It wouldn't have been a bad year if prices hadn't improved. They were realizing 3-4 cents a pound improvement in costs each quarter. So unlike other aluminum companies, they can keep the spread widening whether price goes up or not. |
It's a remarkable story. Their strategy of aggressively reducing costs and aggressively making acquisitions is a winning combination. |
Most of the aluminum companies will be flat to slightly up in the third quarter versus a year ago, although there will be one or two that will be up 50 percent. |
Most of the steel customers ran their inventories down very hard late last year. |
This is a very equitable deal for both sides. I was not surprised at the price. I had been valuing Reynolds around that level for some time. |