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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Qatar Aluminium Manufacturing Company (Qamco), a 50 per cent shareholder in Qatar Aluminium Limited, has announced the results of its thirteen-month financial period ended on December 31, 2019, reporting a net profit of QR 80 million. The company's EBITDA stood at QR 704 million, revenue amounted to QR 2.7 billion, while earnings per share (EPS) came in at QR 0.014. According to Qamco, its financial performance in 2019 was largely driven by external macroeconomic factors like trade conflicts, overcapacities, and slow global GDP growth that directly affected the aluminium prices. The company’s average selling prices fell by 12 per cent during 2019, primarily due to the decline in global aluminium prices. This led to a decrease in net earnings by about QR 365 million when compared with the...
Jake McCaugherty has been appointed as the new UK Managing Director of German aluminium crane, hoist and platform manufacturer Böcker. He will own the complete responsibility for the UK operation, which started in 2017. McCaugherty joins the company from Liebherr where he has been responsible for the tower crane business in the UK and Ireland since 2015. Before which he was UK regional sales manager for Danish loader crane manufacturer HMF have joined the company in 2006. He has great plans to expand and develop the business in the UK and Ireland and said: "I am extremely pleased to join Böcker, they have an excellent reputation for high-quality products made in Germany and recognize the importance of having outstanding customer service. Over the next couple of weeks, I look forward to...
Recording a rise for the fourth consecutive day, the average alumina spot price in China has come in at RMB 2,480 per tonne on Thursday, February 13, found Shanghai Metals Market. The price has increased by RMB 4 per tonne from RMB 2,476 per tonne yesterday, February 12. While in the east, central, and south, the alumina price has remained restrained, the price in the north has grown by RMB 10 per tonne to RMB 2,500 per tonne. In the east, the price is hovering at RMB 2,480 per tonne and in the central and south at RMB 2,490 per tonne and RMB 2,520 per tonne, respectively. But despite the rise in alumina price, the price of A00 aluminium ingot has recorded a drop of RMB 40 per tonne to RMB 13,610 per tonne, for the second consecutive day. The average prices are expected to range between...
The US dollar rose to its highest against the euro in more two-years on Wednesday. LME aluminium eased 0.32% last night. Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange closed higher at US$ 1707 per tonne on Wednesday, up 1.04% from Tuesday's close of US$ 1689.5 per tonne. As on Wednesday February 12, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1706.5 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1707 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1731 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1733 per tonne; Dec 21 bid price stands at US$ 1860 per tonne, and Dec 21 offer price stands at US$ 1865 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock decreased to 1232200 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled 834150 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 398050 tonnes. LME aluminium 3-months Asian...
Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) has a mining concession of 690 km2, in the region of Boké, a city located in the northwest of Guinea, exactly in the locality of Tinguilinta. To meet the standards of the International Labor Organization and those of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the subsidiary of the company Emirates Global Aluminum relies on skills from the communities affected by the project. Martin Simard, Director of Communication, GAC communicated that 4650 workers were employed at the time of construction work in 2018. He also added 85% were Guineans and 67% are from the locality of Boke. GAC uses a 135 km railway line with the Guinea Bauxite Company (CBG). GAC's first ore export took place in August 2019, after major construction work. From bauxite extraction to...
The United States tariffs of 10 per cent and 25 per cent on derivative aluminium and steel imports reportedly took effect on Saturday, February 8, 2020. In late January, US President Donald Trump had declared to raise the tariffs to cover nails, staples, and other downstream products, calling this step an absolute necessary. Trump explained foreign producers of these derivative articles increased shipments to the United States, threatening the US national security. Some economists, however, are of the opinion that such tariffs may hurt the US manufacturing sector and the overall economy. "This latest action was significant because, explicitly for the first time, Trump was imposing new tariffs to help an industry suffering because of his previous tariffs," wrote Chad Bown, a senior fellow...
Rio Tinto made public that it might have to shut down its aluminium smelter in Iceland (ISAL) if the country’s state-controlled energy supplier does not deliver a cheaper deal. The warning again indicates the tough market aluminium producers around the world are facing, as the demand fades and prices drop. Aluminium is usually referred to as solid electricity because of the large amounts of power required to transform its key ingredient, alumina, into refined metal. Approximately a third of smelter’s costs are power. Alf Barrios, Head of Rio Tinto’s Aluminium business, said: “the company had worked intensively to improve the performance of the ISAL smelter but it was still unprofitable and could not complete in challenging market conditions due to its high power costs.” Mr. Barrios added,...
Novelis Inc., the world leader in aluminium rolling and recycling, reported net income of $107 million in Q3 FY2020, compared to $78 million in the prior year period. Excluding tax-effected special items, net income stood at $132 million, up 31 per cent year-on-year on higher Adjusted EBITDA. Adjusted EBITDA increased 7 per cent year-on-year to $343 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2020, primarily driven by portfolio optimization efforts, operating cost efficiencies, and favourable foreign exchange, partially offset by less favourable recycling benefits due to lower aluminium prices. Net sales decreased 10 per cent year-on-year to $2.7 billion in Q3 FY2020, driven by lower average LME aluminium prices and local market premiums. Shipments of flat rolled products were in line with the...
Hindalco Industries Limited, a global leader in aluminium and copper, announced consolidated results for the third quarter ended 31 December 2019. The company’s consolidated revenue stood at INR29,197 crore compared to INR33,213 crore in the same quarter last year. Total EBITDA came in at INR3,676 crore in Q3 FY20, down by 10 per cent year-on-year from INR4,080 crore. Consolidated Profit before Exceptional Items and Tax was INR1,487 crore in Q3 FY20. That was down by 23 per cent from INR1,931 crore in the prior year. Profit After Tax (PAT) dropped by 24 per cent to stand at INR1,062 crore in Q3 FY20. Revenue from aluminium business declined 9 per cent year-on-year to INR 5,467 crore in Q3 FY20, due to lower realisations. EBITDA stood at INR 1,036 crore in Q3 FY20 compared to INR 1,252...
Indian Railways braced for world-class aluminium coaches. Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Commerce, India, led the occasion to award a Transfer of Technology (ToT) contract to a Korean company for the development of potentialities for production to the commissioning of aluminium-bodied coaches. The complete overhaul of Indian Railways train coaches, as well as the procurement of full train rakes from foreign suppliers for Indian Railways, is not in the Railway Ministry’s plan. However, the ToT has been awarded by the Modern Coach Factory in Rae Bareli to acquire the capability to make world-class aluminium coaches. The ToT includes development, designing, manufacturing as well as testing of aluminium body passenger coaches of eight variants. Out of the eight variants, five variants...
There are currently five bauxite mines in Australia providing feedstock for the seven alumina refineries, which in turn supply alumina to the six Australian aluminium smelters and the export market. Demand for bauxite is growing at a faster rate than the growth in global industrial production. In the emerging economies of Asia and India, bauxite demand is particularly strong. Australia’s bauxite export has been showing a steady market from 2017-20. The total volume of bauxite export was recorded at 126.16 million tonnes approximately. In 2017 Australia’s bauxite export volume was spotted at 26.34 million tonnes, whereas in 2018 the bauxite export accounted to 30.40 million tonnes in volume, a growth by 15.41%, with an excess volume of 4.06 million tonnes exported from the previous year....
The average spot alumina price has extended growth by RMB 5 per tonne on Wednesday, 12 February 2020. The price now stands at RMB 2476 per tonne. The alumina prices in China have increased in Central and North markets. Image Source: Shanghai Metals Market The average prices of Alumina-Central and Alumina-North have increased by RMB 5 per tonne each to stand at RMB 2490 per tonne each. Their average prices are expected to range at RMB 2480-2500 per tonne and RMB 2480-2500 per tonne. The price in North and South markets remain unchanged at RMB 2480 per tonne and RMB 2520 per tonne. A00 aluminium ingot price registers a drop after five days of increase. Ingot price on Wednesday, 12 February 2020 has declined from RMB13740 per tonne to RMB13650 per tonne, representing a fall of RMB90 per...
Showa Denko (SDK), a major manufacturer of chemical products, serves a wide range of fields from heavy industry to electronics and computer industries, has developed an artificial intelligence-based image analysis system for spherical alumina production in a combined effort with BLUE TAG. In April’20 SDK will start using the system at its production line. Spherical alumina is produced from molten material, using surface tension. The product is in the form of particles with diameters ranging from several microns to 70 um. The high fluidity and compatibility nature make it use as filler for heat sinks for electronic components and as abrasive. In the production process, operators visually inspect the product using optical microscopes to see if there is a defect in sphericity. Production...
The US dollar eased off four-month highs against a basket of its rivals on Tuesday. LME base metals closed higher across the board overnight. LME aluminium jumped 1.9% and SHFE aluminium advanced about 0.7%. Three-month LME aluminium rallied 1.87% on Tuesday to end at US$1,739 per tonne. The contract is likely to move at US$1, 700-1,760 per tonne today. As on Tuesday February 11, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1689 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1689.5 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1716.5 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1717 per tonne; Dec 21 bid price stands at US$ 1848 per tonne, and Dec 21 offer price stands at US$ 1853 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock increased to 1239800 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled 844400 tonnes,...
Alcoa Corporation, a global leader in bauxite, alumina, and aluminium, has been recognized as the top aluminium industry performer in The Sustainability Yearbook 2020, a complete guide that provides in-depth analysis on environmental, social and governance criteria (ESG). The Sustainability Yearbook, published by S&P Global, uses the SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment, which also briefs other ESG-related assessments, including the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI). In 2019, Alcoa was named the Aluminum Industry Leader in the DJSI. Alcoa President and Chief Executive Officer Roy Harvey said: "Our strong reputation as a sustainable and responsible operator in the mining and metals industry is a key differentiator in our future success and aligns with our strategic priority to...
National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) published its financial results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2019. The company posted net loss of INR 33.90 crore in Q3FY20, from net profit of INR 302.35 crore in Q3FY19. Nalco’s net sales stood at INR 2088.35 crore in Q3FY20, a drop of 23.2 per cent from INR 2,718.88 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from aluminium business dropped 20.92 per cent year-on-year to INR1,336.16 crore. The company’s a pre-tax loss was INR 53.16 crore in Q3 FY20, from pre-tax profit of INR 470.64 crore in Q3 FY19. Total expenses came in at INR 2054.01 crore in the third quarter. That was down 6.9 per cent from INR 2205.92 crore last year.
Japan is getting ready for the summer, as the Olympics 2020 is coming up. Tokujin Yoshioka, the Japanese designer has revealed new details of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 torch. Sakura flower, the national flower of Japan has resembled as the Tokyo Olympics 2020 torch. The head of the 71-centimetre rose-gold torch gradually opens into five sections to resemble the petals of the sakura flower. Yoshioka used an aluminium extrusion technique to make the torch, He said “this allows it to be strong and lightweight, and "form a single and seamless sculpture-like piece". "Part of the reason for aluminium extrusion was because I wanted to keep the design simple for the structure as well”. "It's not a superficial garnish that creates a beautiful design; the key is always a beautiful structure" Yoshioka...
Hydro released results for the fourth quarter of 2019. Underlying EBIT for Bauxite & Alumina decreased compared to the fourth quarter of last year. Underlying EBIT for Bauxite & Alumina dropped from NOK 493 million in Q4 2018 to negative NOK 75 million in Q4 2019, driven by a decrease in the realized alumina sales price, partly offset by positive effects from increased production following the lifting of the production embargo on May 20, 2019, and positive currency effects. “The federal court in Belém, Brazil, lifted the final embargo on Alunorte’s new bauxite residue disposal area (DRS2) on September 26, 2019, allowing Alunorte to resume activities of installation and commissioning at DRS2, ending a 19-month embargo period which had restricted activities at the plant. Alunorte, with an...
