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 extended its weakness and fell for the third straight session on Monday as investors favoured riskier assets. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, lost 0.24 per cent. LME base metals mostly fell while the SHFE complex closed mixed overnight. LME aluminium remained flat, while SHFE aluminium grew marginally by 0.07 per cent. Three-month LME aluminium traded range bound above the five-day moving average, ending at $1,823.5 per tonne. LME aluminium is likely to be traded at $1,810 per tonne to $1,830 per tonne. As on December 30, Monday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1790 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1791 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1821 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$...
That time of the year is here when you have to bid farewell to one year and welcome another. So, to make this moment memorable, AlCircle presents a ‘Special Year-End Combo’ offer consisting of its 6 most popular reports that will take you down to the market trend in the past and give a brief outlook to the future analysis. The reports included in the offer are as follows: Aluminium Foil and its End uses: Current Trends and Forecast Red Mud (Bauxite Residue) Management: Storage & Valorisation A Worldwide Market Analysis of Aluminium Wire rod, Cables & Conductors - Industry forecasts to 2025 The World of Aluminium Extrusions - an industry analysis with forecasts to 2025 World Recycled Aluminium Market Analysis - Industry Forecast to 2022 Aluminium Dross Processing: A Global Review At the...
Irishman Phil Hogan, European Union’s new trade commissioner, was quoted on 30 th December’19 as saying he would dig for reinstating of EU/US trade relations on multiple numbers of disputable issues, out of which steel and aluminium tariffs are the vital subjects when he meets his U.S. counterpart for the first time in January 2020. In mid-2018 the Trump administration obtruded tariffs on European steel and aluminium. It has done the same to $ 7.5 billion worth EU products over a dispute about subsidies for European planemaker Airbus AIR.PA, and is forbidding action against France over a digital service tax. Phil Hogan was promoted from the role of EU farm chief in December’19 only, articulated to U.S. representative Robert Lighthizer just before Christmas. "We agreed to meet in...
The average spot alumina price stands at RMB 2437 per tonne on Tuesday, 31 December 2019, up RMB 6 per tonne or 0.25 per cent from RMB 2431 per tonne on December 30. The average price of Alumina-North has increased by RMB 15 per tonne to stand at RMB 2450 per tonne. Source: Shanghai Metals Market Both bauxite and prebaked anode prices in the domestic China market have dropped on Tuesday, 31 December 2019. Bauxite (4.5≤Al/Si＜5.5)Henan has registered a drop of RMB10 per tonne to stand at RMB 400 per tonne. The average price is expected to move within a range of RMB 370-430 per tonne. The average price of Prebaked Anode in East China declines from RMB 2850 per tonne to RMB 2780 per tonne. A00 aluminium ingot price has extended its growth by RMB 30 per tonne to RMB 14540 per tonne on today....
According to a recent report, Vedanta’s Lanjigarh alumina refinery has won a prestigious Gold award under the Metals Sector at Frost & Sullivan’s India Manufacturing Excellence Awards 2019. Mr. Rakesh Mohan, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Vedanta’s Lanjigarh unit, received the award on behalf of the company, and while collecting the award remarked: “Vedanta’s relentless focus on operational excellence and sustainability sees us constantly reinvent our own best practices and then achieves them. This award is a great testimony to our high-performance culture and world-class operations excellence. I’m delighted that the award citation called out our focus on customers, innovation, adaptation and operational flexibility as our key strengths.” India Manufacturing Excellence awards...
Last week, on December 23, Metro Mining Limited reportedly achieved its 2019 upper-end guidance by completing the production of 274,000 wet metric tonnes (WMT) bauxite and shipments 286,000 wet metric tonnes (WMT), after loading the 56th and final vessel for the year. In October and November, the company produced 479,000 WMT and 452,000 WMT of bauxite and shipped 504,000 WMT and 463,000 WMT respectively, which brought the total production and shipments to 1.20 million wet metric tonnes and 1.25 million wet metric tonnes for Q4 2019. Up until December 23, Metro Mining’s total bauxite production and shipments amounted to 3.505 million WMT and 3.504 million WMT, which enabled the Australia-based exploration and mining company to achieve its 2019 production and shipment guidance of 3.3...
Technology giant Apple is working on the updated 11 and 12.9 inch iPad pro models. 11 inch iPad Pro is probably ready with an aluminium back, whereas the 12.9 inch iPad Pro is expected to debut with a glass back panel. The gadgets are said to be launched in the market with an iPhone 11 pro-style triple-lens cameras at the back. The expected launches of the iPads are March 2020. The dimension of the 11 inch iPad Pro comes in at 248 x 178.6 x 5.9mm, with the thickest point being the 7.8mm rear camera bump. Apple’s analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently suggested that the company is planning for the execution of the release of an updated iPad Pro within the first 6 months of 2020 and also conveyed that the upcoming models will be embedded with rear 3D sensing.
The US imports of crude metal and alloys fell 82.78% or 259,100 tonnes year-on-year to 53,900 tonnes in September 2019, according to the latest Mineral Industry Survey report from the US Geological Survey. The US had imported 313,000 tonnes in September 2018. Crude metal and alloys imports dropped by 26.96% from August’s imports of 73,800 and 40.9% from July’s imports of 91,200 tonnes. The US imported 2,030,000 tonnes of crude metal and alloys in the first nine months of 2019, as compared to 3,230,000 in the first nine months of 2018. This marked a decrease of 37.15% or 1,200,000 tonnes. On the export side, the US exported 17,400 tonnes of crude metal and alloys in September, down 24.35% from 23,000 tonnes in September 2018 and 9.38% from 19,200 tonnes in August 2019. In...
Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI) has reportedly announced to sponsor the expansion plans of Dubai Cable Company, which is a leading name in the copper and aluminium wire and product development, design, manufacture, marketing and distribution. The news came after ECI, the UAE federal export credit insurance company, welcomed Ducab to the trade insurance marketplace and said to offer the company international trade credit coverage. As Ducab works with customers from all around the globe, this international trade credit coverage is expected to better position the company in its continued expansion from home market in the UAE to the wider Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia, Europe, and America. Ducab said it recently signed up with ECI for a multi-buyer trade credit solution that would...
The supply of power to Hydro’s Paragominas bauxite mine has been recommenced, which is allowing production to start again. Production at Hydro’s Alunorte alumina refinery has also been boosted. A transmission tower overturned on 18 th December’19, suspending power supply to Paragominas, which caused a temporary halt in the production at the mine. The transmission tower has been restored, and the power supply is resumed. There was no news of casualties or personnel injuries and damages to other production assets or any consequences at the nearby environment-related due to the power blackout. The financial and operational impact has been restricted, and no sign of negative customer impact anticipated.
As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, increased over the weekend stood at 594,000 tonnes as of Monday December 30. Stocks were up by 2,000 tonnes from last Thursday December 26. The chart below shows the current status of the primary aluminium inventories across China in more details: Primary aluminium stocks in Nanhai and Gongyi stood at 127,000 tonnes and 40,000 tonnes on Monday, up 1,000 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes from December 26. Hangzhou, Zhejiang inventories remained the same at 52,000 tonnes. But the stocks in Wuxi and Shanghai dropped by 4,000 tonnes and 2,000 tonnes to 187,000 tonnes and 110,000 tonnes. Inventories of primary aluminium in Tianjin, Linyi and Chongqing came in at...
According to the data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), China in November produced about 89,000 units of qualified new energy passenger vehicles, up 23.96 per cent from October, backed by the outstanding performance of the pure electronic vehicles market. But yearly basis, the output recorded a decline for the fifth consecutive month by almost 42 per cent. The production of pure electronic vehicles that obtained qualification certificates increased by 29.3 per cent over the month in November, with the output of Bestune’s B30EV400 model soaring 235.44 per cent. Along with the production, sales of passenger NEVs also registered a year-on-year decline for the fifth straight month in November. According to Shanghai Metals Market survey, around 82,000 NEVs had...
Emirates Global Aluminium, which is the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, on 29 th December’19, announced the accomplishment of its historic project to export the UAE developed industrial technology, with the statement of performance guarantee tests at Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba). In the year 2016 in a competitive international tender, EGA won to deliver its aluminium smelting technology to Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) for a vital expansion project (Line 6 Expansion Project), which is a remarkable breakthrough for the development of a knowledge-based economy in the UAE. Alba selected EGA’s DX+ Ultra technology for its Potline 6 project. DX+ Ultra which is the 10 th generation EGA technology, and is aligned as the most efficient in the...
The US dollar weakened last Friday as optimism about the outlook for a US-China trade deal lifted risk appetite of investors. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, fell 0.7% and finished at 97.01. LME base metals increased after a two-day closure for the Christmas holiday. LME aluminium gained 0.25% and SHFE aluminium grew 0.57%. Lower inventories continued to buoy three-month LME aluminium, which extended a price rally and closed up 0.25% at US$1,823.5 per tonne last Friday night. LME aluminium is likely to trade at US$1,800-1,840 per tonne. As on December 27, Friday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1788 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1789 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1814.5 per tonne,...
After two consecutive downfalls on 26 th and 27 th of December from RMB 14,580 per tonne to RMB 14,430 per tonne, the A00 aluminium ingot price has recorded a growth today, on December 30, of RMB 80 per tonne to stand at RMB 14,510 per tonne, found Shanghai Metals Market. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 14,490 per tonne and RMB 14,530 per tonne, with spot contract to be traded at a premium price of RMB 160-200 per tonne. Foshan has seen the highest growth in the price of RMB 90 per tonne to stand at RMB 14,810 per tonne, followed by Shenyang, where the price has increased by RMB 85 per tonne to RMB 14,500 per tonne. In Wuxi, Hangzhou, and Linyi, the A00 aluminium ingot price has climbed up by RMB 60 per tonne to RMB 14,480 per tonne, 14,490 per tonne, and RMB 14,510...
The year 2019 saw an increase in bauxite production all over the globe, bolstered by expansions in mining and also some of the new projects such as EGA’s first bauxite project in Guinea, Rio Tinto’s commissioning of Amrun bauxite mine, and the beginning of mining and screening operations at Australian Bauxite Limited’s Bald Hill mine. But due to the surplus production, the global price of the ore remained sluggish, which on the other hand, helped in boosting China’s bauxite imports. As a consequence to this, the demand and use of China’s domestic bauxite ore saw a slow down and the price followed a downward trend throughout the year. Let us recapitulate the bauxite market of 2019 in more details, starting with the price trend, followed by projects, production, and shipments. Price trend...
According to a recent report, premiums for aluminium shipments to Japan for the first quarter of 2020 have been set at $83 per tonne, down 14 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2019 amid weaker aluminium demand from the electronics and auto sector. This marks the second consecutive quarterly drop. During October-December quarter, the premiums for aluminium shipments to Japan were $97 per tonne. The premiums for Q1 2020 are lower than the initial offers of $92 per tonne made by producers. The negotiations for the pricing began in November between Japanese buyers and global producers, including Rio Tinto and South32 Limited. Japan is Asia’s biggest importer of the light metal and the premiums PREM-ALUM-JP for primary metal shipments. The premiums it agrees to pay each quarter over the...
The Indian state-owned aluminium giant Nalco is planning to re-evaluate its expansions plans, as per the words of Chairman and MD Sridhar Patra which came on 27 th December’19. He upfront refused to provide details as the planning has to be placed before the board for further approval. On the sidelines of a mining summit organized by CII, Patra said “We are revisiting our expansion plans. Whatever long-term plans you make, you cannot project for 10 to 15 years, because all the factors do not support in that manner.” He also added to his words “We have to re-modify. Whatever bottlenecks were there, we have removed almost all.” In 2018, the company declared that it would invest over INR 30,000 crore over four years to afloat several fresh projects and commence major expansion programs. The...
