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...
Grow with
AL Circle
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has won two gold awards at the 2019 Ideas Arabia competition for employees’ suggestions. The Ideas Arabia competition encourages employee engagement in continuous improvement of a company through suggestion schemes, and rewards creative and original ideas. EGA winning entry included a safety suggestion developed by EGA employees Leyson Ecuacion, Reynaldo Subong, Gereliv Magale, Jayaprakash Rajagopaland and Rolando Milloria. The suggestion eliminated a potential fire risk through equipment modifications. Another winning idea was suggested by Ravindrakumar Shinde, Rajesh Chenolil, Melchor Gella, Satish Rajput and Balakrishnan K.P. for designing and building a robotic cleaning machine for pipes, eliminating the need for removal before cleaning. Both these...
The announcement of withdrawal of the mining order in the Eastern Ghats by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on June 25 has put the future of the 1.5 million-tonne Anrak alumina refinery set up by Anrak Aluminium Limited (AAL) in Visakhapatnam in dark. Bauxite mining rights were issued by the previous N Chandrababu Naidu government in November 2015. AAL, a joint venture between Penna Group and Ras Al-Khaimah Investment Authority (RAKIA) set up the refinery in 2013 with a total investment of over INR 6,000 crore. It was allowed to mine bauxite in Gudem and Chintapalle blocks through A.P. Mineral Development Corporation via an MOU signed in 2007 under the undivided AP. However, N Chandrababu Naidu government annulled the bauxite supply agreement with Anrak Aluminium...
Shanghai-based JuneYao Group has reportedly developed a world-leading aluminium alloy technology, a nano-ceramic aluminium alloy, which is expected to help China’s homegrown c919 passenger jets reduce 15 per cent of weight in the future. Besides being able to reduce weight, the new alloy is also capable of increasing the strength of traditional aluminium alloys by about 30 per cent. For foreign competitors, it may take one or two decades to catch up with such technology, JuneYao Group’s president Wang Junhao said at a conference on Sunday, July 7, 2019. Emphasising the importance of reducing airplane weight, Junhao also said that based on the oil price in 2015, losing one kilogram of a jet’s weight would be equivalent to saving 12,000 yuan in fuel consumption. Wu Guanghui, the chief...
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) reported a double digit increase in overall sales’ volume in Q2 2019 despite trade-tensions and the downward LME price graph. Alba, which is on the course to become the largest smelter in the world with the full ramp-up of Line 6 on 31 July 2019, has been steadily reporting growth in production and sales. Alba’s sales volume increased 25% YoY to stand at 311,928 tonnes from 249,595 tonnes in Q2 2018. Year-over-Year aluminium production jumped 21% YoY to 305,727 tonnes from 252,081 tonnes in Q2 2018. Value-Added (VA) Sales averaged at 52% of total shipments in comparison with 60% for the same period in 2018. Commenting on Alba Sales’ volume and Production for Q2 2019, Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray said: “Driven by the solid progress on the Line 6...
The global export-import data estimates that aluminium wire import by Turkey will record a marginal drop this year from 23,387 tonnes in 2018 to 22,012 tonnes, down 6 per cent. The data shows that the country’s aluminium wire import had even dropped last year from 38,905 tonnes in 2017 to 23,387 tonnes. The decline was by 40 per cent year on year. The data also indicates that in the last three years Turkey’s aluminium wire import only registered a rise in 2017 from 18,449 tonnes in 2016 to 38,905 tonnes, up 110 per cent. As far as Turkey’s aluminium wire import cost is concerned, it is likely to remain flat in 2019 at US$63 million, despite growth in import volume. The cost was down last year as well from US$92 million in 2017 to US$63 million, in tandem with the decline in import volume....
Shanghai Metals Market found social inventories of primary aluminium further inched down by 6,000 tonnes on Monday, July 8, across eight major consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants. The inventories are thus standing at 1.022 million tonnes compared to 1.028 million tonnes on Thursday, July 4. Week-on-week, the inventories dropped 29,000 tonnes from 1.051 on June 27, 2019. Production cut at aluminium smelters and weaker arrivals at warehouses have been consistently dragging down the inventories. Since June 3 until now, the inventories recorded decreases by over 155,000 tonnes, found SMM data. On July 8, the inventories in Wuxi, Jiangsu; Shanghai; and Gongyi, Henan dropped 6,000 tonnes, 3,000 tonnes, and 2,000 tonnes to stand at 329,000 tonnes, 204,000 tonnes, and 105,000...
The US dollar traded sharply higher against all of the major currencies on the back of Friday's non-farm payrolls report and climbed to the highest in two-and-a-half weeks, to 97.446. Base metals ended mostly lower. LME aluminium dipped 0.28% and SHFE aluminium eased 0.07% during Friday night. Three-month LME aluminium rebounded after a higher US dollar drove it to a low of US$1,791 per tonne, but it failed to exceed US$1,807 per tonne and closed 0.28% lower on the day at US$1,804.5 per tonne on Friday night. LME aluminium is likely to trade at US$1,770-1,820 per tonne today. As on July 5, Friday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1779 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1779.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1801 per tonne, 3-months offer price...
According to a local media update from Jamaica, total bauxite exports from Jamaica in 2018 increased by 26.5 per cent to just over 10 million tonnes. It was the first increase in export registered since 2014. The higher volume of exports was driven by an expansion in the bauxite equivalent of alumina by 45 per cent to 6.9 million tonnes. This increase offset the decline recorded in the volume of Crude Bauxite export. The volume of Crude Bauxite exported was at 3.33 million tonnes in 2018, slightly below 2017. There was a decline in the volume exported to North America. In 2018, Jamaica exported 2,570,000 tonnes of bauxite to the US, a drop from 2,590,000 tonnes in 2017. The country remained the leading exporter to the U.S. and North America. It exported 498,000 tonnes of bauxite to the...
Alcoa Corporation signed a conditional share purchase agreement with private equity investment firm PARTER Capital Group AG to sell its two aluminium plants in Spain. Avilés and La Coruña aluminium plants include the casthouses at both facilities and the paste plant at La Coruña, which are currently in operation, and the two curtailed smelters. Alcoa reached an agreement with the workers’ representatives relating to a transaction with PARTER Capital Group AG, based in Switzerland. But a final acquisition is subject to a buyer-provided credit facility to support future operations. If the acquisition cannot be completed by July 31, 2019, which is extended from the original June 30, 2019 deadline, the collective dismissal and social plan are expected to go into effect on August 1, 2019....
Philipsburg Brewing Co. has ventured into a new packaging market after bottling its Montana Silver Springs mountain fresh spring water into re-sealable aluminium bottles last year. Now they have won a contract to sell this bottled water in Xanterra Parks & Resorts’ Yellowstone National Park. "We just got a contract with them this year," said Nolan Smith, co-owner of the brewery and Granite Mountain Water Works. "We're distributing in the Greater Yellowstone Area right now and being very well accepted." A portion of the Park sales goes to the Yellowstone Forever, a non-profit organization raising money to fund various park projects. Xanterra stopped selling plastic bottled water in its parks since 2016 and Philipsburg’s aluminium bottles fit in with Xanterra's eco-friendly drive in...
A00 aluminium ingot price started the month of July lower at RMB13760 per tonne and continued to move in a lower range till Wednesday, July 3. The price registered a hike in the last two days of the week at RMB 13760 per tonne and RMB13810 per tonne on Thursday and Friday. Aluminium price in other major China markets saw mixed performance over the week. Shanghai Metals Market study showed that a low consumption season in July-August and falling alumina prices would continue to weigh on Shanghai aluminium prices in the short term. The average premium came in at RMB10 per tonne on Thursday, June 4. As of yesterday, spot aluminium price is likely to trade at a discount of RMB 10 per tonne to a premium of RMB 30 per tonne. On the other hand, social inventories of primary aluminium across...
The US dollar rose to two-week highs at the beginning of the week as US-China trade tensions eased after the world’s two largest economies agreed to restart trade talks. The dollar index then continued to edge lower from recent highs over the week sliding down to 96.735. LME base metals started the week higher, plunged in mid-week and regained some losses towards the end. LME aluminium traded higher this week compared to the last. LME aluminium started the week with US$ 1778 per tonne but lost some gains mid-week to came down to US$1754.5 per tonne. The contract however closed the week higher at US$ 1779.5per tonne on Friday. The LME contract recovered the last week’s losses on the back of lower inventories and premiums in spot offers. Three-month LME aluminium also gained over last week...
Jaguar Land Rover is planning to invest significantly in building Electric vehicles in its home market to compensate for the loss due to slump in diesel sales and Brexit uncertainty. The automaker is planning to offer an electrified option to all its upcoming models from next year as it tries to do away with diesel vehicles. JLR will make electrified vehicles at its Castle Bromwich plant in central England. The first electrified vehicle to be rolled out of the plant will be a full-electric version of Jaguar's flagship luxury sedan, the XJ. "The future of mobility is electric and, as a visionary British company, we are committed to making our next generation of zero-emission vehicles in the UK," CEO Ralf Speth said in a statement on Friday. JLR has signed a deal with the workers at the...
According to a recent report, the United States on Thursday, July 4, lodged a complaint to the World Trade Organisation against India’s move to impose customs duties on 28 American goods, alleging the decision violates international trade norms. Last month, the Indian government had announced an increase in customs duties on US products ranging from almond, pulses, and walnut. This move was in response to the United States’ decision of imposing 25 per cent higher tariff on Indian steel and 10 per cent on aluminium. In average, India exports steel and aluminium to the US worth US$1.5 billion every year. Initially, India had proposed to impose higher customs duties on 29 US items but later on removed artemia from the list. Before applying the duties, India waited for a long time hoping to...
Midland Pressure Diecasting (MPD), a supplier of aluminium and zinc pressure die castings in the UK, plans to hire 11 people after the company won a number of new contracts. MPD will recruit four casters, four manufacturing operatives and three linishers as part of its expansion plans. Managing director Ash Suman commented: "It’s great to be in a position to create new manufacturing jobs, especially when everyone is quoting uncertainty around Brexit. "Our ability to take on complex parts, deliver quicker than our competitors and also offer quality tooling has been crucial to us winning a number of new contracts and this, in turn, has created the need for additional people in casting, linishing and general manufacturing. The additional jobs will take the company’s total workforce up to 60...
United States and China are expected to resume talks next week to resolve their year-long trade war, an update from Trump office said on Wednesday. A principal-level phone call between the officials of the two countries is to be scheduled for next week. "Those talks will continue in earnest this coming week," White House Economic Adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters in a briefing. The principal negotiators on the U.S. side are U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, while China's top negotiator is Vice Premier Liu He. Telephonic discussions have been going on between both the parties since last weekend, when Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to relaunch the stalled talks. Kudlow however has not disclosed any timeline for...
Shanghai Metals Market believes aluminium ingots trades are likely to continue at a slow pace across the northern Chinese markets in the medium term. The current adequate supplies of aluminium ingots, the prospect of poorer downstream consumption in a slow season of July-August, and new aluminium capacity are some of the reasons for the estimated slow ingots trades. As more cargoes arrived and downstream producers cut production in a slow season, transactions of aluminium ingot across markets in the north, such as Shandong, Henan, and Tianjin, weakened considerably from the previous month, found Shanghai Metals Market survey on July 4. Aluminium ingots sold in the north-eastern Chinese markets are mainly supplied by smelters in Inner Mongolia. SMM learned that some new, recovered...
The US exports of aluminium semi-finished products (plates, sheets, bars, etc.) decreased 14,700 tonnes or 15.62 per cent year-on-year to stand at 79,400 tonnes in April 2019. On a month on month comparison, the export volume increased 4.75 per cent from March export volume of 75,800 tonnes, according to the latest Mineral Industry Survey report from US Geological Survey. In the first four months of 2019, aluminium semi-finished products export stood at 306,000 tonnes as compared to 364,000 tonnes in the first four months of 2018. This represents a drop of 58,000 tonnes or 15.93 per cent year-on-year. Exports to Mexico in the first four months came in at 136,000 tonnes. In April alone, aluminium semi-finished products exports recorded 36,600 tonnes as compared to 43,700 tonnes last year....
