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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ASMA (Aluminium Secondary Manufacturers Association) representing about 3500 small and medium industrial units spread all over India, engaged in the manufacture of various downstream aluminium products, such as extrusion, flat rolled products, utensils, cable and conductors etc. has reacted strongly against the primary producers’ insistence on putting restrictions on Chinese aluminium import. Reacting a news story titled “Companies ask Government to restrict Chinese aluminium imports” circulated in media, the association claimed in a mail to AlCircle that facts in the story are far from reality and give a one sided story. According to Anil Agarwal, the spokesperson from the Aluminium Secondary Manufacturers Association, this represents the opinion of the big industrial houses like...
Governor Greg Abbott urged President Donald Trump in a letter on July 28, to reconsider tariffs on imported aluminium and steel, arguing that the metals are vital to the growth of Texas’ industries. In the letter, Abbott mentioned Texas companies imported more than US$8.3 billion worth of aluminium and steel last year, largely for use by the oil and gas industry. Echoing earlier comments by industry groups opposed to the tariffs, Abbott said energy companies depend on specialty steel for which there is no manufacturer in the US. "Our country's steel and aluminium workers are a vital part of the national workforce, and creating jobs in that industry must be a top priority," said the letter. "But attempting to protect these jobs through the new tariffs could jeopardize the livelihoods of...
In the face of a looming trade war and international trade disruption, the Aluminium China 2018 exhibition and conference in Shanghai from July 11 to 13, will provide a positive global platform to reinforce China’s connections with rest of Asia and the world and explore business opportunities to drive aluminium industry growth. The event will bring together some 500 exhibitors and 24,000 visitors from more than 30 countries and regions. At the Asia Summit at Aluminium China 2018, representatives from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) will deliver their responses to the US tariffs on Chinese imports and plans to mitigate their impact. With a growing focus on the global aluminium industry, the 14th Aluminium China will put the spotlight on innovation and...
Chinese alumina producers Aluminium Corporation of China and Luoyang Heungkong Wanji Aluminium Co Ltd have announced major alumina production cuts in the provinces of Shanxi and Henan respectively. Shanxi province is China’s second biggest alumina producing province. Reuters reported that Luoyang Heungkong Wanji Aluminium Co today announced it has cut alumina production by 680,000 tonnes on an annual basis, citing high bauxite prices and low alumina prices. “On the one hand, the (alumina) price is low,” Deputy General Manager Wu Xingzhong told Reuters by telephone. “On the other hand, it’s because there is no ore [bauxite],” he said. Aluminium Corp of China, known as Chalco, announced on Thursday, July 5, that it would cut 770,000 tonnes of annual alumina production capacity at its Shanxi...
Ghana Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has requested the United States through the Secretary for Commerce Wilbur Ross, to consider partnering with Ghana for developing a strong bauxite industry in the country. While delivering a speech at the US-Ghana business session, Mahamudu explicitly said that Ghana owns rich bauxite deposits that can be exploited for well over fifty years. Partnership with the US, one of the most powerful countries in the world with the success story in the aluminium and bauxite sectors, would yield mutual benefits for both the countries, Ghana Vice president observed. Bawumia added as the government has begun the process of choosing partners for establishing a joint-ventured Integrated Aluminium Industry (IAI) by the name Ghana Integrated Bauxite and Aluminum...
Africa is contributing about 32% of the global bauxite resources. It’s an irony that some of the poorest countries in the world possess the richest bauxite reserves. Africa, though poorly explored as of date, does possess some of the richest reserves of Gibbsitic bauxite. The known reserves are mostly concentrated in Guinea, Ghana and Sierra Leone but there are vast areas lying between tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn that are yet to be explored and exploited. Despite so, around 19% of the total bauxite production of the world has been coming from the African mining industry. Despite the political unrest and overall under development in the region, African countries are providing feedstock to some the world’s most significant aluminium producers and a large number of them are...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared yesterday, July 5, that she would back cutting the European Union tariffs on cars imported from the United States. This she announced in response to the US offer to abandon threatened duties on the EU-assembled imported cars in return for concessions. According to a report, the US ambassador to Germany told German car bosses at a meeting on Wednesday, July 4, that Trump would abandon the threatened 20 per cent tariff on EU car exports provided the US gets similar concession in return. Merkel said, "When we want to negotiate tariffs, on cars for example, we need a common European position and we are still working on it." She also said any move to reduce tariffs on US vehicles would require reductions on those imported from other countries to conform...
Ball Corporation, a leading beverage can maker with production facilities around the globe, announced that they will cease production at its beverage packaging plant in Cuiabá, Brazil. The company will supply its products to its customer through other facilities in the country. Carlos Pires, President, Ball Beverage Packaging South America, said: "Absorbing this one line can plant into Ball's remaining network of 13 plants in South America allows us to reduce our cost structure while continuing to effectively and efficiently supply our customers with the most sustainable package in the beverage supply chain." The Cuiabá beverage packaging plant opened in 1998 and employs about 70 people, some of whom will transfer to other Ball locations. Last August, Ball Corporation announced it would...
According to the latest update by Shanghai Metals Market, alumina production in Lvliang of Shanxi province is likely to be affected as the area was highlighted in China’s three-year initiative to “make skies blue again”. This initiative was released by the State Council on June 3, 2018, with an aim to reduce levels of PM2.5 in three years, lower the number of heavy-polluted days and improve air quality. From Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the key focus areas of this initiative will further expand to include some of the surrounding cities like Jinzhong, Yuncheng, Linfen, and Lvliang in Shanxi province, Luoyang and Sanmenxia in Henan province, and Xi'an and Tongchuan in Shaanxi province. Primary aluminium is also a targeted sector for this initiative, thereby, likely to face some impact on...
The US dollar dipped to a three-week low ahead of the tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports. Base metals mostly ceased their downward trend but remained weak. Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange increased to close at US$2127 per tonne on Thursday, July 5. After touching a high of US$2,112 per tonne during night trading, LME aluminium fell to a low of US$2,077.5 per tonne today morning with pressure from the five-day moving average. SMM expects the contract to trade at US$2,070-2,110 per tonne today. As on July 5, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2126 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2127 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2100 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2101 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2138 per tonne,...
The recently imposed tariffs on aluminium it imports from Canada are slowly affecting the small and medium size aluminium product manufacturers in the US creating a concern over supply disruption and cost increase. Ampal Inc., the nation’s most productive aluminium atomizer whose parent company, U.S. Metal Powders Inc., is celebrating its 100th anniversary this weekend, has filed exclusion requests with the U.S. Department of Commerce. President Louise Ramsey Thomas has filed a request to pull off the tariffs on aluminium imports from Canada in the interest of a bigger community. The 40-employee family business has been in operation since 1981and currently produces more than 10,000 pounds of aluminium powder annually. Ampal has opened R&D lab and is planning a manufacturing line that...
Bauxite mining operators and settlers in Bukit Goh, Malaysia, which once used to be a lucrative spot for bauxite mining activities, are still resting in the uncertainty over bauxite mining, even after the mining moratorium ended on June 30. The previous government had extended the moratorium seven times since the date of its enforcement on January 15, 2016, for keeping the pollution, lack of regulations, illegal mining, as well as excessive extraction at check. This resulted Felda settlers whose lands were on lease for mining activities facing sleepless nights. Bukit Goh bauxite action coordinating committee chairman Datuk Dr. Abdul Wahid Manap said the new government should answer on the fate of the mining industry. Many bauxite mining operators and settlers hoped the government would...
The United States President Donald Trump would suspend threats to impose tariffs on imported cars from the European Union provided the bloc removes duties on US cars. The US ambassador to Germany conveyed the message to German car bosses, according to a report by a leading German-language newspaper Handelsblatt on Wednesday, July 4. Handelsblatt reported US ambassador Richard Grenell told executives from Daimler, Volkswagen, and BMW during a meeting that in exchange Trump wanted the European Union to withdraw duties on imported cars from the US. The meeting had taken place at the US embassy in Berlin on Wednesday. In June, Donald Trump had threatened to impose a 20-per cent import tariff on all EU-assembled vehicles, which could disturb the industry’s current business model for selling...
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, lightweight OEM parts supplier Nemak and Tennessee's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have collaborated to develop a new aluminium alloy for use in turbocharged engines, which is expected to offer better fuel economy. The aluminium-copper-manganese-zirconium alloy (ACMZ) was developed in just under four years by the laboratory. ACMZ is affordable, lightweight and capable of withstanding temperatures 100 degrees Celsius higher (300 degrees Celsius or 572 F) than commercially available automotive cast alloys. The alloy is highly suitable for the next generation of more fuel-efficient internal combustion engines. Many aluminium heads today are made from 319 or 356 Aluminium, which cannot withstand temperature above 200 degrees Celsius (392 F). The new alloy that FCA...
Utkal Alumina International, a fully-owned subsidiary of Hindalco, declared on July 4, that it would most likely finish its 500-kilotonne expansion over the next 30 months. This project involves a capital outlay of INR 1300 crore. Hindalco managing director Satish Pai told, “Our Utkal plant remains the most efficient producer of alumina globally and continues to provide strong support to our upstream aluminium business. The Rs 1,300-crore capacity expansion by 500 kt has already begun and is expected to be over in the next 30 months." Mr. Pai further said the company is completing the expansion plan fast thinking that the world-wide third-party alumina market would remain tight. In the financial year 2018, the company had achieved record production of 1,291-kilotonne with alumina...
Can-Eng Furnaces International Limited, a global supplier of high-quality furnaces, announced that the company has been contracted to design, manufacture, install, and commission an Aluminium Automotive Casting Heat Treatment system by an India based conglomerate in South Carolina. Can-Eng was chosen for this heat treatment project due to the unique Modular Design concept which offers efficient product, process, and production flexibility for its partner’s new line of Die Cast Light Weight Aluminium Automotive Components. “This Solution Treatment, Water Quench and Artificial Aging system are arranged to provide bothT5, T6 and Homogenizing Processes. The new system will service three distinct aluminium product groups with unique treatment cycles,” according to Can-Eng Furnaces. Can-Eng...
UAE-based Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), jointly owned by Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi and Investment Corporation of Dubai, has signed a deal with Vedanta to supply bauxite from its mine in Guinea. Under the long-term agreement, EGA will start providing the ore to Vedanta from the second half of 2019, soon after its wholly-owned subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) will finish building a bauxite mine and associated export facilities in Guinea. By investing around US$1.4 billion in the bauxite mining project, GAC is expecting to produce some 12 million tonnes of bauxite every year. In the year 2017, EGA had supplied three sample shipments of bauxite, which were of around 15000 tonnes in total, to Vedanta for testing purpose. According to the current agreement signed,...
Figures of the Union commerce and industry ministry indicated that aluminium exports from the country increased by 36 per cent in 2017-18, aided by global demand, which outstripped supply. The declaration of US tariffs on aluminium and steel imports from most of the countries, a 21 per cent growth in aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) to an average of $2,045 per tonne and over-supply to the domestic market helped exports to rise in the last financial year. The trend is expected to continue in 2018-19, because of the US sanctions on UC Rusal, one of the largest producers in April, which drove panic buying among aluminium buyers and lifted LME price and premiums to a height. This will also be driven by the trade tensions between the US and China. Aluminium prices were also...
