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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Constellium has received a $9.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to increase throughput, quality and performance of cold rolled aluminium at its facility in Ravenswood, West Virginia. The company will use the funds to upgrade electrical, mechanical and hydraulic system at Ravenswood’s 144” cold rolling mill and add state of the art automation and process controls. The cold rolling mill is critically important for the production of “high-performance aluminium plate for ballistic and blast protection of military vehicles”. “This investment by the Department of Defense will enable us to meet the increased demand for cold rolled plate over the next 5 to 10 years and also significantly improve the performance of armor against constantly evolving threats,” said Buddy Stemple,...
According to the preliminary estimates from Aluminum Association, aluminium demand in the United States and Canada (shipments by domestic producers plus imports) totalled an estimated 8.6 million tonnes from January to August 2019, a slight increase over YTD 2018. Demand for semi-fabricated (mill) products in the United States and Canada totalled 6.2 million tonnes though August 2019, up 1.7 per cent YoY. Demand for semis stood at an estimated 780,632 tonnes in August, off 1.1 per cent over August 2018. Shipments of aluminium sheet and plate stood at 446,788 tonnes in August, up 3.1 per cent YoY. Extruded product shipments declined 6.1 per cent YoY to 225,435 tonnes. Estimated shipments of aluminium ingot for castings, exports and other uses stood at 312,979 tonnes in August, down 12.9...
United States tariffs on aluminium imports had a great effect on the country’s domestic aluminium industry, said Andy Home, Senior Metals Columnist at Thomson Reuters, at the London Metal Exchange Week 2019. As the US import duties came into effect on the national security grounds in early 2018, the US Midwest premium, which overlays the LME cash price, expanded from 10 cents per pound to 22 cents per pound. The premium later eased to 18 cents per pound, though much higher than levels seen before the imposition of the tariffs. This hike in prices was primarily because of the disruption in supply chain, both primary aluminium and semi-finished, as a result of lesser imports due to tariffs. However, the above graph indicates that the steel and aluminium import tariffs in 2018 had no impact...
RUSAL is planning to install over 20 state-of-the-art dry gas cleaning systems (DGCS) at its smelters by 2025. These advanced systems developed by RUSAL own team will allow the Company to capture over 99.5 % of hydrogen fluoride and solid fluorides. The project was launched in 2016 by Rusal. Bratsk aluminium smelter installed another DGCS, developed by the design and scientific divisions of RUSAL-SibVAMI (Irkutsk) and RUSAL ITC (Krasnoyarsk) in October 2019. More DGCS’ are already in operation at the Company’s industrial sites in Shelekhov and Novokuznetsk. "This project is truly unique thanks to our patented design solutions, enabling RUSAL to complete the switch to utilising our own dry gas cleaning systems as part of our "EcoSoderberg" technology implementation. This innovative new...
According to a recent report, Southland leaders will start a campaign to save the Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter from being closed. Campaign leader Carla Forbes said the campaign would be about getting a fair operating environment in the smelter besides highlighting on the fact that the smelter was not only good for Southland but all of New Zealand. "Aluminium is a smart metal, it's in every iPhone, in aeroplane wings ... it's the metal of the future and we make the world's best. It's a vital component in the technological landscape," said Forbes. Smelter owner Rio Tinto, however, has not made any decisions about its future. It is reviewing different options that also include closure, as low aluminium prices and high energy costs may become threats to its ongoing viability. Rio is also...
India’s exports of total aluminium including crude metal and alloys and semi-finished products to the US amounted to 147,000 tonnes in the first seven months of 2019, slightly up from 146,000 tonnes in the first seven months of 2018, as updated by US Census Bureau. Total aluminium exports by India to the USA totalled 10,800 tonnes in July, marking a drop of 50.91% or 11,200 tonnes from 22,000 tonnes in July 2018. Crude metal and alloys and aluminium semi-finished products export declined 29.41% from June’s export of 15,300 tonnes and 53.85% from May’s export of 23,400 tonnes. Exports of semi-finished products (plates, sheets, bars, etc.) to the US stood at 36,100 tonnes in January-July, with a year-on-year increase of 29.86%. Exports were 27,800 tonnes in January-July 2018. In July, India...
Novelis Inc., the world leader in aluminium rolling and recycling broke ground on a US$36 million expansion to upgrade recycling capacity at its Greensboro facility. The investment will fund state-of-the-art equipment for aluminium scrap recycling along with other technical and construction upgrades. It will also enhance the facility's safety systems. The expansion is likely to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2021. The investment will expand Novelis' automotive closed-loop recycling capability, which procures aluminium scrap created during stamping and recycle it for new vehicle production. The process preserves the value of the alloy, reduces cost, cuts energy consumption and establishes a secure supply chain. The facility will continue with used beverage can recycling operations....
When there are multiple reports in the market on aluminium and its various applications, why do you need another report on aluminium foil and its end uses? Due to its versatility and multiple uses, aluminium foil turns out to become one of the most consumed aluminium products across the world along with being one of the most profitable aluminium products around the world. Growing at 3.9% per annum, the global aluminium foil usage reached 5.33 million tonnes in 2018 and is further, forecast to reach 6.71 million tonnes by 2025. China’s aluminium foil usage is estimated at 2.43 million tonnes in 2018 which accounts for about 46% of the world usage. Production wise, world total aluminium foil capacity stood at an estimated 6.85 million tonnes in 2018 and China accounted for about 63% of it....
Shanghai Metals Market found the aluminium billet inventories dropped over the week, marking the third consecutive weekly fall, but at a slower pace as consumption weakened. According to the data, the stocks of 6063 aluminium billet shrank 1,900 tonnes to stand at 116,200 tonnes across five major consumption areas, as of Thursday, October 31, compared to the decline of 11,000 tonnes to 118,100 on October 24. On October 17, the stocks decreased by 7,600 tonnes over the week to come in at 129,200 tonnes. The chart below indicates the current status of aluminium billet inventories across major markets in China: So, the above chart indicates that the billet inventories only fell in Foshan, Guangdong by about 9,000 tonnes to stand at 55,000 tonnes; while in all other the markets the stocks...
The US dollar fell against other major currencies after the US Federal Reserve lowered interest rates for the third time this year and signalled the central bank will pause from here. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of other currencies, fell 0.21% and ended at 97.47. LME base metals mostly fell while the SHFE complex traded higher. LME aluminium went flat and SHFE aluminium rose 0.44%. Three-month LME aluminium failed to extend rise from the prior three sessions as longs booked profits and left after prices climbed to a high of US$1,763.5 per tonne. It ended slightly lower on the day at US$1,751 per tonne. LME aluminium is likely to trade at US$1,730-1,770 per tonne today. As on October 30, Wednesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1746 per...
Alcomet, a Bulgaria-based company that is principally engaged in the production of aluminium rolled and extruded products, reported a drop in non-consolidated net profit in the first nine months of 2019. Net profit dropped from 12.0 million levs in January-September 2018 to 8.3 million levs ($4.7 million/4.2 million euro) in January-September, Alcomet said in an interim financial statement. Revenue stood at 273.7 million levs in the first nine months of 2019, down from 288.2 million levs in the first nine months of 2018. Sales of extruded products increased 3.8% year-on-year to 18,042 tonnes in January-September period of 2019. Rolled products sale came in at 32,884 tonnes in the period under review, down 1% year-on-year. Germany accounted for 24.3% share of all sales. It was followed by...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, Shandong Weiqiao Group, the top aluminium producer in China continues to reduce the benchmark purchasing price for prebaked anode for the fifth consecutive month by RMB 100 per tonne. This brought the Weiqiao’s prebaked anode purchasing price for November to RMB 2,800 per tonne in cash, compared with RMB 2,900 per tonne in October. The benchmark purchasing price in October was RMB 25 per tonne lower than in September. So, the purchasing price in September was at RMB 2,925 per tonne after being reduced by RMB 75 per tonne from August. But the further fall of Weiqiao’s prebaked anode purchasing price has not yet affected the spot price of the prebaked anode in China market, found SMM. As of Thursday, October 31, the price has remained unchanged at RMB...
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has finally agreed on October 28, to establish a panel to settle an issue over India’s decision to impose retaliatory import tariffs on 28 US products. The development took place one month after India declined US request in September, to set up a panel to decide on India’s decision to impose additional duties on US products like apples, walnuts, chickpeas, lentils, boric acid and diagnostic reagents. According to a Geneva-based WTO official the Dispute Settlement Body of the organization agreed to the second request by the US for setting up a panel. The decision of the panel will influence the duties levied by other countries on US goods after the import taxes levied by Trump administration on those countries, especially the steel and aluminium tariffs....
Oetinger Aluminium has joined Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) as a new Production & Transformation member. This brings the total number of members working toward a responsible aluminium value chain to 103. Oetinger is a leading supplier of aluminium casting alloys for the automotive industry. The company operates two plants in Southern Germany and produces approximately 180,000 t/year of aluminium casting alloys in solid and liquid form. Oetinger specialises in the production of recycled aluminium. “For 75 years, Oetinger has been part of the sustainability concept of material aluminium. By joining ASI we would like to make an active contribution to the further development,” said Roland Keller, Managing director. ASI is a global, multi-stakeholder, non-profit standards setting and...
TES, the global electronic waste recycler, will reportedly open a new facility for recycling lithium-ion batteries in Singapore, said Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Koh Poh Koon on Wednesday, October 30. "This is an exciting development as the use of batteries for grid-related energy storage is projected to grow globally, to manage the increasing adoption of intermittent renewable energy such as solar," said Dr Koh at the Clean Energy Summit held at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. The new facility, named TES B, is expected to cost about $20 million. This investment is seen as a company investment to exemplify green growth opportunities. Dr Koh added that this new recycling facility would allow precious metals from the lithium-ion batteries to be reused to...
Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad (PMAH) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary PMB (Klang) Sdn Bhd entered into an agreement with Everlast Aluminium, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PMB Technology Berhad, for the proposed acquisition of the entire equity interest in PMB Central, PMB Northern and PMB Eastern for RM43.182 million. PMBT and its group of companies are principally involved in the manufacturing and trading of aluminium extrusion, fabrication of aluminium curtain wall and cladding systems and other aluminium related products. PMB (Klang) also signed a conditional agreement with PMBT for the proposed acquisition of the entire equity interest in PMB Aluminium Sabah for a cash consideration of RM1.2 million. “It is anticipated that upon completion of the Proposals, the...
A consortium led by China Aluminium International Engineering, a listed arm of Chinese aluminium giant Aluminium Corporation of China, has reportedly won a contract worth RMB 5.3 billion (USD745.3 million) to build an alumina refinery in Indonesia. The news arrived after Chalieco confirmed on October 24 on receiving the report from PT Borneo Alumina Indonesia that it won the engineering, procurement, and construction contract. As per the report, the project will have an annual output of 1 million tonnes of metallurgical grade alumina. Chalieco said that it would receive the contract amount in two parts, without disclosing the division between partners or the schedule. In the first part, it will receive US$369.9 million and in the second, US$374.6 million. Chalieco will be in charge of the...
AMAG Austria Metall AG has reported earnings results for Q3 and the first three quarters of 2019. After the recently completed site expansions, total shipments in the first three quarters increased by 7% YoY to 336,500 tonnes. Total revenue of EUR 821.5 million was at the same level as the first three quarters of 2018 and partially offset the negatives impact of lower aluminium prices. LME price averaged at US$1,829/t, down 15% YoY. EBITDA for Jan-Sept period dropped 9% to EUR 109.2 million from EUR 120.1 million in the same period of 2018. This drop was primarily driven by market-led decline in aluminium prices. Lower raw material costs had a positive effect on earnings. EBIT dropped to EUR 47.9 million from EUR 60.0 million in the previous year. Net income after taxes reduced from EUR...
