A potential easing of trade tensions between the United States and Canada could reshape the North American aluminum market, with European buyers facing the risk of stronger competition for Canadian metal. Import data from ITC Trade Map shows that US purchases of Canadian unwrought aluminum fell sharply in 2025, while imports from Canada increased across six European markets, highlighting how trade flows have evolved amid tariff uncertainty. The United States imported approximately 2.03 million metric tons of unwrought aluminum from Canada in 2025, down 25.9% from 2.74 million metric tons in 2024. The decline amounted to around 711,494 metric tons over the year. Import value also decreased, falling 22.2% from $7.82 billion to $6.09 billion. The figures come as the possibility of a...
Century Aluminum’s proposed USD 4 billion primary aluminum smelter in Inola, Oklahoma, is “moving forward on all fronts” as the company prepares for construction, despite local opposition and legal challenges, CEO Jesse Gary said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. Developed jointly by Century Aluminum and Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the project is designed to produce 750,000 tonnes of primary aluminum annually, potentially doubling U.S. primary aluminum production. The facility is expected to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs and add USD 1.5 billion to Oklahoma’s gross domestic product, according to company estimates. The partners had targeted construction to begin by the end of 2026. However, local restrictions and permitting challenges have affected the...
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The US dollar surged against a broad range of currencies on Tuesday as companies and investors sought out the most liquid currency as concerns about economic shutdowns from the coronavirus continued to dent risk appetite. Three-month LME aluminium rebounded somewhat in North American trading hours from sharp losses in European trading hours. It later eased again, returning to its lowest since October 2016 at US$ 1,639 per tonne and ended at US$ 1,643 per tonne. The unwinding of long positions primarily accounted for the plunge in LME aluminium on Tuesday. It is likely to move between US$ 1,640 per tonne and US$ 1,700 per tonne today. As of Tuesday, March 17, LME aluminium cash (bid) price extended decline to US$ 1627.50 per tonne and LME official settlement price to 1628 per tonne....
Constantia Flexibles has been awarded ASI Chain of Custody Standard Certification for its rolling and packaging conversion facility Constantia Teich GmbH in Weinburg, Austria. The news came after Aluminium Stewardship Initiative announced about it today, March 17, 2020. Earlier in 2018, the plant had obtained ASI Performance Standard Certification. The Constantia Flexibles Group supplies its products to numerous multinational corporations and local market leaders in the food, pet food, pharmaceuticals, and beverage industries. The ASI Certification program is the only comprehensive voluntary sustainability standard initiative for the aluminium value chain. The ASI CoC Standard sets out requirements for the creation of a Chain of Custody for material that is produced and processed through...
The Bosnian official authorities stated that a company from the town of Zvornik held talks with Iranian officials for selling aluminium oxide. This could have been used in Tehran’s nuclear programme. Fahrudin Radoncic, Bosnian Security Minister published on 16 th March’20 that a Bosnian company had discussed with officials at the Iranian embassy in Sarajevo for the possibility of selling aluminium oxide powder to Tehran in breach of US and EU sanctions. <iframe width="500" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bBbcVJJjc5U" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> According to reports from Bosnia: “the Executive Directors of a company called Alumina spoke to the Iranians about arranging the purchase...
The secondary aluminium is likely to be negatively affected post the German automaker Volkswagen declared on 15 th March’20, that it will be suspending the production at its European output hub in Bratislava, Slovakia on 23 rd march’20. VW's move came after the Slovakian government declared a state of emergency earlier on Sunday due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. There were reports of a suspected case of the virus at the plant, but that has not yet been confirmed by the company. Secondary aluminium alloys, such as DIN226 in Europe, are used in diesel-engine cars, and production cutbacks will weaken demand for the material, according to some market participants. VW's announcement comes after Europe’s largest secondary aluminium producer, Italy’s Raffmetal, which supplies material...
The bauxite import of Austria remains dwindling, as the total volume of bauxite imports from 2017-2019 stood at 39,679 tonnes, whereas the total revenue expended was $10.34 million. The bauxite import in 2020 is forecasted at 11,088 tonnes, when added to 2017-19 the import stands to 50,767 tonnes and the projected amount is $3.46 million. When the projected amount is added to the previous few years, it stands to $13.38 million. In 2017 the bauxite import for Austria was recorded at 12,086 tonnes, while the foreign revenue expended was $2.89 million. The bauxite import for Austria in 2018 saw a huge jump by 41.29%, as the total import remained at 17,077 tonnes. The revenue paid for the import stood at $4.32 million. In 2019 the bauxite import saw a steep fall of 38.42%. The total amount...
Fortum, BAF, and Nornicket have signed a letter of intent to plan a recycling centre in Harjavalta, Finland to recover metals from electric car batteries. This would enable a successful “closed-loop” cycle to re-use the critical metals present in used batteries. “The combination of battery materials production and recycling enables the circular economy by closing the loop,” said Tim Ingle, Vice President, Precious Metals Refining, Chemicals & Battery Recycling, at BASF. He added, “To drive electrification, we are focussed on bringing solutions for high energy density cathode active materials and high-efficiency lithium extraction for battery recycling.” Using metals extracted from recycled batteries to produce battery materials would reduce a significant amount of CO2 emissions while...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, the average alumina spot price in China has extended drop today, March 17, for the second day in a row by RMB 5 per tonne to RMB 2,568 per tonne. In the north, the price has declined by RMB 10 per tonne to RMB 2,575 per tonne, while that in the east, central, and south has continued to remain restraint at RMB 2,575 per tonne and RMB 2,520 per tonne, respectively. The drop in average alumina spot price could be attributed to the recovery of availability in the domestic market with the ease of logistics disruption. Moreover, securing alumina from overseas instead of using the domestic raw material is perhaps pushing the price down. An increase in the demand for imported alumina, on the other hand, has lifted the price of Australian alumina FOB by US$ 1...
The US dollar fell against a broad range of currencies after Wall Street sank overnight even as the Federal Reserve embarked on a massive monetary stimulus campaign to curb slower economic growth amid the coronavirus outbreak. Three-month LME aluminium rebounded towards the US$ 1,700 per tonne mark after touching an intraday low of US$ 1,654 per tonne. It later eased to end at US$ 1,681 per tonne. LME aluminium is likely to move between US$ 1,640 per tonne and US$ 1,700 per tonne today. As of Monday, March 16, LME aluminium cash (bid) price came in at US$ 1640 per tonne and LME official settlement price stood at US$ 1640.5 per tonne after declining by US$ 36.5 per tonne from Friday, March 13. 3-months bid price slipped from US$ 1695 per tonne to US$ 1654 per tonne, while 3-months offer...
RUSAL, the leading global aluminium producer has declared the introduction of additional preventive measures in response to the current issue of “Corona-virus” to best ensure the health and safety of all employees. Starting from 17 th March’20 employees from head office and staff who are not involved in the production process will be told to work from home. Operations will continue uninterrupted. There will be exceptions if only be made in the instance when the tasks cannot be performed without coming to the office. All staff who will be working from home has been strongly advised against attending public functions or unnecessarily going to public spaces. Everyone who is currently on a business trip is required to return as soon as possible. All new business trips have been put on pause....
The International Organisation of Aluminium Aerosol Container Manufacturers (AEROBAL) reported a 3.7 per cent decline in aluminium aerosol cans production in 2019. The generally weaker global economy left its mark on the annual production figures. Global production dropped from the previous year’s record level of over six billion cans to almost 5.8 billion. Gregor Spengler, Secretary General of AEROBAL, said: “Given the very difficult economic environment, this is a rather moderate decline compared with other industries, and it follows record results in recent years.” Thanks to aluminium’s outstanding properties, its excellent recyclability and its high intrinsic value, coupled with its extremely good record in terms of sustainability, aerosol cans made from the light metal have been able...
Building on the success of the E-Magazine “Aluminium Industry 4.0: Drivers & Change Makers” last year, AlCircle this time has again come up with a report on “ Industry 4.0 in Aluminium ” on readers’ demand, but with more insightful information. Since the Industry 4.0 is one of the most talked about topics in the technology and industrial sector including the aluminium value chain industry and as many seasoned plant operators are still not completely aware of the full potential of such technologies, AlCircle.com perceives the importance of discussing the topic yet again and thus, the report being launched titled “ Industry 4.0 in Aluminium.” Being an exclusive aluminium industry portal, AlCircle is committed to explore and provide information on any technological innovations that are...
Guyana, a country with a population of 780,000, neighbouring Brazil and Venezuela in the region’s northeast corner, is expecting to bloom its economy to 86% in 2020 after expanding 4.4% in 2019, as per International Monetary Fund. Bauxite was the country's leading industry in 2002, and gold and bauxite/alumina were the country's second-and third-ranking export commodities; bauxite and gold accounted for one-fifth of the country's GDP. Guyana was the fifth-largest bauxite producer in Latin America. <iframe width="500" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tPQH6ixUTgI" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> The total bauxite export of Guyana stood at 5.56 million tonnes during 2017-19. In 2017 the...
Shanghai Metals Market found social inventories of primary aluminium ingots increased 38,000 tonnes over the weekend ended Monday, March 16, across eight major consumption areas, including SHFE warrants. The inventories stood at 1.631 million tonnes in contrast to 1.559 million tonnes on Monday, March 9, and 1.593 million tonnes on Thursday, March 12. SMM survey revealed the eight areas, except for Henan’s Gongyi, saw the stocks gaining over the weekend. The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across China in more details: In Wuxi, Shanghai, and Nanhai, the inventories, as of March 16, are standing higher by 53,000 tonnes, 8,000 tonnes, and 18,000 tonnes from last Monday at 639,000 tonnes, 152,000 tonnes, and 417,000 tonnes, respectively. In Hangzhou...
The aluminium industry has moreover well performed in terms of sustainability. It’s amazing to know that 75% of all the aluminium ever produced is still in use today, but demand for the metal is growing at a rapid pace those mining projects continues to be an important source of the commodity. The global demand for aluminium is set to expand by a compound annual growth rate of 4.25% between 2019 and 2025. The global demand for aluminium cannot be satisfied by recycled aluminium alone, a great deal of environmental responsibility still resides with mining firms producing this valuable commodity. Norsk Hydro, one of the largest employs 35,000 people across 40 countries and is present across all continents. <iframe width="500" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SQVvHMowbKk"...
Hindalco Ltd has raised prices of its aluminium ingots by 1.79% from Friday. With effect from March 14, the price for Hindalco aluminium ingots now stands at INR 142,500 per tonne, from INR 140,000 per tonne on March 13. The company has hiked aluminium ingot price after cutting the price of the same product by 1.06% earlier in the week. The prices of wire rods and billets have climbed by 1.66% and 1.71% from March 13 to stand at INR 153,100 per tonne and INR 149,100 per tonne on Saturday, 14 March 2020. The prices of these products were INR 150,600 per tonne and INR 146,600 per tonne on March 13. The Indian aluminium producers generally link prices of its products to the three-month futures of aluminium on London Metal Exchange. The three-month futures of aluminium are down nearly 9% in...
After remaining restrained at RMB 2,575 per tonne last week, the average alumina spot price has recorded a dip today, on March 16, by RMB 2 per tonne to RMB 2,573 per tonne, found Shanghai Metals Market. In the north, the price has decreased by RMB 5 per tonne to RMB 2,585 per tonne, while in the east, central, and south remained unchanged at RMB 2,575 per tonne and RMB 2,520 per tonne, respectively. The Australian alumina FOB price has also recorded a plunge of US$ 2 per tonne to US$ 302 per tonne after a week-long restraint. But despite the drop in alumina price in the Chinese spot market, the price of A00 aluminium ingot has increased by RMB 90 per tonne to stand at RMB 12,740 per tonne, after five consecutive days of decline ranging between RMB 12,830 per tonne and RMB 12,650 per...
The dollar fell against a broad range of currencies on Friday, 13 March. LME base metals rallied to close mostly higher on Friday. LME aluminium rose 1.7%. Three-month LME aluminium rose past the US$1,700 per tonne mark before erasing some gains to end at US$1,690 per tonne. Shanghai Metals Market expects the contract to trade at US$1,670-1,710 per tonne today. As on Friday March 13, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1676.5 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1677 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1695 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1696 per tonne; Dec 21 bid price stands at US$ 1798 per tonne, and Dec 21 offer price stands at US$ 1803 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock dropped to 987175 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled 797800 tonnes,...
The not-for-profit organisation with over 30 years of experience representing the UK’s aluminium packaging industry, Alupro, works to fulfil the industry’s obligation to meet, and exceed, recycling targets for aluminium packaging. Alupro is also funded by the industry. Alupro, the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation is stepping up its communications strategy after appointing public relations firm Prova. The organisation has members including Crown Holdings, Red Bull UK and Ardagh, said that it wanted to position aluminium positively in the ongoing packaging debate. Bev Burnham, head of marketing and communications at Alupro, said: “Aluminium is a true packaging champion. It has an intrinsically high value, can be recycled indefinitely and contributes to a perfectly circular...
