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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Aluminum and magnesium recycling company and secondary aluminium producer Real Alloy closes its Wisconsin facility as part of continuing efforts to improve efficiencies and a follow up of its bankruptcy filing in November 2017. On November 17, 2017, Real Industry and its U.S. subsidiaries have filed for voluntary bankruptcy under Chapter 11. The secondary aluminium producer said they continue with its operations with grants from the Court on an interim basis. The company cited a lack of cash in absence of borrowing and refinancing debt as a key reason for bankruptcy. According to a company press release in January, the third-party aluminium recycling company ceased operations at its Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin facility, which it had acquired from Beck Aluminum about a year ago. According to...
As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, China’s aluminium inventory after Chinese New Year Holiday may continue to go up to 2.1 million tonnes from the present volume of 1.8 million tonnes. Sluggish trading and weak consumption ahead of the week-long holiday has accumulated the stocks, and it is a seasonal increase. Growing inventory has contributed to the decline in SHFE aluminium prices since the beginning of 2018. After an occasional increase yesterday, A00 aluminium Ingot prices remain unchanged at RMB 14,010 per tonne today. The prices are expected to move within a range of RMB 13,990-14,030. Spot discount will range within RMB 240-200 per tonne today. In the individual markets, average primary aluminium ingot prices register a drop except in South China market where it remains flat....
Leading Indian automotive component manufacturer for OEMs, Minda Corporation of Ashok Minda Group has posted six percent increase (year-on-year) in net profit margins in the third quarter ending December 31, 2017. From INR 21.3 crore in Q3 FY 2017, net profit has increased to INR 37.9 crore this financial year. Profit after tax, however, has come down to INR 42.1 crore from the last quarter. The company manufactures aluminium die casted components for global automotive industry among other products and also offer end to end solutions. Source: Spark Minda Minda Corp’s Q3 FY 2017-18 revenues have increased by 25.2 per cent y-o-y to INR 636.2 crore; but it is less than the Q2 revenues of INR 655 crore. Earnings before interest, tax, deduction and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 45.8 per...
Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange slipped US$6 per tonne lower on Tuesday, February 13, as LME aluminium inventory grew significantly to 1.28 million tonnes. The light metal contract closed at US$2,123.50 per tonne yesterday, down from US$2,129.50 per tonne on Monday, February 12. Shanghai Metals Market forecasts that LME aluminium will trade at US$2,120-2,155 per tonne on Wednesday, February 14 with persisting pressure at the five-day and 10-day moving averages. As on February 13, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,122.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,123.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,133 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,133.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,183 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer...
Austin Mooney, the new managing director of the Clarendon-based Jamalco, is promising to make the alumina plant more competitive. Mooney, who has almost 35 years’ experience in the bauxite/alumina industry, said the company will also recommit to building better partnerships with its communities and stakeholders. According to him, Jamalco is poised for growth but this can only be achieved with the input of all employees and other stakeholders. He says the company has all the ingredients to surpass its previous achievements and continue to be the leader of the industry. Mooney also says he will retain the business systems from Alcoa and empower the employees at all levels to use their knowledge and expertise to improve the business. According to him, Jamalco will also lend greater focus to...
U.S. President Donald Trump will meet with a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Tuesday to discuss trade matters, as he ponders whether to takes steps to limit steel and aluminum imports seen as damaging to U.S. businesses. A month ago the Commerce Department handed Trump the results of its investigation into steel and aluminum imports, giving him 90 days to respond. They have offered no insight into their conclusions. “The president will hear from bipartisan members of Congress across the spectrum of opinions on trade matters, including the pending (Section) 232 cases on steel and aluminum,” said White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters. “This meeting is part of the president’s commitment to ensure fair and reciprocal trade policies that support the American worker and grow the American...
Ford Motor Co said on Monday it will boost production of Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, their two large SUVs by 25% this year to challenge rival General Motor that is outperforming Ford financially in a highly profitable U.S. market segment. It is also expected to boost Ford’s falling profit margins. “We can sell every single vehicle we can produce here,” Ford global operations president Joe Hinrichs said during a visit to Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky where the new generation of Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs went into production. He expects these high-margin vehicles to bring about a change. Production expansion of the Expedition and Navigator at the Kentucky Truck factory comes as investors are concerned over Ford’s shrinking automotive profit margins...
Aluminium dross going to landfills or salt cake formed as a byproduct of aluminium recovery from dross and discarded thereafter continues to pose a serious threat to the environment. Although sealed to prevent leaching, potential for salt cake leaching still exists and can harm the environment in several ways. Energy consumption in aluminium dross recovery too remains an area of active research. At a time when environmental concerns are driving the entire manufacturing sector towards sustainable development and business process remodelling, aluminium industry cannot afford to overlook the importance of proper aluminium dross processing. AlCircle in its special sector focus report Aluminium Dross Processing: A Global Review has tried to present a deep insight into this area of research. A...
Brazil, the third largest bauxite producer after Australia and China, shipped 433,797 tonnes of bauxite in January, down 48.7% year on year, according to Brazil’s Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services (MDIC). For the twelve months of 2017, Brazil’s exports of bauxite decreased 14.2% year on year to 8.97 million tonnes, from 10.45 million tonnes a year earlier. The shipments were affected due to production issues at Brazil's Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN). The mining company Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN) in Trombetas has an annual production capacity of 18 million metric tonnes of bauxite. According to recent estimates, in H1 2018, the country is projected to export 6.45 million tonnes of bauxite, from 3.97 million tonnes in the corresponding period previous year. In H2 2018, it...
According to the latest report from Aluminum Association, imports of aluminium ingot, scrap and mill products into the U.S. and Canada (excluding cross-border trade) stood at 386,000 tonnes in December 2017, up 21.4% over the December 2016 total of 319,000 tonnes. Including scrap, which accounted for roughly 58.7% of reported aluminium exports in December, exports totalled 262,000 tonnes, up 22.4% over a year ago. Excluding scrap, exports totalled 108,000 tonnes, up 2.6% over last year. Exports of scrap increased 41.7% YoY. In total for 2017, imports were up 23.2%to 4.4 million tonnes YoY, while exports were up 6.6% to 2.9 million tonnes. The Association’s “Index of Net New Orders of Aluminum Mill Products” for January 2018 increased 21.2% over December 2017. Orders for flat roll products...
According to the data from Shanghai Metals Market, China’s social inventory of primary aluminium hit a record high of 1.81 million tonnes on Monday February 12, due to sluggish trading ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday next week. This is up from 1.78 million tonnes recorded on Thursday February 8. Inventory details in the major cities in China are as follows: On the face of growing inventory and low consumption, most of the commodities and raw materials remain flat pricewise. The increase in LME aluminium inventory and the indication of growing Chinese export orders have lifted the domestic A00 ingot prices today. After the fall yesterday, average aluminium Ingot prices gained substantially to stand at RMB 14,010 per tonne. The prices are expected to move within a range of RMB...
Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange dropped 0.58 per cent as inventory rose due to surging Chinese export. The light metal contract closed at US$2,129.50 per tonne on Monday, February 12, down from US$2,142 per tonne last Friday, February 9. Shanghai Metals Market forecasts that LME aluminium will continue to trade low in the short term. The price will move in the range of US$2,120-2,155 per tonne on Tuesday, February 13. As on February 12, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,129 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,129.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,129.50 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,130 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,178 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,183 per tonne. LME aluminium...
Metals and mining company Rio Tinto has announced that it will invest $250 million in its Vaudreuil alumina refinery, in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada. The investment will extend operations at the alumina refinery beyond 2020. Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive Alf Barrios said: "The high quality, cost competitive alumina from the Vaudreuil plant will continue to support our world class, low carbon aluminium smelting operations in the region to deliver a range of products that meets our customers' needs." The company said that the work includes the construction of a filtration plant and the optimisation of the Jonquière complex bauxite residue site. Vaudreuil alumina refinery generates around $135 million in annual regional economic benefits.
Khalifa Industrial Zone of Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) signed a land lease agreement with Shaheen Chem Investment LLC for the development of a two-phase chemical complex in the industrial zone with an expected investment of AED 4 billion. The first phase of the plant will produce 130,000 tonnes per year of caustic soda for EGA’s Al Taweelah alumina refinery and 160,000 tonnes per year of ethylene dichloride. The plant will double its caustic soda production capacity following the completion of the second phase. Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Rashed Al Suwaidi, the Chairman of Shaheen Chem, said, “We are grateful to Abu Dhabi Ports for their support. We now look forward to building our plant at KIZAD to supply EGA with the caustic soda it needs. We are also excited to become the first producer of...
UC RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, is pleased to announce the creation of a new Downstream Division in the company's organizational structure. Andrey Donets has been appointed Head of the new division, whose main tasks will include developing value added production and bringing this business of the company to a whole new level. The Downstream Division includes the foil, packaging, and wheels production facilities of the company. Vladislav Soloviev, CEO of RUSAL, commented: “The strategy that RUSAL is implementing to increase the share of value added products in total output and the progress we have made so far require that we look for new points of growth. Strengthening our management team with such a professional as Andrey Donets with his experience in the industry will allow...
Kamran Nabizade, Director General of the Azerbaijan Industrial Corporation, announced on February 7, that the country intended to restart aluminium plant to reduce its reliance on imports. He said: “The goal is to organize the manufacture of primary and final aluminium products. This will make it possible to increase competitiveness of the aluminium production sphere and export potential.” According to trend news agency, Kamran Nabizade would intend to restore Ganja Alumina Plant. “This is necessary for the development of alunite mining in Azerbaijan’s Dashkesan district. The plant will produce alumina and other products from the alunite ore. To do this, the plant needs to be reorganized in accordance with modern technological requirements,” he said. He added: “In particular, it is...
Thanks to the strong economic growth and a sizeable population, beverage can has great potential in Indonesia. From being primarily a consuming country, Indonesia is now spreading its wings as a key exporter of beverage cans in the Asian market. A yearly growth of 9.05 per cent in aluminium cans export in 2017 demonstrates its potential as an exporter. Based on three-year global trade data (includes estimated data for 2018), aluminium can export and aluminium can import trends of Indonesia can be depicted as follows: In December last year, leading beverage can manufacturer Crown Asia Pacific launched their first plant in Indonesia. It caters to the growing demand of aluminium beverage cans in Indonesia and Asia-Pacific region. The single-line facility produces 330 ml two-piece aluminium...
South Korean furniture artist Wonmin Park presents his first solo show, Plain Cuts, at The Carpenter’s Workshop Gallery in Manhattan. The exhibition highlights new iterations from his 2013 Haze resin series marked by its textured and geometric designs. The collection was Park’s first exploration of aluminium that turned into a full-on art collection that expressed aluminium’s elemental qualities. Plain Cuts is his survey of aluminium, a series of arty furniture made of stoic metallic sheets. He explained his work style and material to The Architect’s Newspaper at the onset of the exhibition. The artist reiterated the superb weight to strength ratio of aluminium and its formability that helped him to create light forms and structures with the metal. Once a luxury material, he feels,...
