Notice of intent to award sole source

The Department of Commerce Office of the Secretary, through its Shared Services Procurement Office, has published a Notice of Intent to Award a sole source contract to CRU International Ltd. This special notice announces the government's intention to award a Firm-Fixed-Price contract for commercial subscription access to comprehensive global aluminum and steel market intelligence services. The contract is being pursued on a sole source basis in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations, which permits single-source solicitation when only one source is determined to be reasonably available to satisfy agency requirements. The notice is directed toward the International Trade Administration's Enforcement and Compliance bureau. This announcement is informational in nature and does not constitute a formal request for proposals.

Despite the stated intent to award to CRU International Ltd., any responsible source believing it can meet the requirements is invited to submit a capability statement by the February 11, 2026 deadline. The capability statement must be submitted in writing via email to Alicia Brister at abrister@doc.gov and must contain sufficient information demonstrating the ability to fulfill all technical and functional requirements. The contract will run from March 1, 2026, through February 28, 2027, and encompasses enterprise-level access to aluminum and steel pricing data, supply and demand analysis, production and capacity statistics, forecasts, interactive data tools, analyst reports, and technical support, with internal redistribution rights included. The solicitation is classified under NAICS 519290 (Web Search Portals and All Other Information Services) and PSC R405 (Support-Professional: Operations Research/Quantitative Analysis).