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 $6.09 billion. The figures come as the possibility of a...
Century Aluminum’s proposed USD 4 billion primary aluminum smelter in Inola, Oklahoma, is “moving forward on all fronts” as the company prepares for construction, despite local opposition and legal challenges, CEO Jesse Gary said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. Developed jointly by Century Aluminum and Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the project is designed to produce 750,000 tonnes of primary aluminum annually, potentially doubling U.S. primary aluminum production. The facility is expected to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs and add USD 1.5 billion to Oklahoma’s gross domestic product, according to company estimates. The partners had targeted construction to begin by the end of 2026. However, local restrictions and permitting challenges have affected the...
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The Netherlands is home to one of the notable aluminium smelting operations in the world - Delfzijl aluminium smelter in Farmsum, and is the ninth largest export economy in the world, of which aluminium accounts for US$ 1.74 billion on average. This indicates the requirement of a considerable amount of alumina in the Netherlands. {newsStudioGallery} Source: https://www.statista.com As the graph above shows the Netherlands' alumina imports have been rising consistently over the years, let us here analyse the country's imports trends from two of the most significant suppliers - Jamaica and Ireland. Jamaica has always been the top exporter of alumina to the Netherlands, irrespective of the fluctuation in volume. In 2016, the Netherlands had imported 276,788 tonnes of alumina from Jamaica,...
Michael Peter Ferraro, Alumina Limited - MD, CEO & Executive Director forecasts a modest surplus of alumina during the remaining months of 2019. He also forecasts on the Chinese alumina supply/demand balance over the next few years. He sees small alumina surpluses of around 0.5 million tonnes or less in each of the next 3 years. He said this during H1 earning presentation of Alumina Ltd. The company reported about 20 million bauxite production and 6.2 million tonnes of alumina production in H1 2019. It sticks to a full year production guidance of 12.6 million tonnes of alumina for 2019. Over H1 2019, the alumina price ranged between US$418 and US$321 per tonne, and AWAC's realized price averaged US$375. The alumina market headed from a balance in H1 2019 to a small surplus outside of...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, the social inventories of primary aluminium have extended decline over the weekend ended on September 9, as stocks in Gongyi, Henan have recorded a drop due to fewer arrivals. SMM data showed that the inventories across eight major Chinese consumption areas, including SHFE warrants, stood at 992,000 tonnes after declining by 14,000 tonnes from 1.006 million tonnes on Thursday, September 5. On last Monday, September 2, the inventories were at 1.016 million tonnes, which indicates that today the stocks have decreased by 24,000 tonnes week-on-week. The chart below represents the current status of primary aluminium inventories in China in more details: The above chart shows the primary aluminium inventories in Wuxi, Jiangsu have dropped by 8,000 tonnes to...
The US dollar was marginally lower on Friday against a basket of currencies, holding above a one-week low. Base metals ended mostly lower. LME aluminium lost 0.5% and SHFE aluminium dropped 0.4%. LME aluminium closed the week higher with the falling dollar. Three-month LME aluminium pulled back a bit after three consecutive trading days of increases, closing down 0.45% at US$1,783 per tonne overnight on Friday. With support from the 20-day moving average, it is likely to trade between US$1,770-1,800 per tonne today. As on September 6, Friday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1761per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1761.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1787 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1787.50 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at US$...
The average Bauxite (4.5≤Al/Si＜5.5) price in Shanxi stood at RMB 440 per tonne on Monday, down RMB 10 per tonne or 2.22 per cent, after remaining flat since July 31 at RMB 450 per tonne. The average price is expected to stay within a range of RMB 390-RMB 490 per tonne. The price of bauxite remains unchanged in Guangxi and Guizhou China markets. The average Bauxite (4.5≤Al/Si＜5.5) price in Henan dropped from RMB410 per tonne to RMB400 per tonne on Monday, 09 September 2019. The average price is expected to range between RMB370-430 per tonne. In another update from Shanghai Metals Market, A00 aluminium ingot price started the week lower at RMB14390 per tonne. That was down RMB30 per tonne from September 6. The average price is expected to move within a range of RMB14370-14410 per tonne. In...
According to a recent report, the federation of aluminium vessel manufacturers said on Sunday, September 8, that it should appeal to the Union Government for the reduction of the GST on aluminium vessels. Deputy Speaker Pollachi V. Jayaraman told the media that in the recent years, this industry has seen a dent due to levy of GST, shortage of workers, and hike in raw materials prices. So, the federation members have decided to appeal to the Union Government to reduce the GST on aluminium vessels. Deputy Speaker further said this demand would be recommended to the Union Government. He also told media that aluminium vessels are used widely in houses and hotels for cooking and various other purposes. They are mainly manufactured in Coimbatore, Chennai, Salem, and Madurai. About 150 people...
The Primary Aluminum industry is going through a rapid transition to a new digital age. Process productivity, focus on energy cost and product quality, and management of scrap are daily concerns within plant operations. Whilst this industry makes long-term investments in large assets, driving the importance of maximizing the return on investment by increasing the availability and reliability of the smelter assets, this has become a major focal point within the aluminium smelter. While there are many challenges in the industry, they are becoming surmountable, thanks to the recent technology developments evolving out of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industrial Transformation: comprising amongst other technologies; powerful algorithms, machine learning, artificial...
Maximum plant efficiency through digitalization SMS group has elevated digital transformation to an entrepreneurial strategy as changing market conditions determine whether a company can be still successful in the future or not. Since then, the management structure, corporate divisions, the product range, and corporate culture have been under review for adapting to the new circumstances. This is where SMS digital was born: A company with a special background as SMS digital combines best of both worlds – 150 years of experience in metallurgical plant engineering and up-to-date technology and expertise in digitalization. As the digital subsidiary of SMS group, SMS digital develops innovative solutions with which it “digitalizes” the metal industry to go straight towards its vision of the...
We believe in a primary aluminium industry in which people do not have to be exposed to the dangers of high current, molten metal and corrosive dust for their everyday operations. And since aluminium plants are essentially a combination of logistical processes – related to anode transport, molten metal transport, bath transport and more – we believe that to achieve this vision, smelters have to come up with new approaches for their logistical processes. We call this smart logistics, and it is an implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies for existing smelters. The business case for smarter logistics is clear: not only can it help to make the processes safer and more reliable, but the financial impact is also significant. We estimated over 4.5 million USD yearly OPEX savings for a 600,000...
Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister in charge of Western Economic Diversification Canada, announced over US$4.9 million for 10 steel and aluminium companies across British Columbia, which are creating jobs and contributing to Canada’s economy. This funding is also provided under Regional Economic Growth through Innovation (REGI) Steel and Aluminum Initiative, announced in March 2019, which was designed to provide support to small and medium-sized businesses in the steel, aluminium, and manufacturing sectors in Canada. The non-repayable contributions can be used for enhancing productivity, adopting new innovative technologies in order to enhance productivity and create more skilled jobs. "Our government is supporting Canada's hard-working...
MillerCoors has named recognized Crown Beverage Packaging Mexico, a business unit of Crown Holdings, as its 2018 Packaging Materials Supplier of the Year and Packaging Materials Most Valuable Plant. The company won the Supplier of the Year award for the second time in three years. "Crown consistently strives to excel in every category, and is an indispensable partner to us,” said Ryan Aguirre, Global Senior Category Manager, Metals, MillerCoors. “Its lean manufacturing plant in Monterrey delivers outstanding quality and service to MillerCoors’ operations in the United States. These prestigious awards are well-deserved, and we look forward to working with Crown for many years to come.” Crown’s plant in Monterrey supplies MillerCoors with crowns and aluminium roll-on closures for glass...
With the enforcement of the standard operating procedure (SOP) for bauxite mining and export in Pahang, interested parties can now apply for mining licence, Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Dr Xavier Jayakumar said. The miners need to adhere to the SOP in order to get the approval from the Pahang state government to carry out mining in the state. "In order to secure approval, mining operators will have to adhere to the new SOP which has been introduced with more stringent regulations of the industry," he said. Xavier said this during the World Elephant Day celebration at the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre in Lanchang. According to New Straits Times the state government, through the Land and Mines Office (PTG), will be responsible for issuing permits to mining...
The US dollar continued to rise to a more than two-year high of 99.13 on expectations of an upcoming interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve. After holding it for two days, the dollar dropped 0.55% against a basket of major currencies, to 98.38, marking its biggest one-day loss in three months. The dollar held its earlier losses and helped base metals recover from the earlier losses. LME base metals recovered from the depressed trend over this week and SHFE aluminium continued to trade strong due to positive fundamentals. LME aluminium started the week with US$ 1716.5 per tonne and continued trading higher to close the week at US$ 1761.5 per tonne on Friday September 6. Three-month LME aluminium started the week at US$ US$ 1745.50 per tonne and ended it 2.4% higher at US$ 1787.50 per...
ENOC Group, a wholly-owned company of the Government of Dubai, has reportedly launched a new fleet of tankers in compliance with the latest international EHS standards. This move is in line with the group’s commitment towards including best EHS practices for all its stakeholders. Besides being ADR certified (a European Agreement concerning the ‘International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road), the new tankers feature cutting edge technologies to ensure safe driving, reduce driver fatigue, increase fuel efficiency, stabilise the vehicle, and prevent accidents. For instance, the vehicles have Alcolock feature which automatically locks the truck to disallow the driver to enter the cabin if he has consumed alcohol. The fleet can monitor driver behaviour as well, such as distractions,...
A00 aluminium ingot price continued to remain on an upward trend throughout the week. The week started higher at RMB14310 per tonne on Monday, 02 September 2019, up RMB20 per tonne from August 30. The price did not show any change on Thursday but ended the week higher at RMB14420 per tonne on Friday, 06 September 2019. Inventories of primary aluminium stocks in China fell this week for a second straight week, as most regions saw greater deliveries. As of Monday September 2, Shanghai Metals Market data showed that social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, stood at 1.016 million tonnes, down 17,000 tonnes from Thursday August 29. Primary aluminium inventories continued to decline to 1.006 million tonnes as of Thursday September...
STAS INC. and FOUNDRY ECOCER have signed a mutual agreement to market and sell complementary products in order to offer a competitive edge to aluminium foundries and casthouses world-wide. They expect this collaboration to further develop their market and improve their product and technologies. The two businesses are industry-leaders in aluminium casthouse and foundry technology and products. STAS INC. is based in Saguenay, Quebec, Canada and has been designing and supplying casthouse technologies and equipment since 1989 in order to improve productivity and quality of aluminium. FOUNDRY ECOCER stands as one of the major Italian companies for the production of consumables and equipment for non-ferrous alloys foundries and casthouses. Both offer services that are correlated to each other....
Peter Kohling, Engineering Manager, Hydro Precision Tubing (HPTT) and Steve Short, Sales Manager, Inductotherm Heating & Welding Ltd, confirm the final commissioning of a new Banyard Aluminium Induction Billet Heating System for the HPTT P27 9” press upgrade programme. Inductotherm Banyard provided LFi Smart System Induction Heaters, which consist of 2 x Zero Friction, Multi Zone Coil Induction Heaters for 9” aluminium billets. - The Heaters are each 750kw and the system includes Cold Billet Pallet Systems, Overhead Transfer Manipulator and full Control Interface to the press. Inductotherm Group offers advanced technology for the engineering, manufacturing and service of thermal processing equipment used in the melting, heating, heat treating, forging, galvanizing, coating, cutting and...
According to a Reuters report, one Japanese aluminium buyer has agreed to pay a global aluminium producer a premium of US$97 per tonne over the LME benchmark price for Q4 shipments (October to December), down 10% from Q3. This was confirmed by a source directly involved in price negotiations. It was reported that the aluminium producer had offered Japanese buyers a premium of US$110 per tonne for primary metal shipments for Q4. Buyers were negotiating for a lower premium considering abundant aluminium supply and falling demand in China. “We will ask for lower premiums, like between US$90 and US$100 per tonne, as there are abundant supplies and demand is softening in China and the rest of Asia, including Japan amid a slower economy,” a source at a trading house said after the offer. For...
