US Aluminum Transaction PremiumMMAKE00
US Low-Carbon Aluminum Premium (US LCAP)ALCRA00
US Aluminum Net-Cash PremiumMMACN00
Aluminum CIF New Orleans duty-unpaid premiumMMODU00

The revised volume specification would also apply to associated all-in calculations.

Lot size

Bids, offers and trades reported in the US aluminum MOC process would be published in multiples of 25 mt above the 100 mt minimum volume specification, under this proposal.

This lot size would align to the current practice in the MOC, where indications published are in increments of 25 mt.

Platts MOC timing and increments guidelines are available here(opens in a new tab).

Full US aluminum assessment specifications can be found in Platts non-ferrous metals specifications guide(opens in a new tab).

The assessments are published in Platts Metals Daily and Metals Week, on fixed pages PMA/MTL412 and 413 and in the Platts price database under the codes listed above.

Platts invites feedback, comments and questions on this proposal to aluminum@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com by June 13, 2025.

For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.