
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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Japan, a key producer of aluminium semi-finished products, which procures its aluminium through import and secondary recovery produced 67,000 tonnes of secondary aluminium in the month of September, Japan Aluminium Association data shows. Japan produced 596,000 tonnes of secondary aluminium in the first nine months of 2019. The production dropped 2.3% from 610,000 tonnes produced in the same period of 2018. For the whole year 2018, Japan produced 827,000 tonnes of secondary aluminium, which was about three per cent more from 2017. Based on the current rate of production, total secondary or recycled aluminium production in Japan is likely to stand at about 800,000 tonnes in 2019. The major part of recycled aluminium is produced from domestically procured scraps coming from its growing...

China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) sales in November fell year-on-year by 41.7 per cent to 79,000 units, as reported by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Monday, December 9. This marks the fifth consecutive month of decline in new energy vehicle sales since the sharp cut on NEV subsidies went into effect in late June. However, on monthly basis, the sales of new energy vehicles increased from 66,000 units in October, which in September was even lower by 1 per cent from the succeeding year. During January-November, China’s NEV sales amounted to 923,000 units, up 7.7 per cent from the same period last year. China’s retail sales of passenger vehicles also declined for the fifth straight month in November by about 4.1 per cent from a year earlier to 1.94 million units, according to...

Carl Friedrik unveils a new suitcase, the Carry-on, featuring a rigid aluminium frame and Italian leather detailing, which represents nothing less than style yet practical designing. The case, which is carry-on sized, has a dark grey polycarbonate shell and leather detailing offered in cognac, chocolate, and black. The handle is made of vegetable-tanned Vachetta leather that promises to age over time and develop a tasteful patina on more usage. Inside the suitcase, there is a large zip compartment on one side and compression straps on the other. That way, the users can keep their clean and dirty clothes separate from each other. There are also an optional and removable battery slots inside the case that provide power through a USB port located behind the deployable handle to enable users...

Metals.com, a leader in retail metals sales, celebrated its 10th anniversary with the new aluminium division. This aluminium division will serve the automobile, aerospace and construction industries. Metals.com Vice President Walter Vera said: "Aluminium is widely acknowledged as one of the most versatile materials available today. The broad application of aluminium is something our team understands and will uniquely compliment our enterprise customers in the manufacturing sector." "Aluminium is an essential element to the American manufacturing future, There are over 692,000 jobs and $174 billion dollars in economic output equivalent to 1% of the United States GDP." Metals.com will offer aluminium long bar, tube, pipe, sheet, coil, and plate metal products. "People use more aluminium...

National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) plans to restructure its alumina sales strategy in international markets. The alumina producer, which has been selling its surplus alumina in spot markets instead of its earlier strategy of long term contracts, is planning to switch over to long terms contracts again. In FY 2018-19, Nalco sold over 95 per cent of its exportable alumina in international spot markets as prices had rocketed to over US$600 per tonne lifting its profits. Leveraging on higher alumina prices, Nalco registered its highest ever realisation of over $700 per tonne from alumina sales. Sanctions on Rusal and 50% capacity cut at Hydro Alunorte refinery lifted up the prices in 2018. However, alumina prices have consolidated this year with the lifting of sanctions on Rusal and...

Braidy Industries has appointed Mike Otero as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the company with effect from January 6, 2020. He joins the Braidy Industries executive team with the added designation of Head of the Ashland Headquarters facility. He will report directly to Craig Bouchard, CEO and Chairman of Braidy Industries. Braidy Industries is an Ashland, Kentucky-based manufacturer of metals for the global transportation, toolmaking, and food and beverage industries. The company's first project, the construction of Braidy Atlas aluminium rolling mill, will position Braidy Industries as the low-cost, low-carbon maker of 300,000 annual tonnes of production-ready series 3000, 5000 and 6000 aluminium sheet for the automotive and beverage can industries. Craig Bouchard, CEO of Braidy...

The US dollar held its ground against its rivals on Monday, after a sharp rally last Friday boosted by the stronger-than-expected US jobs data. LME base metals closed mixed on Monday and aluminium shed 0.1%. The SHFE complex also saw mixed performance overnight and aluminium increased about 0.7%. Three-month LME aluminium rebounded to an intraday high of US$1,773.5 per tonne on Monday, before it erased those gains to close 0.11% weaker at US$1,760.5 per tonne. The buildup of short positions primarily accounted for the losses. LME aluminium is expected to remain rangebound between US$1,740-1,800 per tonne today. As on December 9, Monday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1765.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1766 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at...

After starting the week with restraint at RMB 2,467 per tonne, the average alumina spot price today, on December 10, has recorded a plunge of RMB 9 per tonne to RMB 2,458 per tonne, found Shanghai Metals Market. So far this month, the average alumina spot price has shown a bearish trend like the month before, although within a limited range. In last just more than a week, the price has slipped by RMB 25 per tonne ranging between RMB 2,483 per tonne and RMB 2,458 per tonne. In the east, the average spot price of alumina has declined by RMB 20 per tonne to RMB 2,460 per tonne, while that in the central and north by RMB 10 per tonne to RMB 2,480 per tonne and RMB 2,460 per tonne. In the south, the price has shown no change today. Also, the imported alumina price and the Australian alumina...

According to the General Administration of Customs data, China’s unwrought aluminium (including primary metal and alloy) and aluminium products exports in November came in at 452,000 tonnes after recording an increase of 4.9 per cent month-on-month. In October, however, China’s unwrought aluminium and aluminium products exports were down by 1.18 per cent from the previous month to 429,852 tonnes. In September also, the exports were lower by 6.6 per cent from 466,000 tonnes in August to 435,000 tonnes. In the first eleven months of the year, China’s total volume of unwrought aluminium (including primary metal and alloy) and aluminium products exports amounted to 5.25 million tonnes, down 0.3 per cent from the corresponding period last year. China’s production of primary aluminium also fell...

As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, extended their declines over the weekend and stood at 672,000 tonnes as of Monday December 9. That was down 33,000 tonnes from 705,000 tonnes on Thursday December 5. Primary aluminium inventories dropped 50,000 tonnes in the previous week. The chart below shows the current status of the primary aluminium inventories across China in more details: Compared to last Thursday, inventories of primary aluminium in Wuxi, Shanghai, and Nanhai plunged by 10,000 tonnes,3,000 tonnes and 16,000 tonnes to stand at 206,000 tonnes, 127,000 tonnes and 168,000 tonnes. Linyi, Shandong stocks remained unchanged at 5,000 tonnes. Inventories in Hangzhou, Zhejiang...

Aluminium scrap exports from Mexico to the United States continued to fall month-on-month in August by about 19 per cent, found the United States Geological Survey. From 12,800 tonnes in July, Mexico’s exports to the US declined to 10,400 tonnes in August. In May and June, on the other hand, the country's exports were 15,100 tonnes and 14,500 tonnes, respectively, representing the fact that Mexico’s aluminium scrap exports to the US had been decreasing since May. While in June the amount decreased by 4 per cent, in July it dropped by 12 per cent month-on-month, which indicates another fact that the declining rate in exports has been increasing over the months. Mexico’s total aluminium scrap exports to the US during May-August came in at 52,800 tonnes and since January 105,000 tonnes. This...

On Sunday, December 8, Mexico’s foreign minister rejected the United States proposal for aluminium and steel production under the new trade deal, citing that it would leave Mexico at a disadvantage. During a meeting with senators over details of negotiations for the United States-Mexico-Canada treaty (USMCA), Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the US proposed 70 per cent of steel for automobile production from the North American region. This, according to him, will put Mexico at a great disadvantage as cars produced in Mexico also use components imported from Brazil, Japan, and Germany. Ebrard also said that Mexico would not accept any term for aluminium provisions either, as the United States has no resources to produce aluminium. He rather pointed out that Mexico is one of...

The Aluminum Association has objected to the request for exclusion to Section 301 tariffs applied to imports of Chinese-origin aluminium body stock and end stock. The trade association submitted a letter of objection to the office of United States Trade Representative (USTR). Lauren Wilk, Vice President, Policy & International Trade in the Aluminum Association said in the letter that the imposition of Section 301 duties on certain aluminium products will send an important signal to the Chinese government on the need to address overcapacity through a government-to-government negotiated agreement. The letter added that the broad exclusions from tariffs will discourage Chinese government to take the aluminium overcapacity seriously. Aluminum Association specifically objected to the exclusion...

The US dollar rallied from one-month lows against its rivals on Friday, as investors digested a better-than-expected US nonfarm payrolls report. LME base metals closed higher on Friday and aluminium rose 0.8%. The SHFE complex also traded mostly higher on Friday night but aluminium bucked the uptrend and lost almost 0.1%. Three-month LME aluminium rallied from a two-week low of US$1,735 per tonne on Friday amid the uptrend across nonferrous metals on the back of upbeat US employment report. LME aluminium finished the trading day 0.77% higher at US$1,762.5 per tonne on Friday night, with the unwinding of short positions primarily accounting for the gains. It is likely to trade rangebound at US$1,750-1,800 per tonne today. As on December 6, Friday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at...

A00 aluminium ingot price opened the week lower at RMB 14060 per tonne on Monday, 09 December 2019, marking a drop of RMB 10 per tonne or 0.07 per cent from Friday’s price of RMB 14070 per tonne. The price is expected to range at RMB 14040-14080 per tonne. Spot aluminium price is likely to trade at a premium of RMB 20-60 per tonne. Source: Shanghai Metals Market A00 aluminium ingot prices in Wuxi and Tianjin stood at RMB 14070 per tonne and RMB 14075 per tonne, up RMB 10 per tonne each. Their average prices are expected to range within RMB 14060-14080 per tonne and RMB 14070-14080 per tonne. The prices in Hangzhou and Gongyi dropped by RMB 20 per tonne and RMB 10 per tonne to stand at RMB 14085 per tonne and RMB 13965 per tonne. Aluminium ingot prices in Foshan, Chongqing, Shenyang, and...

The Australian exploration and mining company Metro Mining Limited announced another strong monthly performance for November, and with that a step closer to the production guidance of 2019. According to the performance report, the company produced 452,000 wet metric tonnes (WMT) of bauxite in November and shipped 463,000 wet metric tonnes (WMT). Metro Mining Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Simon Finnis, said: “This is another very pleasing result for the team, both on and off-site. We are on target to meet the upper end of guidance. “It has been a very successful operational year and I am extremely proud of the effort and performance of the Metro team and our contracting partners.” Up until November 30, Metro Mining’s total amount of bauxite production and shipment came in...

According to Shanghai Metals Market, China’s primary aluminium production fell 0.81% from a year ago to 2.94 million tonne in November. Output in January-November stood at 32.39 million tonne, which registered a drop of 2.14% year-on-year. Better pricing, higher demand and high profits margins led to the resumption of some primary aluminium capacity in November. SMM survey found that the average profit for producing per tonne of primary aluminium crossed RMB 600 per tonne in November. During November end, primary aluminium capacity in operation climbed to 35.9 million tonne per year. Operating capacity of aluminium is likely to increase further in December with new capacity coming online in in Yunnan, Sichuan, and Inner Mongolia. After 12 consecutive months of decline year on year,...

Shanghai Metals Market data showed that China’s alumina production in November stood at 5.71 million tonnes, with metallurgical-grade materials accounting for 5.46 million tonnes. The output in the first nine months of this year decreased 1.84% year-on-year to 63.06 million tonnes. The production of alumina is likely to drop this month as Luoyang Wanji has only one roasting furnace in operation. Commissioning of the phase-one project at Jingxi Tiangui, with a capacity of 800,000 tonnes per year, will contribute to the output in December, found SMM. The daily average production of metallurgical-grade alumina totalled 182,000 tonnes, up 0.42% from a month ago, but down 10.31% from a year earlier. As of early December, metallurgical-grade alumina capacity in operation inched up to 69.59...