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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British Indian billionaire Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Group submits a bid for the French aluminium wheel manufacturer, AR Industries (ARI). This is not the first time Mr. Gupta’s group is attempting to acquire an aluminium firm. Earlier also, he had brought one of Europe’s biggest smelters Aluminium Dunkerque from Rio Tinto at a cost of $500 million. Gupta lives with a dream to create a €2 billion business in northern France to produce components for the automotive industry, reported by Financial Times. According to the report, Sanjeev Gupta’s global industrial group GFG Alliance, led by Liberty Group, has submitted the bid to the court administrators for AR Industries at Chateauroux in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. “ARI fits perfectly into our plans for the creation of an...
Kingswinford-based Mechatherm International has secured £25 million order to supply one of the largest aluminium producers in the Middle East with furnaces. Mechatherm International supplies furnaces and casting machines to the aluminium industry. The company plans to its first office in Dubai later in 2018 to bolster its presence in the Middle East. The furnace order has resulted in 10 new jobs being created at the company. Mechatherm has a customer base of blue chip companies and exports to more than 50 countries around the world. Andrew Riley, chairman of Mechatherm International, said: “Exporting is key to our business and some of our most valuable contracts are with overseas customers. Before working with the DIT, we encountered some difficulties with logistics. We were unsure who to...
The Aluminium Federation, which represents the UK’s aluminium sector, has welcomed the announcement that the European Union and six other countries will be exempt from steel and aluminium tariffs recently announced by President Trump. “The exemption of the EU, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea from these measures, which come into effect today, is good news”, said Aluminium Federation President Giles Ashmead. “However, this exemption is only temporary, and European markets are still vulnerable to flows of diverted aluminium product from producing countries that remain affected by the tariffs. This situation can only generate uncertainty in our industry.” “Tariffs in general are a blunt instrument, and the indirect consequences of any resulting trade war could be...
China, being the largest aluminium exporter to the US, has decided not to remain silent about Trump’s $3 billion tariffs imposition on Chinese aluminium and steel imports. The country has unveiled its plan today (23rd of March, 2018) to consider a 15 per cent tariff on US products including dried fruit, wine, and steel pipes, and 25 per cent on pork products and recycled aluminium, said the commerce ministry in a statement on its website. The ministry further added that China has made a list of 128 US products in total that could be targeted, unless both the countries come to a mutual agreement on trade issues. This, they say, will implement in two stages: first the 15 per cent tariff on 120 products including pipes and wine worth $977 million and later, the 25 per cent tariff on pork and...
According to a BBC update, the European Union (EU) and six other countries will be exempt from steel and aluminium tariffs announced by President Trump, for the time being. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer announced Mr Trump’s decision to "pause" the import duties temporarily for these countries to a Senate panel. The 25% and 10% tariffs on steel and aluminium are due to come into effect on Friday March 23. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea are the other countries that are in the exemption list. "There are countries with whom we're negotiating and the question becomes the obvious one that you think, as a matter of business, how does this work?” "So what he has decided to do is to pause the imposition of the tariffs with respect to those countries," he...
Chinese aluminium giant Chalco increased net profit by 274 percent in 2017 compared to last year mainly due to higher aluminium prices. The company posted net income of 1.38 billion yuan in 2017, from net profit of 368.4 million yuan in 2016. The company said in a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange that it generated revenue of 180.1 billion yuan, up from 144.2 billion yuan a year earlier, according to a report published by Reuters. Chalco’s net profit decreased to 38.9 million yuan in the fourth quarter of 2017, from 599.1 million yuan in the previous quarter - its smallest gain since the first quarter of 2016, according to Reuters records. Chalco had posted 1.36 billion yuan in profit in the first nine months of 2017.The company’s revenue rose 52.5 per cent during January- September....
Aluminium remains one of major exports of the United Arab Emirates. In the face of Trump’s 10% global tariff on aluminium, UAE is reeling under fear as the tariff is expected affect a solid portion of its aluminium export. The Emirates’ main aluminium producer is Emirates Global Aluminium (UAE), created by the merger between Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) and Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) in 2013. EGA turned out a record 2.5 million metric tons of primary aluminium in 2017. The U.A.E. is the United States’ third-most-prolific source of aluminium, after Canada and the Russian Federation. EGA is one of the largest producers of value added products or ‘premium aluminium’. About 80 per cent of EGA’s production is value-added products and it exports 90% of its high purity aluminium and aluminium alloys...
Vedanta has proposed to invest INR 12.4 billion on its Jharsuguda unit (Odisha) to elevate the capacity of aluminium smelter from 1.6 million tonnes to 1.8 million tonnes per annum. The proposal underwent a scrutiny of the State Level Single Window Clearance Authority (SLSWCA) yesterday (March 22, 2018). After a round of scrutiny by SLSWCA, the proposal is now referred to a higher body, the High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA) for an approval, since the former is entitled to approve an investment proposal of up to INR 10 billion only. An investment proposal presented by diversified conglomerate ITC Ltd. for expanding a product line at its existing unit Khurda at a cost of INR 630 million envisioning creating an employment for 100 heads, along with a proposal by wires and cables...
2017 was a year of significant change for the global aluminium market. The Chinese government initiated its aluminium supply-side reform policy, which we expect will limit long run primary capacity growth in China. The year also saw barriers to Chinese exports rise, particularly in the US. Limited production growth in China and low inventory levels outside of China, combined with strong consumption growth means smelters need to be built outside of China. But where will these new smelters be constructed? And who will build them? Russia to add the largest share of capacity outside China CRU has incorporated a number of greenfield and brownfield smelter expansions into our long term output forecasts. Although we still expect China to account for majority of the new smelting capacity, a large...
Bauxite mining operations, which was due to commence during the week beginning 2nd April, has been delayed by up to one week due to arrival of Tropical Cyclone Nora. However, the 2018 production target for the project remains unchanged, Metro Mining reported today. "Tropical Cyclone Nora is predicted to impact the western Cape York region over the weekend,” said the company. “This may now be delayed by up to one week depending on the extent of the rainfall, speed of staff mobilisation back to site and the extent of any storm related damage.” Metro Mining said that all non-essential staff and contractors had been flown out of the Bauxite Hills Mine site as a precautionary measure. While the mine site is not in the predicted cyclone path, it is within range of a possible cyclone path. Metro...
The on-going SMM Copper Aluminium Summit in Shanghai is opening up a number of discussions on the alumina and aluminium sector in China and also throwing light on the possible impacts of the latest tariff on aluminium and steel industry. According to Guo Qiuying, an aluminium analyst at SDIC Essence Futures, there is limited downward room for alumina prices due to costs of essential raw materials like caustic soda and bauxite. The analyst expects the prices of raw material to rebound in 2018, lifting alumina prices. Environmental concerns will continue to draw attention from the government and supply will remain tight due to restricted capacity. Today’s average spot alumina price stands at RMB 2730 per tonne, flat since the last change on March 12. Spot alumina prices have continued...
Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange increased to close at US$2059 per tonne on Thursday, March 22, up from the previous day’s close at US$ 2056.5 per tonne. According to SMM, increasing US trade protectionism dragged aluminium prices down, with LME aluminium falling to lows of $2,063 per tonne. SMM expects LME aluminium to weaken and trade at $2,050-2,090 per tonne. As on March 22, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2057 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2059 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2078 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2079 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2123 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price is US$ 2128 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock has dropped to 1279025 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at...
Canowater has revealed that it has introduced a brand new edition to its range of environmentally friendly water cans made out of aluminium and specially designed by Christopher Raeburn for London Zoo, since the zoo has decided to swap plastic water bottle for aluminium cans in order to lend a touch of advanced eco-friendliness to nature. A UK-based company Canowater, established in 2015, has always aimed at creating a “sustainable alternative to single-use plastic bottles” and therefore, decides to use aluminium instead of detrimental plastic for crafting water cans. "Aluminium has the highest recycling rate of any drink out there”, said company co-founder Josh White adding, "Recycle a can and it could be back on the shelf in as little as six weeks". Needless to say, that these specially...
Strong demand from overseas aluminium foil markets in the final quarter of 2017 saw aluminium foil deliveries from European foil rollers reach a new record tonnage for the full year, according to figures released by the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA). Overall deliveries for the full twelve-month period were at 886,300t (2016: 874,900t), even higher than pre-crisis levels for the second year running. Thinner gauges, used mainly for flexible packaging and household foils added 1.8% year on year, while thicker gauges, used typically for semi-rigid containers and technical applications, slightly increased by 0.3 percent. Total domestic deliveries were ahead by 0.6% in the period, while exports improved strongly, by 5.7 percent. The final three months of 2017 saw deliveries to...
Chassix, Inc. announced the acquisition of BENTELER Automotive Farsund's lightweight aluminium low pressure automotive casting business. The Farsund business will operate under the name Chassix Norway AS. BENTELER Automotive Farsund’s casting business consists of a highly automated aluminium foundry in Farsund, Norway. It designs and produces lightweight aluminium structural castings. Doug DelGrosso, Chassix's President and CEO said "We are pleased to have completed our acquisition of the Bentler Automotive Farsund business, as this acquisition accelerates our vertical integration in Europe, provides customer and product diversification and further enhances our technical capabilities in our business.” "We welcome the Farsund team to Chassix and look forward to working collaboratively to...
The top United States and European Union officials announced yesterday that both US and EU agreed to have a round of discussion on trade issues of concerns, including the new aluminium and steel tariffs, which Donald Trump had threatened to impose from this Friday (March 23, 2018). The EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom met the US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in Washington with an aim to secure an exemption from Trump’s aluminium and steel tariffs on imported metals. At the end of the meeting, they jointly declared in a statement: “We have agreed to launch immediately a process of discussion with President Trump and the Trump administration on trade issues of common concern, including steel and aluminium, with a view to identifying mutually acceptable outcomes as rapidly as...
Sierra Leone’s primary mineral resources are diamonds, rutile, bauxite and gold among others. The country’s exports of bauxite have been rising over the last three years.Total bauxite export volume is expected to decrease in 2018. Romania imports the largest chunk of bauxite from Sierra Leone. Romania imported 1.3 million tonnes of bauxite in 2017. China and India also import substantial amount of bauxite from the country. Sierra Leone exported 50,535 tonnes and 47,401 tonnes of bauxite to China and India respectively. According to recent estimates, in 2016, Sierra Leone exported 1370182 tonnes of bauxite globally. The total revenue from the export stood at US$ 60 million. In 2017, the country exported an estimated 1412499 tonnes of bauxite. The total revenue from the export was US$ 293...
The United States did not fully comply with a 2014 ruling against its anti-subsidy tariffs on a range of Chinese products, a World Trade Organization compliance panel said in a ruling on Wednesday that either side can appeal within 20 days. The ruling came ahead of the White House’s announcement on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump will announce tariffs on Chinese imports aimed at curbing theft of U.S. technology. The move is expected to trigger retaliation from Beijing and stoke fears of a global trade war. China went to the WTO in 2012 to challenge U.S. anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese exports including solar panels, wind towers, steel cylinders and aluminium extrusions. At the time it said its complaint covered an annual $7.3 billion in exports to the United States. The WTO...
