
ASSA ABLOY has agreed to acquire Brazilian aluminium solutions manufacturer Rometal, strengthening its manufacturing presence in Latin America while expanding its portfolio of door systems, furniture fittings and aluminium products. Announced on November 12, 2026, the proposed acquisition would bring an established Brazilian business with approximately 500 employees into the Swedish group's Americas Division. Rometal recorded sales of approximately BRL 332 million (USD 59 million) in 2025, equivalent to approximately SEK 580 million (USD 57.57 million) in ASSA ABLOY's announcement. The purchase price has not been disclosed. ASSA ABLOY described the company's EBIT margin in 2025 as strong and expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings per share from the start. Rometal acquisition...
Finland-based renewable heat technology developer Coolbrook has joined Australia’s Heavy Industry Low-carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre (HILT CRC) as an affiliate partner, bringing its electrified heating technology into research aimed at decarbonising alumina refining and the wider aluminium industry. The collaboration would explore how high-temperature electric heating can support next-generation alumina refineries, reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Coolbrook would work alongside major alumina and aluminium producers, including Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), Alcoa, Rio Tinto, South32 and Hydro, as well as research organisations of CSIRO and Adelaide University. Initially, it would focus on HILT CRC’s Alumina Refineries’ Next-Generation Transition (AlumiNEXT) project,...
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Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has signed an agreement with the American University of Sharjah to study the conversion of organic waste into biochar, a stable form of carbon that is used worldwide to improve the potential of soils to support plant life. EGA is interested in the potential of combining biochar with bauxite residue, a by-product of alumina refining, to create soil for greening and other uses in the UAE. Source: EGA Abdalla Alzarooni, EGA’s Vice President of Technology Development & Transfer, said: “Finding economic uses for bauxite residue is a challenge for our industry globally. This research with AUS is an important part of our investigations into one potential solution, and we are pleased that we can work with UAE-based scientists on this project. We also hope this...

As declared on July 10, 2018, Switzerland has launched a complaint at the World Trade Organisation against the US tariffs on imported aluminium and steel, claiming that this tariff is wrongly imposed on them. Hence, it is now the eighth WTO member to start such a challenge. The Swiss economy ministry said in a statement, "From Switzerland's point of view, the additional duties, which according to the U.S. have been introduced to protect national security, are unjustified." Under WTO rules, if the US is unable to settle the issue in next 60 days, Switzerland can escalate the dispute by asking the WTO to set up a panel of judges to adjudicate. In April 2018, Switzerlandexported 310 tonnes of aluminium plates, sheets, and bars to the US, and from January to April 2018, the country recorded...

Sonoco Products Co. announced on Monday that it will raise prices on all composite cans and metal ends in the U.S. and Canada by 4%, in response to recent import tariff on steel and aluminium. The price increases will be effective from Aug. 1. Sonoco is a US$5 billion global provider of consumer packaging, industrial products and packaging supply chain services based at Hartsville, South Carolina, United States. "Sonoco's global sourcing power and commitment to supply security have allowed us to effectively mitigate historic inflationary pressures," said Robin Gordon, a division vice president of sales. "However, the recent trade announcements assigning tariffs on the steel and aluminium supply, along with strong regional demand, have placed unprecedented stress on our suppliers'...

33.4 per cent stake in the capital-based pharma packaging firm Svam has been taken over by Japanese packaging giant Toyo Aluminium K.K. for an undisclosed amount. As agreed in the joint venture, Svam Packaging will now be known as Svam Toyal Packaging Industries. This partnership is expected to bring in advanced technology to tackle the menace of spurious drugs by manufacturing aluminium foil packaging solutions such as laminates for the pharma industry. Svam Packaging Industries Managing Director Satish Ailawadi said, “This partnership will help us serve our customers better and provide safer packaging products in healthcare as well as food and beverage industry.” The partners also plan to set up manufacturing units in India and abroad to cater to clients in the pharma and food packaging...

Russia’s Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said on Monday, July 9, that the country plans to increase domestic aluminium demand by 300,000 tonnes in 2018, according to news reported by TASS. "We have about one million [tonnes of aluminium consumed in Russia in 2017 - TASS]. 300,000 tonnes will be added this year," Manturov said. Aluminium consumption in Russia can grow to 2.5 million tonnes in five years. Russia announced last week it would levy additional import duties of 25 to 40 per cent on the US industrial goods, as a retaliatory act against the US tariffs on imported aluminium and steel. Manturov said additional duties on US products will not affect national market. Manturov added: "We proceeded from and prepared the range of products we are manufacturing. Therefore,...

According to the latest Mineral Industry Survey report from US Geological Survey, US domestic primary aluminium production in April 2018 was 71,000 tonnes. The average daily production in April was 2,360 tonnes, 3% more than that in March 2018, 18% more than that in April 2017, and 13% more than that in April 2016. Recovery of secondary aluminium from imported and domestically procured scraps contributes a significant portion of aluminium consumed in the US. The U.S. continued to import its crude, semi-finished aluminium and scrap from its key supplying countries to accommodate the domestic consumption. The country imported 60,700 tonnes of aluminium scrap in April, accounting for about 11% of the total import. For the period of January to April 2018, 221,000 tonnes of scrap were imported...

After a continuous downtrend, LME aluminium registered a rise and closed at US$ 2135.5 per tonne on Monday from US$ 2098.5 per tonne in the previous closing. It registered a second consecutive rise last night. It stood firm above the five-day moving average, jumping to a high of US$2,134.5 per tonne with resistance at the 10-day moving average. Aluminium inventory across LME warehouses rose 9,275 tonne to 1.12 million tonne. Shanghai Metals Market sees it trading at US$2,100-2,130 per tonne today. As on July 9, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2135 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2135.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2105 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2106 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2140 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer...

The A00 aluminium ingot spot price continued to rise three days in a row since July 6, 2018, according to the data by Shanghai Metals Market. Today, as of July 10, the ingot price raised RMB 20 per tonne to stand at RMB 14010 per tonne, compared to RMB 13990 per tonne on July 9 after growing from RMB 13910 per tonne, as of July 6. The average price today is expected to range between RMB 13990 per tonne and RMB 14030 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 50 per tonne to RMB 10 per tonne. However, not all major Chinese markets witnessed a growth in A00 aluminium ingot spot price, despite a hike in the average price. Only in the north, the ingot spot price registered a rise by RMB 10 per tonne to stand at RMB 14010 per tonne. In the east and south, on the other hand, the aluminium...

Metalcorp Group, a globally operating provider of procurement, logistics and trade services in the ferrous and non-ferrous sectors and one of Europe’s leading independent producers of secondary aluminium ingots, has announced that it has successfully completed its acquisition of the remaining 50 percent stake in Stockach Aluminium GmbH from its co-shareholder through its subsidiary, BAGR Berliner Aluminiumwerk GmbH. Last year, BAGR Berliner Aluminiumwerk GmbH acquired 50 percent of the shares of Stockach Aluminium GmbH from SSVP III. The acquisition will further expand the range of products and services offered by BAGR and Stockach Aluminium to their customer. “The company thus continues to expand its leading position in the production of alloyed aluminium slabs, which will have a...

The world’s first POAL recycling plant for producing Ecoallene will start in Italy in September 2018. POAL is a polyethylene + aluminium polycomposite recovered from food packaging. The plant will recover POAL and then turn it into a new recyclable material suitable for use in automotive, construction, giftware and other markets. Ecoallene is a new green material that is easy to recycle. It is also easy to colour, as well, and has a slight glittery look because of containing aluminium particles. This pioneering project, developed by an engineering company AMUT together with the Italian start-up Ecoplasteam, will be having an initial capacity of recycling 7000 tonnes of recovered POAL every year. Ecoplasteme carries out both technology for POAL treatment and washing the extrusion line to...

Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has published a corrigendum in its tender to procure vessels for its water metro project including aluminium as an option for the hull of 36 Water Metro ferries and extended its last date. The metro agency had earlier zeroed in on marine-grade steel for the hull and Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) for the deck of the ferries to be operated in Greater Kochi area. However, a large number among the naval architect community has opposed steel as the ‘ideal’ material to be used for the hull of Water Metro ferries. This led towards the modification in the tender proposal and the inclusion of aluminium hulled ferries. The published tender is related to the procurement of vessels that form part of a ₹747-crore project to revive water transport in the region....

Normality has been restored at New Day Aluminium (Jamaica) Limited since when it received order from the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT), on Friday, July 6, 2018, for hourly paid workers to end a week-long-go slow. The workers had been on go-slow since June 28, supporting the University and Allied Workers Union’s claim towards the company (UAWU) for adjusting their top rate of US$13 per hour, based on changes in the exchange rate. According to UAWU President Senator Lambert Brown, the union had been appealing to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to intimate the issue to the Industrial Disputes Tribunal without success. Yesterday, on July 8, Senator Brown told the Jamaica Observer that with the ministry’s decision to refer the matter to the IDT, the request was met and workers...

Russia declared on Friday, July 6, 2018, that it would levy additional import duties of 25 to 40 per cent on the US industrial goods, as a retaliatory act against the US tariffs on imported aluminium and steel. The economy ministry said Russia would impose tariffs on some goods from the United States for which there are Russian-made substitutes. Those goods include fibre optics and equipment of road construction, the oil and gas industries and metal processing and mining. According to the ministry, these heavy duties are a compensatory measure for US$87.6 million of damage suffered by Russian export companies as a result of the US metal tariffs. The hike will cost an overall US$537.6 million, said the economy ministry, while adding that Russia may impose more such compensatory measures in...

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) has reported production and sales result for the second quarter of 2018. Alba closed the second quarter of 2018 with the best-ever production and aluminium sales volume. Quarterly aluminium production topped 252,081 tonnes, up by 23% Year-on-Year; while sales’ volume jumped by 19% YoY to reach 249,595 tonnes in comparison to 210,157 tonnes in Q2 2017. Value-Added Sales averaged 60% of total shipments in comparison to 61% in Q2 2017. Despite the market volatility and trade tensions, Alba continued to perform profitably with operation efficiency and a well-managed market. For the first half of 2018, total production reached 511,480 tonnes in comparison to 453,395 tonnes in H1 2017 (up by 13% YoY). With this production rate, the company is expected to cross an...

The US dollar index hit a three-week low to around 93.9 and closed at 94 last Friday night. This was 0.52% lower from a week ago, marking the biggest loss in four weeks. LME base metals felt downward pressure on escalated tension between China and the US. LME aluminium dipped slightly and closed at US$ 2098.50 per tonne on Friday July 6 from US$ 2127 per tonne on previous closing. It dipped further at a slower pace last Friday night as it rebounded from a low of US$2,071 per tonne on weakened US dollar. With pressure at the five-day moving average, it closed at US$2,086.5 per tonne after night trading and is expected to trade at a range of US$2,075-2,095 per tonne today. As on July 6, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2098 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$...

China’s inventory of primary aluminium across eight major markets continued to dip over the weekend. According to Shanghai Metals Markets, including SHFE warrants, the inventory dropped 6,000 tonnes to stand at 1.83 million tonnes, as of Monday, July 9, 2018. A slowdown in downstream consumption led the decline to be smaller from the drop recorded a week ago. The inventory in some of the Chinese cities like Wuxi and Jiangsu, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Zhejiang, and Tianjin registered a plunge, compared to July 5, 2018, while in Nanhai and Guangdong, Gongyi and Henan, and Linyi and Shandong, the inventory rose from the previous day. More details are given in the table below: The average A00 aluminium ingot price surged further from RMB 13910 per tonne to RMB 13990 per tonne. The average price...

exlabesa has selected SMS group to supply two 35 MN extrusion presses for aluminium profiles. exlabesa will install extrusion presses at the production locations in Doncaster, UK, and in Minden, Germany. Each extrusion press has production capacity of around 10,000 tons of aluminium profiles. exlabesa will replace the 20 MN extrusion press with the new 35 MN extrusion press at its plant in Doncaster. The press will extrude profiles for automotive, architectural, and industrial applications from aluminium billets with a diameter of ten inches (254 millimeters) and a maximum length of 1,400 millimeters. Commissioning of the extrusion press in Doncaster is planned for the beginning of 2019. The second extrusion press will expand company’s production capacity at its Minden works in Germany....

Germany, the 3rd largest export economy in the world and the 3rd most complex economy, is the leading exporter of aluminium cans in the world. The country’s aluminium producers and processors produce about 560,000 tonnes of aluminium annually. Germany, the major aluminium market in Europe, exported about 86093 tonnes of aluminium cans globally in 2017 and total revenue from can export amounted to about US$ 373 million. The global aluminium cans production volume stood at around 293 billion in 2017.The beverage sector currently accounts for the majority of the global aluminium cans consumption. Aluminium cans use for beverage and aerosol packaging are the most recycled packaging units globally. In this article, we have listed down the top aluminium can importers from Germany and their...