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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Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has approved Alliance Metals’ application for an air quality permit for its proposed US$30 million secondary aluminium smelting plant in La Paz County, Arizona, a local media report says. Loren Barton, vice president of Miami-based Alliance Metals USA said that the smelter will include "state-of-the-art technology, infrastructure and mitigation controls to contain emissions and protect air and water quality." A meeting today, at the proposed site for the facility in Wenden, Arizona, will consider Alliance Metals' request to rezone the land from a “rural area” to an “industrial planned development” area. The facility would recycle aluminium scrap to produce aluminium ingots for the auto, aerospace or military industries. The facility is expected...
A00 aluminium ingot price continued to edge higher by RMB 10 per tonne or 0.07 per cent to stand at RMB 14130 per tonne on Thursday, 05 December 2019, from its previous price of RMB 14120 per tonne on December 4. This marked the sixth consecutive hike in aluminium price. The price is expected to range at RMB 14110-14150 per tonne. Spot aluminium price is likely to trade at a premium of RMB 40-80 per tonne. Source: Shanghai Metals Market Aluminium Ingot prices dropped across all major markets in China. Linyi witnessed the highest drop in aluminium ingot price. The price stood at RMB 14100 per tonne, down by RMB 50 per tonne from its previous price. The average price is likely to range at RMB 14090-14110 per tonne. Aluminium prices in Foshan and Wuxi did not show any movement today. Foshan...
The US dollar held firm above a one-month low against its rivals after a news report on Wednesday from Bloomberg that said the US and China were edging closer to a trade deal. LME base metals, except for aluminium and nickel, drifted higher on Wednesday. The SHFE aluminium dipped 0.07%. Three-month LME aluminium erased earlier gains to its lowest in more than one week at US$1,748 per tonne on Wednesday night, before it recovered some ground to close down 0.54% at US$1,758.5 per tonne. The unwinding of long positions primary accounted for the loss in prices, which bucked the uptrend across most nonferrous metals. As on December 4, Wednesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1770.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1771 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands...
The Australian listed resources company FYI Resources has reportedly received an industrial site in the Kwinana industrial area for its high purity alumina refining facility. The facility, as per the report, will refine kaolin feedstock arrived from FYI’s Cadoux Project. The company’s managing director Roland Hill said on Wednesday, December 4, that the Kwinana industrial area was a world-class industrial hub, adding that FYI Resources was delighted to be selected as a proponent within the zone and a participant in the Battery Valley. “Having our HPA refinery located in this zone is a real asset to the company and is integral to our fully integrated production strategy. The benefit of being located in the Kwinana industrial area brings many tangible and intangible benefits to our business...
Kingston Automation Technology, a Kingston based business owned by mother-son duo has modernized the aluminium container production process in order to make aluminium bottles more convenient and a viable alternative to plastic bottles. “It was important that we redesign these lines,” owner Ben Pilon said. “These are generally, around the world, 60- or 70-year-old technology. We wanted to make them smaller. Kingston Automation Technology is likely to produce about 75 million containers in 2020 and create about 30 jobs at its Montreal location. The company’s patented blow moulding technology can create easily recyclable and reusable aluminium containers in comparison to plastic or glass. They are easy to produce and transport, and more cost effective than traditional aluminium bottles. “Our...
China’s largest secondary aluminium producer Sigma Group will reportedly build a liquid aluminium factory in Gongxi, Henan, with an annual capacity of 200,000 tonnes. According to Shanghai Metals Market report, this liquid aluminium will be supplied to the processing plant of Zhongfu Industry, as Sigma and Zhongfu signed a supply agreement on Tuesday, December 3. The factory will be located in Yulian Industrial Park and is expected to be operational in June 2020. Zhongfu’s costs for aluminium deep and precision process are expected to come down by RMB 800 per tonne to RMB 1,000 per tonne once this plant becomes operational next year. According to SMM research, there are 3 million tonnes of aluminium processing capacities in Gongyi, but less than 10 per cent of it uses secondary aluminium....
According to a recent report, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has urged the Centre to resume the project for upgradation of infrastructure at Angul Aluminium Park in Odisha. He wrote to Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal seeking his personal intervention to direct the concerned officials to undertake the review of the work done so far. In the letter, he has also requested the Centre to restart the upgradation work with a renewed focus on ironing out bottlenecks for expeditious completion of the project. The letter states: "I also request to restore central assistance to Odisha aluminium cluster at Angul under MIIUS with the objective of enhancing of industrial competitiveness of the aluminium industry by providing quality infrastructure in the cluster which has...
Perth based Lindian Resources has announced that the bauxite ore body of its Gaoual bauxite project in northwest Guinea is significantly larger than they expected. This was confirmed by the surface mapping conducted by the company's geological expert, Mark Gifford, and project geologist, Hashimu Millanga. The company says its high grade Bouba “conglomerate” bauxite target now extends around a kilometre further to the north than the initial estimate of 1.5km. Lindian is planning a two-stage drilling program for the project with two key targets - Bouba and Mamaya. Lindian Managing Director Shannon Green said: “The geologists identifying that the areal extent of the Bouba Conglomerate Bauxite Plateau could potentially be significantly larger than initially identified puts Lindian Resources...
National Aluminium Company (Nalco), on Tuesday, December 3, once again appealed the Supreme Court to challenge the Odisha High Court’s March order that allowed Vedanta’s Jharsugda unit to participate in the tender for the sale of surplus 30,000 tonnes of metallurgical grade calcined alumina. In April this year, Nalco had first approached the Supreme Court over this issue, citing that the tender for alumina exports was issued only to overseas customers and, therefore, Vedanta’s Jharsugda unit was not entitled to participate in the tender. Later on, the state-owned Navratna company clarified that Vedanta could participate in the tender through its sister concern based in London. Nalco also exports its surplus alumina of over 1.2 million tonnes after meeting its in-house need at Angul...
As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, China’s imports of bauxite continued to fall for the third straight month. China imported 6.48 million tonnes of bauxite in October as compared to 6.75 million tonnes in September. Bauxite imports declined by 3.97% month-on-month and 6.01% year-on-year, according to China Customs data under HS code 26060000. This decline in China’s import is due to a plunge in the volume from the major supplier, the Republic of Guinea, as it entered a rainy season in July. Source: Shanghai Metals Market In the first ten months of 2019, imports of bauxite increased by 18.4% compared with the same period last year. Imports stood at 84.62 million tonnes. Australia, Guinea, and Indonesia remained the top three bauxite suppliers in October. The three countries together...
The US dollar extended its decline on Tuesday against a basket of its rivals as disappointing manufacturing data and new developments in global trade tensions rattled greenback investors. LME base metals closed lower on Tuesday and aluminium tumbled 1.3%. The SHFE complex traded mixed overnight and aluminium increased 0.3%. LME aluminium had a bullish run over the day and closed day's trading at US$1802 per tonne. Following the downtrend across the nonferrous complex, three-month LME aluminium retreated from three-week highs on Tuesday night and lost 1.31% to US$1,768/mt. The unwinding of long positions primarily accounted for the loss in LME aluminium overnight. It is expected to trade rangebound between US$1,750-1,800 per tonne today. As on December 3, Tuesday, LME aluminium cash (bid)...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, the average spot price of alumina continues to decline marginally by RMB 2 per tonne to RMB 2,478 per tonne, as of December 4. In the north of China, the price has dropped too by RMB 5 per tonne to RMB 2,480 per tonne for a week at RMB 2,485 per tonne since dropped from RMB 2,490 per tonne on November 25. The average prices in the north are expected to range between RMB 2,470 per tonne and RMB 2,490 per tonne. In the east, central, and south, however, the alumina price has shown no sign of change from RMB 2,490 per tonne, RMB 2,495 per tonne and RMB 2,520 per tonne, respectively. The imported price of alumina as well as the Australian alumina FOB price, have neither recorded any change today from RMB 2,540 per tonne and US$273 per tonne, respectively....
On Tuesday, December 3, the French government announced that the European Union and France are ready to retaliate if the United States proposed tariffs of up to 100 per cent on $2.4 billion worth French goods come into effect. The Trump administration on Monday, December 2, announced to impose harsh penalties on France as its new digital services tax has taken a toll on the United States technology companies. Donald Trump said he would not allow France to take advantage of American companies and that the European Union treats the US very unfairly on trade. Trump also said that he would impose aluminium and steel tariffs on imports from Brazil and Argentina, with an immediate effect. However, French Minister Bruno Le Maire refused to accept the US charges and said the French tax did not...
The undisputable production growth in the global aluminium industry in last one decade has resulted in wide spread Greenfield and Brownfield expansions across the aluminium value chain. The year 2019 also saw many key projects ground breaking, developing and commissioning in the upstream and downstream sector. Most of the projects announced were driven by the upstream integration strategies of the metal producers and downstream expansions to cater to the growing demands and add value to their primary production. We are listing here a few key projects from the upstream sector that were announced and commissioned in 2019: Upstream Segment Guinea Alumina Corporation Emirates Global Aluminium's Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC ) project is one of the largest Greenfield investments in Guinea in...
SMS group has been awarded a contract to supply an extrusion press to Constellium Singen GmbH in Germany. SMS group will install a 45-MN aluminium extrusion press in a newly established production hall at the Singen site. The extrusion press will expand the company’s production capacity of high-quality aluminium profiles. Commissioning of the extrusion press is scheduled for summer 2020. “The 45-MN front-loading extrusion press will be built to SMS group’s latest design and be equipped with the highly precise linear guidance system for all moving main components of the press, with servo drive technology for all auxiliary functions as well as the proven EcoDraulic concept to reduce energy consumption of the hydraulic pumps,” according to SMS group. Another feature of the press is the...
According to the United States Geological Survey, Japan’s aluminium plates, sheets and bars exports to the US recorded a decline in August by about 5.41 per cent to 4,890 tonnes, followed after three consecutive months of growth. In July, Japan’s export volume of aluminium plates, sheets and bars to the US had increased 30 per cent month-on-month to come in at 5,170 tonnes, while that in June grew by 3 per cent from 3,890 tonnes in May to 3,990 tonnes. Thus, Japan’s aluminium plates, sheets and bars exports to the US from May to August totalled at 17,940 tonnes. From January to August, the total export volume was 32,900 tonnes, which represents the fact that Japan’s exports in the first four months of the year were lesser by 17 per cent than the next four months. After Japan, India was...
According to researcher Niklas Lindahl from the Department of Physics at Chalmers University of Technology, aluminium air batteries (AIBs), which is in an R&D phase now, will be at per with lithium-ion batteries in 10 to 15 years’ time and substitute them in many applications. Once industrial scale manufacturing starts, AIBs would provide a better, cheaper and less environmentally harmfull charge carrier than lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), Lindahl added. Researchers from Swedish Chalmers University of Technology and the National Institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana, Slovenia are working to resolve the issues that are stopping commercial use of AIBs. The team has recently made a breakthrough by making batteries with twice the energy density of available AIBs. While LIBs use scarce graphite,...
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the world’s largest smelter ex-China, successfully refinanced its US$1.5 billion syndicated loan facility in connection to the Line 6 Expansion Project. Alba managed to reduce interest margin from 325 basis points over the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) to 300 basis points over LIBOR. This new facility has an 8-year tenor and the principal amount will be repaid in 16 semi-annual instalments and includes a 6-month grace period. The facility comprises two tranches: a US Dollar-denominated senior unsecured conventional term-loan facility (the Conventional Facility) of US$590.3 million and a US Dollar-denominated senior Shari’ah-compliant facility (the Islamic Facility) of US$909.7 million. Arab Banking Corporation (Bank ABC), Gulf International Bank (GIB) and...
