This Minnesota recycled aluminum plant will help stem tariff costs
Think 25-foot-long poles of solid aluminum.
The 90,000-square-foot plant gives companies a needed domestic source for the much-in-demand billets at a time when most aluminum in the U.S. is imported and faces a 50% tariff set in June by President Donald Trump.
At the same time, it becomes a much bigger buyer of industrial metal scrap, a new buyer in Minnesota for recycled beer and pop cans and gives Spectro Alloys its first new product line in 53 years.
"So there's a lot of demand. We are in a really good position," said EGA Spectro Alloys President Luke Palen.
Because aluminum is used in everything from cars and fighter jets to food containers and America's ever-expanding energy grid, U.S. demand "approached near record levels in 2024," said Aluminum Association spokesperson Katie Rosebrook.
Spectro Alloy employs about 150 workers in its original aluminum recycling plant, which makes 28-pound bricks, called ingots, that eventually become parts for Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Polaris ATVs and products made by companies like General Motors, Tesla, Black & Decker and Caterpillar.
The company, which is majority owned by Emirates Global Aluminum in the United Arab Emirates, now is scrambling to add 50 new workers and expects the new billet operation to boost business by 50%, Palen said.
"Their investment (of) $71 million and creating 50 new jobs for the area is a huge impact for us," said Adam Kienberger, community development director for Rosemount.
Last week, the first molten metal glided from one new three-story furnace, oozed down chutes and spilled into 26-foot casting cylinders, deep in the floor of the expansion.
Three new rumbling furnaces came from Austria.
Once they had cooled, crane operator Lorenzo Martinez gingerly hoisted 10 billets from the "vertical casting pit" and onto a giant conveyor belt. The load weighed nearly 18,000 pounds.
The billets will be marketed under the RevivAL brand name, a nod to the fact the aluminum came from 250 recyclers.
"With this expansion, we will make 120 million pounds a year of high-quality, recycled billet," said Palen, who said it also helps companies meet environmental goals. "It will ... contribute to a circular economy in our region and throughout the U.S."
Customers are already lined up for the billets, which will be used to build door frames, stair railings and boat docks besides auto parts and more.
Last week, the first truck load shipped to Crown Extrusions in Chaska, which is working with a dock maker.
The company plans to add more equipment so it can produce other products such as sheet metal alloys.
Since selling 80% of the company to EGA last year, the Palens have sent engineers, technicians, chemists and metallurgists to Abu Dhabi for billet training.
With the new billet plant, Minnesota will no longer have to send all of its curbside-collected aluminum-can scrap to other states for processing. Some of Spectro's billet alloy recipes will allow for some old cans, in addition to the usual industrial aluminum scrap.
"This is exciting, because it's not only going to increase the aluminum that's recycled overall, but it's the first local outlet for aluminum cans in Minnesota, at least that I'm aware of," said Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) spokesman Mark Rust. "It is critically important that people understand there's a reason to recycle. These products really do have value. The more material that enters the market, that adds value to Minnesota's economy."
Gwen Jenkins, MPCA's recycling and organics specialist, said she hopes Spectro's ability to use additional types of aluminum scrap will remind and encourage Minnesotans to recycle more.
Right now, Minnesotans recycle just 51% of aluminum beverage cans or about 14,000 tons a year, she said.
Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Chicago Tribune
12 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
It's Trump's economy now. The latest financial numbers offer some warning signs.
WASHINGTON — For all of President Donald Trump's promises of an economic 'golden age,' a spate of weak indicators this week told a potentially worrisome story as the impacts of his policies are coming into focus. Job gains are dwindling. Inflation is ticking upward. Growth has slowed compared with last year. More than six months into his term, Trump's blitz of tariff hikes and his new tax and spending bill have remodeled America's trading, manufacturing, energy and tax systems to his own liking. He's eager to take credit for any wins that might occur and is hunting for someone else to blame if the financial situation starts to totter. But as of now, this is not the boom the Republican president promised, and his ability to blame his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, for any economic challenges has faded as the world economy hangs on his every word and social media post. When Friday's jobs report turned out to be decidedly bleak, Trump ignored the warnings in the data and fired the head of the agency that produces the monthly jobs figures. 'Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can't be manipulated for political purposes,' Trump said on Truth Social, without offering evidence for his claim. 'The Economy is BOOMING.' It's possible that the disappointing numbers are growing pains from the rapid transformation caused by Trump and that stronger growth will return — or they may be a preview of even more disruption to come. Trump's aggressive use of tariffs, executive actions, spending cuts and tax code changes carries significant political risk if he is unable to deliver middle-class prosperity. The effects of his new tariffs are still several months away from rippling through the economy, right as many Trump allies in Congress will be campaigning in the midterm elections. 'Considering how early we are in his term, Trump's had an unusually big impact on the economy already,' said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist at Firehouse Strategies. 'The full inflationary impact of the tariffs won't be felt until 2026. Unfortunately for Republicans, that's also an election year.' The White House portrayed the blitz of trade frameworks leading up to Thursday's tariff announcement as proof of his negotiating prowess. The European Union, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and other nations that the White House declined to name agreed that the U.S. could increase its tariffs on their goods without doing the same to American products. Trump simply set rates on other countries that lacked settlements. The costs of those tariffs — taxes paid on imports to the U.S. — will be most felt by many Americans in the form of higher prices, but to what extent remains uncertain. 'For the White House and their allies, a key part of managing the expectations and politics of the Trump economy is maintaining vigilance when it comes to public perceptions,' said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist. Just 38% of adults approve of Trump's handling of the economy, according to a July poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. That's down from the end of Trump's first term when half of adults approved of his economic leadership. The White House paints a rosier image, seeing the economy emerging from a period of uncertainty after Trump's restructuring and repeating the economic gains seen in his first term before the pandemic struck. 'President Trump is implementing the very same policy mix of deregulation, fairer trade, and pro-growth tax cuts at an even bigger scale – as these policies take effect, the best is yet to come,' White House spokesman Kush Desai said. The economic numbers over the past week show the difficulties that Trump might face if the numbers continue on their current path: 'The economy's just kind of slogging forward,' said Guy Berger, senior fellow at the Burning Glass Institute, which studies employment trends. 'Yes, the unemployment rate's not going up, but we're adding very few jobs. The economy's been growing very slowly. It just looks like a 'meh' economy is continuing.' Trump has sought to pin the blame for any economic troubles on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, saying the Fed should cut its benchmark interest rates even though doing so could generate more inflation. Trump has publicly backed two Fed governors, Christoper Waller and Michelle Bowman, for voting for rate cuts at Wednesday's meeting. But their logic is not what the president wants to hear: They were worried, in part, about a slowing job market. But this is a major economic gamble being undertaken by Trump and those pushing for lower rates under the belief that mortgages will also become more affordable as a result and boost homebuying activity. His tariff policy has changed repeatedly over the last six months, with the latest import tax numbers serving as a substitute for what the president announced in April, which provoked a stock market sell-off. It might not be a simple one-time adjustment as some Fed board members and Trump administration officials argue. Of course, Trump can't say no one warned him about the possible consequences of his economic policies. Biden, then the outgoing president, did just that in a speech last December at the Brookings Institution, saying the cost of the tariffs would eventually hit American workers and businesses. 'He seems determined to impose steep, universal tariffs on all imported goods brought into this country on the mistaken belief that foreign countries will bear the cost of those tariffs rather than the American consumer,' Biden said. 'I believe this approach is a major mistake.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway sold stocks and didn't snap up bargains even as markets crumbled after ‘Liberation Day'
Berkshire Hathaway's second-quarter results showed that the conglomerate remained a net seller of stocks and continued to accumulate cash. That period includes the head-spinning stock market plunge and rebound following President Donald Trump's rollout of aggressive tariffs on 'Liberation Day' in April. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway largely remained on the sidelines last quarter, even as the stock market cratered on President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs and briefly presented steep bargains. Second-quarter results released on Saturday revealed that the conglomerate was a net seller of stocks for the 11th straight quarter. Berkshire offloaded $6.92 billion during the quarter and bought $3.9 billion. Meanwhile, Buffett's cash pile kept getting bigger, hitting a fresh high of $344 billion at the end of June, up from $333 billion at the end of March. Berkshire also refrained from stock repurchases for the fourth consecutive quarter. The legendary value-conscious investor has bemoaned the lack of good deals for years now. That includes possibilities for large acquisitions of companies that could be folded into Berkshire as well as major stock purchases for the portfolio. At the same time, Buffett has also avoided knee-jerk moves, and the stock market saw a head-spinning plunge and rebound in April as Trump shocked Wall Street with his aggressive tariffs then put them on hold just days later. During the selloff, the S&P 500 flirted with bear market territory, diving nearly 20% from its prior high. But the index has since shot back up to fresh records. Still, the swoon also highlighted Buffett's uncanny timing, as he appeared to anticipate a market downturn last year by selling $134 billion in equities in 2024—when the bull market was still raging. The stock market swings also came as Buffett was contemplating a transition away from his leadership role. In May, he announced that his anointed successor, Greg Abel, should take over as Berkshire Hathaway CEO by the of the year. While Buffett is expected to stay on as chairman, he may be staying away from dramatic moves to clear the decks for Abel, who had already been taking on a bigger leadership role before May. Despite his aversion for major purchases lately, Buffett's annual letter to shareholders in February reaffirmed his commitment to staying invested in stocks and companies, even as cash continued to mount. 'Berkshire shareholders can rest assured that we will forever deploy a substantial majority of their money in equities—mostly American equities although many of these will have international operations of significance,' he wrote. 'Berkshire will never prefer ownership of cash-equivalent assets over the ownership of good businesses, whether controlled or only partially owned.' Berkshire also reported that its operating earnings, which exclude the impact of its investments, fell 4% to $11.16 billion in the second quarter as insurance-underwriting results weakened. The company booked a $3.8 billion impairment on its Kraft Heinz stake as well, marking down its value to $8.4 billion. This story was originally featured on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
India responds to U.S. penalty over Russia oil
Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Indian officials confirmed Saturday the country is not altering policy and will continue buying oil from Russia, despite threats of a financial "penalty" from U.S. President Donald Trump. India's government has not given any directive to the country's oil refiners to stop or reduce the amount of Russian crude oil, the New York Times reported, citing two senior Indian officials. Trump earlier this week said he would impose a financial "penalty" on the South Asian country if it did not cut back on its reliance on Russian oil. The sanction would be in addition to a 25% American tariff on Indian goods. The president did not elaborate on the extent of the additional financial "penalty." "Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country, " Trump said in a Truth Social post. "Also, they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia's largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE." Trump on Friday said it was his understanding "that India is no longer going to be buying oil from Russia. That's what I heard. I don't know if that's right or not. That is a good step. We will see what happens." Indian officials told the New York Times the country has "not given any direction to oil companies" to change direction. Publicly, Indian officials said they are considering options without confirming or denying the Times report. "We have taken note of the sanctions, and we are looking into it," Ministry of External Affairs of India spokesman Shri Randhir Jaiswal said during a news conference Friday in New Delhi. "On the other question about proposed oil sale, I would say that I have no comments to offer in this particular matter. As far as sourcing our energy requirements is concerned, you are well aware of our broad approach, meaning our overall approach and stance. We take decisions based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time. As for the specifics of your particular question, I am not aware of it. I don't have details of these specifics." Jaiswal also attempted to avoid further escalating the situation. "I would also like to underline this particular point that this is a sensitive and complex case and therefore, I would urge all to be mindful that media reports based on speculation and misinformation are not helpful at all," he told reporters. "In so far as the reports claiming that there has been certain developments etc., such reports are incorrect. Please wait for an update from us, this is a sensitive matter, and we urge all sides to stay away from misinformation." Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
