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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The month of March is ending with bearish sentiment for LME aluminium as the light metal contract dipped sharply to US$1,996 per tonne overnight, a record low since August 2017. The contract closed at US$1997 per tonne yesterday March 29, down from US$2009 per tonne on Tuesday March 28. As the inventory of LME aluminium ingots grew by 24,675 tonnes and the global market is buzzing with trade tensions, the market is lacking strong fundamentals that can support the prices. As on March 29, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1996.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1997 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2013.50per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2014 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2073 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price is US$ 2078 per...
The government of one of China’s Northern provinces declared in the early part of this week that it would likely to go for the barter choice cuts of its bauxite stores for companies that move aluminium smelting capacity to that area, as reported by Aluminium Insider. Shanxi’s provincial government have already approached Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco), Shandong Xinfa Aluminium Group, and Xinjiang East Hope Ferrous Metals Co., Ltd. and offered the deal as per the province’s just-released yearly plan for the non-ferrous industry. According to the document, reported by Aluminium Insider, Shanxi’s bauxite bounty “will be prioritised for those companies that are transferring electrolytic aluminium capacity to our province.” This is because, in spite of having a prosperous alumina-refining...
Not many days ago, India urged the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to exempt it from the recently-enacted US aluminium and steel tariffs. While already by now, the country has directly approached the United States for the exemption, with a supportive reasoning that its aluminium and steel exports could no way pose a security threat to the US, reported by three government officials. Last week, the US president Donald Trump relieved Argentina, Australia, Brazil, South Korea, Canada, Mexico and the European Union from its heavy duties on imported metals and said that until May 1, 2018, the other countries seeking for an exemption should correspond with Washington. Therefore, India’s Trade Ministry has written to the US government, asking for the tariffs impunity. According to the report by...
The Canadian government announced new measures to prevent transshipment and diversion of metal in Canada on March 26 2018. President Trump announced his final decision to impose a 10% duty on all aluminium imports and exempted Canada for a temporary period for further negotiation for a permanent exemption. The country however fears a 10% duty on all aluminium and steel import may divert surplus metal from other countries towards Canada as they have not imposed any tax. So, the government has initiated measures so that no metal can enter the U.S. via Canada. "This announcement demonstrates Canada's leadership and commitment to the integrated North American aluminium supply chain, which benefits both Canada and the United States. It takes all available means and resources to protect the...
There was a slight drift in the use of metal when the electric carmaker Tesla Inc. decided to use steel instead of aluminium in its first mass-market model last summer. Aluminium has always been the key metal to redress the weights of batteries and increase consumer acceptance for electric vehicles. However in the recent time, in order to invade a bigger market, the battery-powered car maker invited a little change in the use of metals and embraced some technological developments in batteries and components, due to which, the price of Tesla's mass-market orientated Model 3 is around half of the £70,000 luxury Model S. “Before the aim was 'Let's get the [electric vehicles] developed', now it's 'Let's get them developed at the right price point, said Mauro Erriquez, a partner at McKinsey &...
Japan's aluminum industry on Thursday called for the United States to scrap import tariffs on aluminum as they are against international rules and pose a serious problem. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump temporarily excluded six countries, including Canada and Mexico, and the countries of the European Union from higher U.S. import duties on steel and aluminum that went into effect on Friday. The exclusion included most U.S. allies, but not Japan. "We are also worried that aluminum products that are shut out by the United States may flood the Asian market," Mitsuru Okada, chairman of the Japan Aluminum Association told a news conference. "We will ask the Japanese government to continue seeking a country exemption from the new U.S. tariffs," Okada said, adding that Japanese aluminum...
According to the latest USGS release on Bauxite and Alumina in the Fourth Quarter 2017 , imports of crude and dried bauxite by the U.S. in Q4 2017 were 910,000 tonnes, slightly less than the revised total of 914,000 tonnes in the third quarter of 2017. However, on a YoY basis, import of bauxite drops 4% from the amount in the fourth quarter of 2016 and 61% less than those in the fourth quarter of 2015. Imports of crude and dried bauxite in the third quarter of 2016 were 1.14 million tonnes. When we look at the graph we, see that the imports of crude and dried bauxite by the U.S. have been on a downward trend since the fourth quarter of 2015. After reaching the lowest in the second quarter of 2017, the import increased in the third quarter of 2017. Though the imports have been falling YoY,...
China’s refined aluminium inventory witnessed a further drop on Thursday March 29, 2018, as was expected by the analysts that refined aluminium inventory in China would start reducing between March and April this year after a rise in downstream consumption in the domestic market. According to the Shanghai Metal Market data, China’s aluminium inventory including SHFE warrants dropped to 2.24 million tonnes, down from 2.26 million tonnes on Monday March 26 and 2.28 million tonnes on Thursday March 22. According to SMM, since trading became active in the physical market in east China but relatively less in the Guangdong market on Wednesday March 28, transactions in Shanghai, Wuxi and Hangzhou started hovering at RMB 13,650 to 13,670 per tonne with spot discounts of RMB 70 to 60 per tonne...
After registering a temporary gain on March 28, LME Aluminium contract dropped from US$2035 per tonne on Tuesday March 27 as US dollar index rose to 90 and finally closed at US$2009 per tonne on Tuesday March 28. Shanghai Metals Market expects the contract to trade at US$2,020-2,043 per tonne today. As on March 27, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2008 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2009 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2027 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2029 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2087 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price is US$ 2092 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock has dropped to 1261625 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at 996500 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 265125 tonne. LME aluminium 3-months ABR...
Russian aluminium producer Rusal said that the company believed Russia should be granted an exemption from the tariffs on imports of aluminium and steel imposed by the United States. Rusal supplies to the US markets with the low carbon aluminium. "Our subsidiary Rusal America in State of Delaware has been operating since 1999. We supply to the US market products with low carbon footprint, which are marketable, though scarce.” “ We assume that Russia should be exempted from tariffs for protecting American consumers from price growth, and for ensuring that the American manufacturing industry remains competitive," the company’s spokesman told TASS. U.S. President Donald Trump has temporarily exempted Argentina, Australia, Brazil, South Korea, Canada, Mexico and the European Union from import...
After being forced to reduce alumina production substantially under a judicial order last month, the Alunorte refinery in North Brazil, owned by Norway’s Norsk Hydro, has to now start closing down half of its alumina capacity in the next two weeks to preserve equipment, said two people familiar with the matter on Tuesday. Some anonymous sources further reported that the company will be forced to completely shut down three of its seven alumina lines in case the judicial order is not lifted. The steep reduction in alumina production after the company declared force majeure has already led to a hike in alumina prices. They increased by about 13 per cent last week to close at US$438 per tonne, according to the MB pricing. Analysts are of the opinion that the possibility of a protracted outage...
A one day National Seminar on Development of Special Alloys and Composites of Aluminum for New India took place in Mumbai on 16th of March, 2018. The seminar was organized by Aluminium Association of India (AAI), an apex body for the Indian aluminium sector, in association with the primary producers of Aluminium and leading ancillary and Downstream industries with a view to encourage an increasing use of Aluminium metal in various application sectors. Dr A.K. Mukhopadhyay, a leading Scientist and Associate Director, Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), Hyderabad spoke about the successful role of DMRL as a centre for taking up development-cum-industrial scale production orders for a variety of specialty aluminium alloys for critical defence applications. These applications...
Malaysians will soon be the first to earn gold by recycling their plastic bottles and aluminium cans. Southeast Asian fintech firm HelloGold and Malaysia’s reverse-vending machine (RVM) company KLEAN are implementing a recycling scheme that offers Malaysians 0.00059 grams of investment-grade gold for each recycled plastic bottle and each aluminium can. Anyone can start earning gold by first downloading the HelloGold app from the Google Play Store or Apple Store and registering for an account. KLEAN CEO Nick Boden, said, “Plastic waste is increasing around the world, yet recycling rates remain low. Through this partnership, we aim to encourage greater recycling by showing Malaysians the potential wealth and money that lies around our communities, in our landfills and floats in our oceans.”...
The entire Shanghai base metals complex moved forward as the dollar index slipped by 0.1 per cent to 89.29. Average Aluminium ingot prices remained unchanged today. However in the individual market, primary ingot prices registered some changes. Alloy prices have also remained unchanged today. Analysts expect the market to pick up with a boost in downstream demand. As reported by Shanghai Metals Market, China's northern province of Shanxi on Tuesday offered preferential access to bauxite resources to some of the country's biggest aluminium companies. This was on condition that they would set up or transfer smelting capacity to the region. This would boost industrial growth in the region. On March 26, Bauxite prices at Shanxi province increased to RMB 320 to RMB 400 per tonne. While...
The Canadian government announced today new measures to prevent transshipment and diversion of metal in Canada. "This announcement demonstrates Canada's leadership and commitment to the integrated North American aluminium supply chain, which benefits both Canada and the United States. It takes all available means and resources to protect the integrity of this supply chain, while respecting the rules of international trade," said Jean Simard, President and CEO of the Aluminium Association of Canada. In the context of the U.S. section 232 investigation and the threat of a 10% tariff on Canadian aluminium exported to the United States, these new measures will ensure that there is no foreign metal entering the United States via Canada, while demonstrating Canada's willingness to work with the...
As per the latest export-import data published by China General Customs, China’s total aluminium semi-finished and finished products exports continued to surge in February 2018. Total exports of aluminium semis-finished products for February increased by 44.50 per cent on year-on-year basis, while exports for the first two months of 2018 surged by 26.50 per cent from the same period last year. Data Source: www.metal.com As per the Customs data, total aluminium semi-finished product export by Asia’s largest aluminium producer and consumer stood at 330,000 tonnes last month, while the volume reached 730,000 tonnes during January-February of 2018. Export of aluminium bar rod and profiles by the country witnessed an increase in February 2018. The total aluminium bar rod and profiles export by...
LME aluminium registered some gain over yesterday’s trading as the dollar index slipped by 0.1 per cent to 89.29 and closed lower as it met some strong resistance. The light metal contract finally closed at US$2035 per tonne on Tuesday March 27. Shanghai Metals Market expects the contract to trade at US$2,030-2,055 per tonne today. As on March 27, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2034 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2035 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2055 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2056 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2110 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price is US$ 2115 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock has dropped to 1268175 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at 1031525 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 236650...
Yet another country asks for a relief from the US's high customs duties on imported aluminium and steel. The Israeli government is pressing the United States of America to exempt it from the tariffs as they are affecting the small businesses. As reported by “Globes”, Israel’s Ministry of Economy and Industry Foreign Trade Administration has already corresponded with the International Trade Administration in the US Department of Commerce seeking an exemption from the restrictions on aluminium and steel exports to the US. Israel’s official has put up a reason for the request that its metal exports to the US are too marginal (a total of US$25 million a year) to pose any kind of threat to the US economy. At the same time, limiting aluminium and steel exports from Israel to the US by imposing...
