
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 United States Geological Survey found incessant drops in America’s aluminium scrap exports to China over the months. As September was not an exception, it saw a decline of 26 per cent month-on-month amounting to 19,600 tonnes. In August 2019, the United States’ aluminium scrap exports to China were 26,500 tonnes after declining by 15.33 per cent from 31,300 tonnes in July. In June, the export volume was 31,800 tonnes, which represents the fact that July saw a drop of 1.57 per cent. This shows the United States aluminium scrap export drop has been growing month on month since July. Year-on-year, the US aluminium scrap exports to China stood lower by 23.73 per cent in September 2019 from 25,700 tonnes, according to the USGS data. In the total nine months of the year, China secured...

Rio Tinto and Hydro recently executed the first ever paperless trade in the alumina commodity segment. Both the companies used the CargoDocs solution from essDOCS for the transaction. This also marks the first ever paperless trade solution for alumina shipment by any company and also the first use of the solution by Rio Tinto, Hydro and ship-owner IVS Bulk. The transaction was done on a cargo of bulk alumina transported from Australia to China. While Rio Tinto Aluminium Limited was the Supplier, Hydro Aluminium International S.A and Hydro Aluminium (Beijing) Ltd were the Cargo Receivers. CargoDocs solution handled all the supporting documents in the transaction including electronic Bill of Lading (eB/L) and also the key actions like drafting, collaborative review, sign, issue, transfer...

Iran's production of aluminium stood at 171,334 tonnes during the first eight months of the current Iranian year (March 21-November 21). That was down 26 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO). Iran’s flagship aluminium producer Iran Aluminum Company (IRALCO) contributed 118,153 tonnes of the total output. Hormozal Aluminum Company produced 25,283 tonnes, which was a 63 per cent drop on the year. Almahdi Aluminum Company’s production came in at 23,250 tonnes, down 48 per cent year-on-year. Iran Alumina Company produced 4,648 tonnes. Iran has an estimated aluminium nameplate capacity of 457,000 tonnes per year. The country now aims at increasing its annual aluminium output to...

City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council has reportedly launched a marketing campaign to encourage residents to recycle aluminium foil trays and family wrapping foil of their gray recycling bin. Besides, different metallic packaging resembling meals/drink cans and empty aerosols are also being encouraged to recycle through this camp. It’s stunning how a lot of foil is utilized in our properties, from preparing meal and takeaway trays to chocolate wrapping and the lids on dairy merchandise, said the Council. The Council urged to empty foils from any meals residue before disposing of in the gray recycling bin. Smaller items of foil usually used in dairy lids or chocolate foil are urged to be scrunched collectively to make a bigger ball of foil before being disposed of, in a bid to...

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the world’s largest aluminium smelter ex-China, has signed Regain as the technology partner for its Spent Pot Lining (SPL) Treatment Plant. In September, Alba announced the establishment of the first-of-its-kind SPL Treatment Plant in the GCC and Bahrain. The company will start operations at its new plant by the first quarter of 2021. The plant will have the capacity to treat 30,000 to 35,000 tonnes of SPL a year. Alba’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Shaikh Daij said: “Alba Spent Pot Lining Treatment Plant is about ‘pioneering the future’. As Bahrain’s leading industrial company, we aim to be fully aligned with Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 and are committed to advancing sustainable initiatives that will benefit Bahrain and our Company. We also believe in...

The US dollar continued to rise Wednesday, moving close to a one-week high, as improving economic data reduced the likelihood of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in 2020. LME base metals and the SHFE complex traded mixed yesterday. LME aluminium gained 1.02% and SHFE aluminium grew 0.85%. Three months LME aluminium managed to get pulled by the SHFE counterpart and closed higher on Wednesday at US$ 1777 per tonne. LME aluminium is getting back to contango after a brief period of backwardation. As on December 18, Wednesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1756 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1758 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1776 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1777 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at US$ 1833 per tonne, and Dec...

Metro Mining Limited is reportedly refinancing its current debt facilities to enable the $47.5 million loan from North Australian Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) to be senior secured first-ranking. This loan is part of the funding package for Metro Mining's Stage 2 expansion at Bauxite Hills Mine in Queensland. As per the report, Metro will make an early repayment of the existing Sprott Private Resource Lending loan totalling US$9.65 million along with its accrued interest and enter into new loan facilities of $15 million with the existing lender Ingatatus AG and the new lender Lambhill Pty Ltd. The new facilities will have to be repaid in three equal payments on July 1, 2021, September 30, 2021, and January 1, 2022. Metro Mining managing director Simon Finnis said, “We are delighted to...

A00 aluminium ingot price climbed by RMB 80 per tonne or 0.56 per cent to stand at RMB 14440 per tonne on Thursday, 19 December 2019, from Wednesday’s price of RMB 14360 per tonne. This marks the third consecutive rise in aluminium ingot price. The price is expected to range at RMB 14420-14460 per tonne. Spot aluminium contract is likely to be traded at a premium of RMB 140-180 per tonne. Source: Shanghai Metals Market In Foshan and Wuxi, the price rose by RMB 90 per tonne and RMB 60 per tonne to stand at RMB 14440 per tonne each on December 19. Their average prices are expected to range within RMB 14420-14460 per tonne and RMB 14430-14450 per tonne. Aluminium prices in Hangzhou and Chongqing stood at RMB 14450 per tonne and RMB 14440 per tonne, up RMB 65 per tonne and RMB 90 per tonne....

According to a recent report from Shanghai Metals Market, Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering, on Wednesday, December 18, began the construction of 2 million tonnes per year aluminium smelting and hydropower project in Southwest China’s Yunnan province. Ground-breaking ceremony of the integrated project was held in tandem with the opening of the Yunnan Green Aluminium Industrial Park. The primary goal behind Weiqiao's investment in building green industrial park is to take advantage of the province’s clean hydropower resources. “Weiqiao aims to build the Green Aluminium Industrial Park into a low-carbon and environmental-friendly model project in China, as well as a world-class high-end aluminium industry base,” said Zhang Bo, Chairman of Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering at the opening ceremony.

The year 2019 can be called an aftermath of trade wars, restrictive tariffs, sanctions, capacity cuts and price volatility that impacted the aluminium value chain the year earlier. 2019 has experienced a steady drop in alumina and aluminium prices worsened by weak market fundamentals and falling demand for the metal, globally and in China. Slowdown in global economy resulted in a downturn in the global automotive sector and saturated growth in the construction and aerospace segment further putting pressure on the demand. Industry players and market participants have already lowered demand projection for the full year 2019 and for 2020. Here is a quick look at how the primary aluminium industry moved in 2019 and what is expected in near future. Production & Consumption Global primary...

Ardagh has appointed John Sadlier as its Chief Sustainability Officer. John, who served as the Chief Procurement Officer of the company, will be responsible for managing all aspects of Ardagh’s sustainability agenda. In addition, Ardagh has announced the creation of a Global Sustainability Action Group. The Global Sustainability Action Group will co-ordinate its global sustainability work, accelerate sustainability programmes and increase responsiveness. Paul Coulson, Chairman and CEO Ardagh Group said: “These important initiatives reflect Ardagh’s longstanding emphasis on sustainability and its importance to our continued success. Consumer awareness of sustainability has reached an inflection point and Ardagh is ideally-placed to meet existing and new customers’ need for innovative and...

FYI Resources Limited has reportedly received R&D tax incentive rebate payment of $250,000, which is meant for the expenditure on the development of innovative process design to refine high purity alumina (HPA) from aluminous clay known as kaolin. Kaolin for the proposed high purity alumina (HPA) refinery will be sourced from FYI’s 100 per cent owned Cadoux Kaolin Project in Western Australia. In early October, FYI announced that it received successful results from its recently completed HPA pilot plant trial. As per the firm, the plant operated trial run continued from October 2 to October 9, of which the results averaged 99.995 per cent Al2O3, well above the company’s target grade of 99.99 per cent Al2O3. The results also demonstrated operational improvements in the plant that would be...

JW Aluminum Company will increase the annual intake of UBCs and other forms of recycled aluminium by at least 100 million pounds when it finishes an expansion project in the Southeast U.S. next year. JW Aluminum laid out details of the US$225 million expansion of an existing manufacturing site in Goose Creek, S.C. and the company said this will lead to increase in scrap consumption. “Our new melting technology will allow us to input a broader range of chemistry for scrap, including UBC, extrusions, old sheet and 5xxx series alloy,” a JW Aluminum spokesperson said. “We expect overall scrap consumption to increase by 100 million pounds or more.” The company expects to be consuming about 300 million pounds of scrap material annually by the second half of 2020. JW Aluminum, which operates...

The US imports of aluminium semi-finished products (plates, sheets, bars, etc.) totalled 105,000 tonnes in September, unchanged from September 2018’s data. On a month on month comparison, the import volume decreased 8.7% or 10,000 tonnes from August total of 115,000 tonnes, according to the latest Mineral Industry Survey report from the US Geological Survey. This marked the sixth straight month of declines. Imports of aluminium semi-finished products from the global market stood at 1,150,000 tonnes in the nine months, indicating an increase of 9.52% or 100,000 year-on-year. The US had imported 1,050,000 tonnes in the first nine months of 2018. The US imports of total aluminium (crude metal and alloys, aluminium semi-finished products and scrap) in September edged lower by 56.45%...

According to a recent report, the slowdown in the automobile sector in India could not resist the rise in aluminium scrap imports during April-September of the financial year 2019-20. As per the data submitted to the Ministry of Finance, citing figures from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the imports have risen by 6.5 per cent, while the Indian auto sector’s production tumbled 13 per cent. “In the garb of imports for the auto sector, scrap is being consumed in other sectors like electrical transmission and utensils. But the use of scrap in such sectors is detrimental and only primary aluminium should be used,” said an industry source. The Aluminium Association of India (AAI) feels the benign import duty of 2.5 per cent on scrap is unable to restrict inbound...

23rd ARABAL Conference and Exhibition held from 19 – 21 November under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and organised by Aluminium Bahrain (ALBA), successfully concluded in Bahrain with over 500 conference delegates and more than 750 exhibition attendees. The event was officially inaugurated by the Deputy Prime Minister, His Excellency Shaikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa on behalf of His Royal Highness the Prime Minister. The event also organized workshops, site visits and networking events. "This Conference is the most prominent event for the aluminium industry in the Middle East bringing together industry experts and thought leaders from across the world, which underlines Bahrain’s leading position in hosting events of such calibre," His...

Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) announced that four additional Amcor operations have been certified against its Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard. The certification includes four additional operations in France, Germany and Switzerland: Amcor Flexibles Sarrebourg SAS, Amcor Flexible Packaging France SAS, in de Froges, Amcor Flexibles Teningen Tscheulin-Rothal GmbH, and Amcor Flexibles Rorschach AG. This enables Amcor to offer its customers products with ASI certified aluminium and the option for on-pack ASI labelling. Amcor uses aluminium in its packaging solutions for food, drink, and pharmaceuticals, as well as for foils used in electronics, transportation, construction and other industrial applications. Dr Gerald Rebitzer, Director Sustainability at Amcor Flexibles, said:...

The US dollar rose on Tuesday, lifted by a decline in the pound after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson put a no-deal exit from the European Union back on the table. The dollar index recovered 0.2% and ended at 97.23. LME base metals traded mixed while the SHFE complex mostly fell. LME aluminium lost 0.68% and SHFE aluminium rose 0.57%. Three-month LME aluminium failed to move higher with its SHFE counterpart, closing down 0.68% at US$1,764 per tonne. Trading range is seen between US$1,760-1,780 per tonne. As on December 17, Tuesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1753 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1754 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1766.50 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1767 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at US$ 1823 per...