Aluminium production depends on high-temperature processes where furnace efficiency, thermal management and equipment durability are essential for maintaining operational performance. However, refractory materials used in melting, holding and casting operations face continuous exposure to extreme temperatures, thermal fluctuations, chemical corrosion and mechanical wear. These conditions can lead to premature furnace-lining failure, molten-metal penetration, corundum formation and heat loss, increasing maintenance requirements and operating costs. Addressing these challenges requires materials that can withstand demanding operating conditions while keeping equipment efficient and reliable. Alkegen, a supplier of high-temperature refractory and insulation materials, serves this requirement...
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has strengthened its profitability despite a challenging nine-month period marked by operational disruptions, constrained exports and reduced aluminium production. The UAE-based producer reported an improved adjusted EBITDA margin for the first nine months of 2026, supported by higher realised aluminium prices, a stronger value-added product mix and cost-control measures. Meanwhile, the company is progressing with the restoration of its Al Taweelah facilities, expanding its international recycling footprint and advancing its global smelting technology partnerships. EGA recorded adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of USD 1.572 billion (AED 5.773 billion) during January-September 2026, compared with USD 1.738 billion...
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European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom shared her belief yesterday, on January 24, that the United States would not impose import tariffs on European cars. She also said that even if the US did impose the tariffs, the European Union was ready with its response. The US President Donald Trump had threatened to impose tariffs on cars from around the world, as he did with aluminium and steel last March. In July, however, the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had negotiated a ‘ceasefire agreement’ with the US. Cecilia Malmstrom, while speaking at a panel event at the World Economic Forum in Davos, pointed out that the Trump-Juncker agreement tried to find common ground. The agreement delayed the tariffs while trade talks took place. "We're advancing, we have made some...
The US dollar strengthened against the euro after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi warned on downbeat economic growth. Base metals ended mixed. LME aluminium fell 0.55% and SHFE aluminium edged down. LME aluminium closed Thursday’s trading lower at US$ 1851 per tonne. Then the contract extended its rangebound trend overnight as it rebounded to close at US$1,885 per tonne after fell below the five-day moving average. Shanghai Metals Market expects the LME aluminium contract to trade at US$1870-1,900 per tonne today. As on January 24, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1850 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1851per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1870 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1871 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2005...
Following the growth of primary aluminium stocks by 39,000 tonnes to 1.303 million tonnes yesterday, the price of A00 aluminium ingot has registered a drop today, on January 25, to RMB 13,400 per tonne, Shanghai Metals Market found. This marks the primary aluminium price drop by RMB 70 per tonne after two back-to-back rises on January 23 and January 24. Today, the average prices are expected to range between RMB 13,380 per tonne and RMB 13,420 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 80 per tonne to RMB 40 per tonne. In the east (Wuxi and Hangzhou), the ingot prices have declined today by RMB 65 per tonne and RMB 60 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,400 per tonne and RMB 13,390 per tonne respectively. In the south and north, on the other hand, the prices have plunged by RMB 20 per tonne...
ALUCAST 2018, the biennial International Conference and Exhibition on Die Casting Technology – concluded successfully on 8th December, 2018 at the India Expo Mart, Noida. Organized by Aluminium Casters’ Association of India (Alucast), and produced by NürnbergMesse India, the three day event attracted a record number of Exhibitors, Visitors and Delegates, including 33% delegates from Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Taiwan, Italy and China. NürnbergMesse China organized a special “CHINA PAVILION” in the expo and a delegate visit to some prominent die-casting facilities in North India. The event with the theme “Emerging Trends for Die-Casting Technology” was inaugurated by Sudarshan Venu, Joint Managing Director, TVS – one of India’s leading automobile companies. Mr. Venu reiterated India’s...
According to a report, FLSmidth has signed a contract with Hindalco (UAI) to supply machinery and equipment for the extension of Utkal Alumina International’s (UAI) refinery in Odisha, India. UAI is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hindalco Industries and flagship metal company of the Aditya Birla Group, the world’s largest aluminium rolling company and one of the biggest producers of primary aluminium. Recently, when Hindalco and FLSmidth finalised the contract in a meeting, Rakesh Mohan, Vertical Head Projects, MCoE, Hindalco, Mumbai, said that he was very pleased and proud to have decided to choose FLSmidth for all the critical parts of the project. Ander Bech, Regional President for FLSmidth, said: “Hindalco is a global major in the field of aluminium with world-class operating...
Bill Coors designed and launched the two-piece recyclable aluminium can sixty years ago in January 1959 with a 7-ounce Coors Banquet. The can was made after years of research and numerous trials and errors, which was presented as Coors' solution for doing away with throwaway steel cans and providing better-testing and better-chilled beer. This move actually revolutionized the beverage container industry. Although the two-piece aluminium can took five years and US$10 million to develop, Bill Coors encouraged other beverage makers to introduce and use the recyclable can in order to reduce waste and harm to the environment. Owing to the popularity of the aluminium can, Coors discontinued the use of steel cans on Nov. 12, 1971. Along with the launch of the can, Coors launched a recycling...
According to a recent report, a few scientists from Bremen are involved in a project to further develop aluminium alloys for additive manufacturing, with an intention to exploit the lightweight construction potential of aluminium in the aerospace industry. This one of the start-up projects for the Bremen Research and Development Centre for Lightweight Materials and Technologies Ecomat is funded by the Bremen Aerospace Research Program 2020 with around one million euros. The companies involved are Ariane Group, Airbus, Materialise and Innojoin, as well as scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Material-Oriented Technologies (IWT) and the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). The expected time for the completion of the project is early 2019. The first step of the project will be to further...
Social inventories of primary aluminium across eight major consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, came in at 1.303 million tonnes as of Thursday January 24. The figure is up by 39,000 tonnes from Thursday January 17, Shanghai Metals Market data showed. For the same period, stocks in Nanhai, Guangdong and Gongyi, Henan increased by 23,000 tonnes and 9,000 tonnes to stand at 182,000 tonnes and 119,000 tonnes while stocks in Wuxi, Jiangsu and Shanghai reduced by 3,000 tonnes and 1,000 tonnes to stand at 489,000 tonnes and 300,000 tonnes. The below chart indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across China: The increase in primary aluminium inventory could be attributed to smaller purchases as most downstream plants have closed for Chinese New Year.
China’s exports of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products in December increased 20.1 per cent from a year earlier to 530,000 tonnes, showed China Customs data released on Wednesday January 23. China, the world’s top aluminium producer, exported 5.8 million tonnes of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products in 2018, an increase of 20.9 per cent from a year earlier, said the General Administration of Customs. The country’s exports of these products have been increasing despite a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium imports into the United States since March. The export value rose 16.7 per cent year on year to RMB9.95 billion in December. China’s imports of aluminium scrap increased to 150,000 tonnes in December, from 130,000 tonnes in the previous month, the highest since March.
According to a Reuter’s report, the London Metal Exchange (LME) has announced seven new contracts to be launched on March 11. LME has not been very successful in launching new products and are mostly dependent on its core base metal contracts. LME hopes to boost trading activities in the exchange with the multiple new contracts. The new contracts are all cash-settled futures indexed against physical market price assessments and there will be no physical delivery. LME will launch two new aluminium premium contracts- one indexed against Platts’ assessment of the Midwest U.S. market and one against Fastmarkets MB’s assessment of the duty-unpaid European market, in competition with CME. Super-charged aluminium premiums played a key role in the market in 2013 due to the long load-out queues in...
Vietnam, the emerging alumina producing hub on the shores of the South China Sea, has recorded an increase in its offshore alumina sales over the last three years. In fact, as suggested by the available international trade data, the alumina export by Vietnam has become more than double since 2015. The increase has been made possible due to enhanced overseas sales activities of Vinacomin, Vietnam’s largest mining company. As per data, Vietnam in 2017 had exported 903,654 tonnes of alumina. In contrast to this, the export volume in 2018 was at 1.2 million tonnes, marking a year-on-year rise by 32 per cent. The year 2019 is expected to see further growth in Vietnam's alumina export volume to 1.49 million tonnes, up 65 per cent from 2017 and 24 per cent from 2018. Of this total export,...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, stocks of 6063 aluminium billet across five major consumption areas in China increased some 7,000 tonnes over the week ended Thursday January 24. Stocks now stood at 87,700 tonnes. In Foshan and Guangdong and in Changzhou, Jiangsu, the billets stocks increased by 4,500 tonnes and 2,000 tonnes to stand at 51,400 tonnes and 13,000 tonnes respectively. In Wuxi, Jiangsu and in Huzhou, Zhejiang, the inventories stood at 11,600 tonnes and 4,100 tonnes respectively. Consumption ebbed after downstream consumers began their Chinese New Year break and this accounted for the increase in aluminium billet stocks. The price of aluminium alloys (ADC12) remained unchanged at RMB 14,850 per tonne today. This price has been continuing since January 21.
China exported 177,430 tonnes of alumina in December, down 37.9 per cent month-on-month. The country’s export of alumina was at 285,696 tonnes in November. The volume was up more than 3,700 per cent from December 2017. China’s total exports of alumina in 2018 stood at 1.46 million tonnes, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Wednesday. Alumina producers cashed in on a favourable price arbitrage to international markets last year, as an outage at Hydro’s Alunorte alumina refinery, a strike at Alcoa’s alumina operations and sanctions on Rusal led to a global supply squeeze, Reuters reported. International alumina prices decreased by around 30 percent over the fourth quarter, reducing the incentive for Chinese producers to export. On the import side, China...
The US dollar decreased against a basket of currencies as uncertainties over trade and the global economy clouded the currency's near-term outlook. The dollar index dipped to the lowest in three days at 96.04. Base metals rallied across the board and aluminium nudged up. SHFE aluminium went up 0.7%. LME aluminium closed Wednesday’s trading higher at US$ 1877.50 per tonne. LME aluminium received support from a stronger SHFE contract. During night trading, the contract gained 1.4 per cent to tip the highest in a month at US$1,917 per tonne and then it slipped by 0.7 per cent to US$1,896 a tonne by 0117 GMT. Today, the contract is expected to trade at US$1,870-1,900 per tonne. The Trump administration is expected to lift sanctions on Rusal by Friday, which could mean that aluminium that had...
On Wednesday, January 23, dozens of US industry groups wrote a letter to the Trump administration pleading for an end to steep US tariffs on aluminium and steel, a report said. <iframe width="540" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/745x79Xb6Bg" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> Industries reported that they had been suffering not only because of the increased metals costs caused by the additional US tariffs but also due to the retaliatory duties imposed by countries like China and Mexico. "The continued application of metal tariffs means ongoing economic hardship for US companies that depend on imported steel and aluminium," said the letter, signed by four dozen industry groups. In the...
A00 aluminium ingot price increased further to RMB13470 per tonne on January 24, registering a growth of RMB80 per tonne from the previous day. The average prices today are expected to range between RMB 13450 per tonne and RMB 13490 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 70-30 per tonne. Aluminium ingot prices in the East Wuxi and Hangzhou increased by RMB 80 per tonne and RMB 60 per tonne to stand at RMB 13465 per tonne and RMB 13450 per tonne, respectively. Their average prices are expected to hover between RMB 13460 per tonne and RMB 13470 per tonne, and RMB 13440 per tonne and RMB 13460 per tonne. Ingot price in South China rose by RMB 90 per tonne to stand at RMB 13500 per tonne, price of ingot in North China increased by RMB50 per tonne to RMB 13450 per tonne. Aluminium...
Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) and Facebook have announced the commercial launch of aluminium conductor cable for optical fiber submarine systems, after an extensive testing and qualification program to establish its suitability for ultra-long haul deep sea transmission systems. The cable was also validated during a sea trial. This new cable variant has already been selected for a major long-distance project and is part of the “SDM1 by ASN” solution, designed to optimise the cost per bit. Najam Ahmad, Vice President, Network Engineering at Facebook, said: “Our efforts are focused on expanding connectivity and increasing the adoption of innovative technologies, without compromising reliability. The use of aluminium cable in submarine systems represents an attractive evolution as...
ExtrudaSeal, flexible extrusions division of Euroseal, reportedly created a record of a six-figure investment in the entire 2018 by investing in more than 40 new tools, in addition to the thousands of existing tools that are in place for their extensive back catalogue of aluminium window and door gaskets. This enormous investment was specially driven by the vast demand for bespoke and enhanced window and door gaskets and by increased orders for bespoke extrusions. Sales Director Paul James said: “The demand in the last few months of 2018 has really been exceptional. What’s very positive is that it comes in from fabricators and installers who are manufacturing and fitting a very wide range of aluminium systems.” He also said: “We supply off the shelf products for all major aluminium...
