Stock Losses Pile Up at U.S. Metalmakers Trump Sought to Protect

(Bloomberg) -- The largest U.S. aluminum and steel producers -- companies that were supposed to benefit from tariffs -- have all lost value this year.

Shares of every major U.S. steel and aluminum producer fell this month, and companies including Century Aluminum Co. and Alcoa, the country’s two biggest aluminum manufacturers, had their worst Octobers since 2008. Caterpillar Inc., the top mining-equipment maker, also posted its largest October drop in 10 years. It was the biggest for U.S. Steel since 2009.

Companies in metals and mining have been hit especially hard amid concern that rising trade frictions the tariffs helped fuel will crimp economic growth. That’s eroded metal prices that initially surged when the U.S. announced the levies. The S&P Supercomposite Steel Index has slid 10 percent this year, and fell further behind broader stock-market gauges in October.

The S&P Metals and Mining Select Industry Index, which tracks 29 U.S. metal and mining companies including Alcoa, lost more than 10 percent this month on its biggest October sell-off since 2008. Chicago-based Century, TimkenSteel Corp. and Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. were among the worst performers.

“The verdict the market has been rendering the past few weeks is this uneasiness and anxiety about the overarching macroeconomic picture, and there are increasing questions about the stress points emerging in the global economy,” John Mothersole, an analyst for IHS in Washington, said in a telephone interview.

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