
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...
Grow with
AL Circle

Century Aluminium’s Grundartangi Iceland aluminium smelter has been certified against Aluminium Stewardship Initiative’s (ASI) Performance Standard. The facility’s operations comprise an aluminium smelter and casthouse that use hydroelectric and geothermal energy. Fiona Solomon, Chief Executive Officer at ASI said: “We warmly congratulate Century Aluminum and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Norðurál Grundartangi ehf, on their ASI Certification, the first in Iceland and the first drawing on geothermal power. A focus on sustainability is essential throughout the aluminium value chain, and aluminium smelting and casthouses are a critical supply chain activity. We thank them for their commitment to ASI and look forward to their continued participation in our initiative.” The ASI Certification...

Rusal, one of the colossal aluminium producers in the world publishes the decision to suspend its bauxite mining operations in Guyana, as the unrest continues. The company has delivered written notices of termination to 326 employees. Following the illegitimate and serious actions, that has gone beyond the control of the government and enforcement agencies, including arson of the electricity pylon basement and other corporate property and blocking of the river, RUSAL considers it’s advisable to suspend and freeze operations of Bauxite Company of Guyana (BCGI) The continuous growth of the unrest is impacting the company’s operations. As of now, RUSAL believes the scope for doing further business in Guyana is now critically limited. All expatriate employees have been relocated on the ground...

The second edition of AlCircle’s flagship e-magazine “ Aluminium LeaderSpeak 2020 ” is getting ready to be published this month. Means, the time is near to hear from the key players of the aluminium value chain industry about the market trend and analysis of this year and beyond. The companies and associations that have already confirmed their participation in this magazine include Hydro, BALCO, FIVES, Outotec, Assan Aluminium, Aluminium Association of Canada, and European Aluminium Association. But the AlCircle Team would still love to welcome more companies and associations on the magazine, in a bid to magnify the participation & outdo the global reach in this edition. Aluminium LeaderSpeak is a series of annual e-magazine, whereby the aluminium industry leaders share opinions as...

The average spot alumina price stands at RMB 2456 per tonne on Tuesday, 04 February 2020, an increase of RMB 2 per tonne or 0.08 per cent, after remaining flat since January 14 at RMB 2454 per tonne. The average price of Alumina-North is up by RMB 5 per tonne to stand at RMB 2470 per tonne. The average price is expected to range at RMB 2460-2480 per tonne. The average prices of Alumina-East, Alumina-Central and Alumina-South remain unchanged at RMB 2450 per tonne, RMB 2470 per tonne and RMB 2520 per tonne. Prebaked anode prices in East and Central China markets have edged higher by RMB 10 per tonne each. As of Tuesday, 04 February 2020, prebaked anode prices are likely to range at RMB 2620-2960 per tonne and RMB 2670-3030 per tonne. The average prices stand at RMB 2790 per tonne and RMB...

The island country Jamaica’s bauxite and alumina industry is retaking its place on the world stage and investors are showing a positive trend to explore Jamaica’s bauxite mines. Bauxite mining is considered as the star performer of Jamaica’s economy. The latest example of Jamaican mining is the progress of JAMALCO, a company focused on bauxite mining and alumina production that is a joint venture between global commodities trader Noble Group, which owns 55%, and Clarendon Alumina Production, which holds the other 45 % and is publicly owned. Noranda Bauxite shipped an estimated 3.8 million wet metric tons from its bauxite operation at St. Ann, Jamaica last year, and it expects to be able to continue to ship similarly-sized amounts well into the next decade. The country’s mining is turning...

The US dollar recovered from two-week lows against a basket its rivals on Monday, as stronger-than-expected manufacturing data boosted investor sentiment. Fears about the coronavirus, meanwhile, eased after China took measures to cushion the impact of the new epidemic and pledged to do more to contain it and support the country’s financial markets. Three-month LME aluminium fell for a ninth straight day on Monday, February 3, dropping below $1,700 per tonne to end at $1,696.5 per tonne. It shed 1.65% on the trading day. It is expected to trade between $1,680 per tonne to $ 1,730 per tonne today. LME aluminium cash (bid) price, on February 3, inched down to US$ 1693.50 per tonne from US$ 1709 per tonne on January 31, while LME official settlement price decreased to US$ 1694.50 per tonne...

The 25 th CRU World Aluminium Conference will be held in London during 20 th -21 st April’20. The conference usually attracts more than 240 distinguished, senior executives from 40 countries around the globe to discuss the vital issues the industry is facing and delivering excellent networking opportunities to the participants. The proven track record of the conference has delivered brief insight on supply, demand, price, premiums, sustainability and costs. The add-on to hear from the industry leaders, attendees get independent and expert updates on the outlook for the markets from CRU’s analysts. James Wren, an Aluminium analyst from CRU Group says: "CRU estimates that electric vehicles will represent 25% of the automotive market by 2030, however, the impact this will have on aluminium...

In collaboration with American food and beverage company Pepsico, sports venue hospitality provider Centerplate offered Aquafina water in aluminium cans at Super Bowl LIV on February 2, 2020. The collaboration aimed to provide over 100,000 cans of Aquafina to support the Hard Rock Stadium’s mission to eliminate 99.4 per cent of single-use plastics in 2020. Centerplate is the official food and beverage partner of the stadium. In January, Centerplate also established a partnership with Ball Corporation and Bud Light to offer sustainable drinks packaging at Super Bowl LIV. Centerplate CEO Steve Pangburn said: “We want to lead the way in providing innovative solutions for our clients and guests, especially in support of our mission, vision and values.” “This is another example of a...

The county government of Kilfi has encouraged dairy farmers to start storing milk in aluminium containers and disown plastic storages. Aluminium met required sanitary standards for milk storage. The county authorities also wanted the dairy farmers to stop hawking milk in villages and as an alternative should make use of existing storage plants to get good value for their products. The county’s milk-producing capacity is more than 25 million litres annually. The county plans to start value addition for the milk products by producing butter, cream, yoghurt, sour milk and other products to improve farmers' income. Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi attended the cattle distribution program in Sabaki ward, Magarini constituency, with CEC member for Agriculture and Livestock Luciana Sanzua,...

Emirates Global Aluminium, the UAE’s largest industrial company outside oil and gas, announced on Monday, February 3, that it secured a revolving credit facility worth $600 million, with a syndicate of UAE and international banks. The credit facility, priced at a competitive margin, is committed for three years replacing uncommitted facilities extended to EGA separately by a number of banks. Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “EGA has grown into a substantial global business with operating assets on two continents and at every step of the aluminium value chain from mine to metal. This committed revolving credit facility is the next step in the evolution of our financing and balance sheet management strategy and enables a robust and structured approach to...

A stack of deals on trade and defence are on the board as New Delhi is making preparations to host US President Donald Trump as early on February’20. Several dates are being mulled over, the US President may be able to make it between February 21 and 25 with a three-stop India tour as his itinerary is still getting worked on. The summit-level meetings will be happening in Delhi between Indian PM and Donald Trump. Apart from that, the two powerful leaders of the world will be halting at Agra and Ahmedabad, which are inclusive in the plan. India and USA are likely to secure a mega trade deal of above $10 billion, which includes exemption from high duties on Aluminium, when United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer visits New Delhi and meets Piyush Goyal, the Indian Commerce and...

Braidy Industries has announced that Chairman and CEO Craig Bouchard will step down from his current position. But he will remain a member of Braidy Industries’ Board of Directors. President Tom Modrowski, who has been with Braidy since its inception, has been named interim CEO of Braidy Industries and current board member Mr. Charles Price has been named Chairman of the Board of Braidy Industries. “The board is grateful to Craig for his vision, energy and dedication to the Kentucky operation,” said Charles Price, Chairman of the Board. “Tom and the board will continue to focus our efforts on completing fundraising and planning for construction of the Ashland mill.” Braidy Atlas aluminium rolling mill project, a state-of-the-art low-emissions greenfield manufacturing facility at EastPark...

Scrappage policy for old vehicles is awaiting a “fine-tune” by concerned ministries, and as soon as that is done it will be announced. Such was the statement from the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, February 1, after the Union Budget 2020-21. She said, "Scrappage policy is in the works ... I would wait for the concerned ministries also to fine-tune everything and tie up the loose ends and then come to a stage where it can be announced by the ministry.” "So many things depend on how far they are mature and right for me to use it in the budget, but that does not mean because I've not announced it in the budget no work is going on in that area," she added. The policy, once approved, will reportedly be applicable for all vehicles, including two-wheelers and three-wheelers....

Guinea has the world’s largest reserves of bauxite, the ore used to produce aluminium. Containing a content of alumina, Guinean bauxite reserves are estimated at over 40 billion tons, 23 billion tons of which are located in the Boké region. Guinea’s highly competitive level of output allows it to supply all major world markets. Guinea holds substantial world-class reserves of bauxite, both in terms of quality and quantity. The recent entry of several new industrial players into production and an increase in the production capacity of its current operators, the country can reach an annual production level of 42 up to 54 million tons from 2018, with the ultimate goal of producing 100 million tons per year. The growth of bauxite export has been substantial from the year 2017-20 for Guinea,...

The Ministry of Social Protection’s Department of Labour’s meeting with the management of Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI) on Friday, January 31, resulted in arbitration. Workers are thus, can return to work now under the three below mentioned conditions as communicated to the company and Department of Labour. Those workers who were laid off on 23rd and 30th of January must be without the loss of pay or service given that the acts of sending them off violate Section 12 of the Termination of Employment and Severance Pay Act Two employees who suffered from electrical shocks while on duty and were not subsequently paid for the hospital expense and later on, were also off the job should be compensated Appointment of Arbitration Tribunal to resolve wages and salaries grievance Guyana...

As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, increased over the Chinese New Year Holidays and stood at 884,000 tonnes as of Monday February 3. That was up 194,000 tonnes from 690,000 tonnes on January 23. The gain over the holiday that was extended by three days to contain the novel coronavirus was 10,000 tonnes larger than that over the normal holiday last year. The chart below shows the current status of the primary aluminium inventories across China in more details: Primary aluminium stocks in Wuxi and Shanghai climbed 84,000 tonnes and 2,000 tonnes from January 23 to stand at 320,000 tonnes and 105,000 tonnes on Monday, 03 February 2020. Inventories in Nanhai, Gongyi and Hangzhou stood...

On 2 nd February’20 the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), apprehended more than 100 staffs who contributed to the success of the company’s historical export of UAE-developed industrial technology to Aluminium Bahrain (ALBA) The congratulations ceremony in Dubai was led by EGA’s Managing Director Abdulla Kalban and Chief Executive Officer Abdul Nasser Bin Kalban. In 2016, EGA secured the competitive international tender to deliver smelting technology to ALBA regarding its Line 6 expansion project. The win positioned EGA to rank as the first UAE industrial company to license its core process technology internationally and was a historic event in the development of a knowledge-based economy in the UAE. EGA supplied...

Post the Chinese New Year holiday from January 24 to February 2, 2020, the Chinese market has seen a “never-before” sharp drop in A00 aluminium ingot price of RMB 500 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,600 per tonne on February 3, found Shanghai Metals Market. This brings the price as low as was found in February 2019. The average prices today are expected to range between RMB 13,580 per tonne and RMB 13,620 per tonne, with spot contract to be traded at a discount price of RMB 120 per tonne to RMB 80 per tonne. This sharp decline could be attributed to the current suspension of downstream operations due to Coronavirus, resulting in poor demand and transaction of aluminium ingots. Shenyang in China has seen the highest drop in the ingot price of RMB 550 per tonne to RMB 13,600 per tonne,...