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 Aluminum Association responded today to news that the Department of Commerce delivered to the White House its Section 232 report prepared in connection with the agency’s investigation of the national security implications of imported aluminum. Aluminum Association President & CEO Heidi Brock commented: “On behalf of the domestic aluminum industry, the Aluminum Association appreciates the president’s continued commitment to strong trade enforcement and a level playing field for U.S. producers. We expect that the report will recognize the significant role the aluminum industry plays in ensuring our nation’s security and welcome the opportunity to engage the administration on an appropriate remedy that will benefit the entire aluminum value chain. The association supports actions that...
A bullish LME aluminium outlook notwithstanding Indian primary aluminium producers are struggling to keep their profits intact. Reason- The spiralling cost of raw materials. From alumina to coal, coal tar pitch and caustic soda every key ingredient of aluminium making has become costlier and this has resulted in a total impact of US$744 per tonne (year-on-year) on overall aluminium production. The effects have been such that the gains from LME aluminium prices have got negated. Three of India’s top aluminium producers- Hindalco Industries, Vedanta, and Nalco are facing this challenge. “The LME price outlook for aluminium is bullish, but input costs are a pain for the producers,” noted Nalco CMD and Aluminium Association of India (AAI) President TK Chand. According to AAI data, alumina...
The Aluminium Closures Group will sponsor this year’s prestigious international wine award, the Mundus Vini Spring Tasting. Via this engagement with a group of internationally recognized experts in the wine industry, the Group aims to expands its presence within the core market segment of fine wines. “It is a unique opportunity to take part in Mundus Vini and be directly involved in an activity of such high quality and cultural importance to the world of fine wines. We are convinced that aluminium closures can generally support the qualitative growth of wine, while we continuously develop new solutions for the industry,” said Franco Bove, Chairman of the Aluminium Closures Group The Group’s ‘Turn 360°’ campaign gives a fresh twist to the numerous advantages of aluminium closures for the...
Aluminium powder is used for several applications such as manufacture of slurry, explosive and detonators, thermit process used for manufacture of ferro-alloys, specialised welding applications, and manufacture of aluminium paste, and others. Aluminium flakes comes from aluminium powder through dry ball milling process. France’s imports of commodities have decreased during the last five years. The data shows a downward trend for aluminium powder and flakes Import in France. The country’s import of this product is estimated to decline in 2018. International trade data shows that France imported 9889 tonnes of aluminium powder and flakes in 2016. The total import was valued at US$31 million. In 2017, the country imported 9553 tonnes with total value estimated at US$33 million. In 2018,...
Ford’s fourth-quarter 2017 results were out on Wednesday afternoon and report indicated that rising prices of aluminium is putting pressure on its profits. Ford’s aluminium intensive vehicles use more aluminium than its rivals and the 20% rise in price in 2017 has impacted its earnings. Aluminum closed at $2,229 per tonne on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump administration’s plan to impose tariffs on imported aluminium and steel could push prices even higher. Ford gave a lower earnings estimate for 2017 and 2018 on higher prices for steel and aluminium and as well as currency volatility and said that it could cost the company $1.6 billion in 2018. Ford Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks told analysts at a conference in Detroit last week that rising steel and aluminium prices were now...
As per General Department of Customs (GDC) data, Vietnam exported 4.4 million tonnes of ores and industrial minerals worth $167 million in 2017. Exports to China alone- 3.5 million tonnes accounted for 85 per cent of the total export. The quantity of bauxite exported to China totalled 343362 tonnes. To note, China is the only country where Vietnam ships off its bauxite currently. It is an ideal market for mineral rich countries. It continues to buy bauxite and other ores from these countries to satiate its domestic demand. Global export-import data shows that Vietnam exported US$19,315.19 million worth bauxite to China in 2017; but the export turnover was only 51.4 per cent of total mineral turnover for the South-east Asian economy, reported an industry source. In 2018, value of bauxite...
Ahmed Abdelrazek, chairperson of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), has laid the foundation stone of a factory of Egyptian company Good Sense Egypt for aluminium panels, with Egyptian and Saudi investments in Ataqa, Suez worth nearly EGP 200m. Abdelrazek said that the new factory is very important in terms of deepening local products in one of the most important industrial sectors, as it is considered the first of its kind to cover the gap of the local market, with an annual capacity of 3m sqm in the first phase, providing 70% of the needs of the local market and reducing the cost of importation. Abdelrazek expects the project to meet the aluminium panels needs of the local market and to export the production surplus after the completion of the second phase of the project in...
China’s social inventory of primary aluminium including SHFE warrants stood at 1.77 million tonnes on Thursday January 25, down 19,000 tonnes from a week ago, SMM data showed. This is due to restocking ahead of the Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February. This has moved the domestic market lifting the average A00 ingot prices to RMB 14,550 per tonne. This is a major gain in the second half of the month of January. The prices are expected to move within a range of RMB 14,530-14,570. Spot discount will range within RMB 140-100 per tonne today. Among the domestic markets, A00 price in South China market remains the highest at RMB 14,605 per tonne. Details of aluminium inventory in the major Chinese cities as on January 25 are as follows: Average prices of aluminium alloys have registered a...
Utkal Alumina International Limited, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group owned Hindalco Industries, has applied for environment clearance for its expansion of the alumina refinery in Odisha. The estimated cost of the proposed expansion project is INR 4000-5000 crore. With the proposed expansion, the company’s alumina production capacity will increase from 1.5 million tonnes per annum to 3 million tonnes per annum. The expert appraisal committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change would take up company’s expansion application at its next meeting on February 5. The company's captive Baphlimali bauxite mines supplies reserves to the alumina refinery. The ample amount of reserves can fed the refinery for 25 years once the production starts. Utkal Alumina refinery produced...
The Ducab Aluminium Company (DAC), a joint venture between Ducab and Senaat has been inaugurated today at Khalifa Industrial Zone of Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) by HH Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court. The company makes aluminium rods and overhead conductors. The new company was funded by a $60m investment in order to strengthen the UAE’s industrial supply chain in line with the UAE strategy to champion industrial investments. HH Al Nahyan highlighted the objective of economic diversification and said that the industry, with the support of the wise leadership of the UAE government, has become a significant pillar of the UAE national economy. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the largest aluminium producer in the Middle East has collaborated with DAC to...
The upward momentum in LME aluminium prices has slowed down. The light metal put up a poor performance yesterday in comparison with other base metals and closed marginally up at US$2,216 per tonne after testing support at US$2,250 per tonne on Wednesday, January 24. LME aluminium has fallen by 1.9 per cent since it reached its monthly highest at US$2,256 per tonne in January this year. Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) predicts that LME aluminium will trade at US$2,215-2,260 per tonne range on Thursday, January 25. SME and SHFE Aluminium Price Trend The benchmark aluminium price on Shanghai Metal Exchange has risen from US$2,257 per tonne on January 24 to US$2,302 per tonne on January 25. On Shanghai Futures Exchange, open interest on aluminium contracts went down yesterday to 759,552 lots-...
Scandium International Mining Corp. (SCY) announced the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Ohm & Häner Metallwerk GmbH & Co. GK to test scandium alloys in casting applications. Ohm & Häner Metallwerk, based in Olpe, Germany, is a manufacturer of sand cast and gravity die cast parts. It produces over 3,000 individual cast parts primarily aluminium and copper-based alloys. Georg Dieckhues, PhD, Plant Director of Ohm & Häner commented: "We are confident that this group is a reliable and reasonable resource for master alloys containing scandium to refine aluminium--copper-based casting materials in order to improve both on castability and technical properties of the final castings." “The LOI calls for the Company to contribute aluminium-scandium master alloy 2% (MA), for mixing and...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), the home-base for Line 6 Expansion Project, announced the launch of Phase III of its company-wide, cost reduction programme Project Titan with the aim to reduce cash-cost by US$ 60 per metric tonne of aluminium and step-up its production capacity to 1,000,000 metric tonnes per annum by end of 2018. Project Titan Phase III, aims to optimize the Company’s operational costs, boost Value-Added Sales as well as increase its production, is an integral part of Alba’s strategy for value-creation and sustainable operations. Explaining further, Alba’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Murray said: “Preparation is key if we are to seize the right opportunities in the future. By stretching our limits via Phase III of Project Titan, our resilience will allow us to improve...
COIL, the world leader for aluminium anodising, announced its full year revenue for 2017. The company’s revenue was down 10.1 per cent from 2016. The company generated revenue of €29.6 million in 2017, down from €33 million in 2016. The company said revenues in the fourth quarter of 2017 fell 19 per cent to €6.8 million from €8.4 million in 2016. COIL’s sales of anodising services registered €25.3 million, down 9.7 per cent from 2016, due to significant volatility in demand from metal distributors faced with aluminium price fluctuations, particularly in the second and fourth quarters. “Following a record year in 2016, sales of packaged offers (anodising with metal included) have consolidated their international development, with several major orders delivered in Europe, Asia and the US....
Saudi Arabia, one of the fastest growing economies of the Gulf region, is on the verge of entering a post-oil era. The economic drivers in this phase are going to be aluminium, building and construction, and port industry. With stellar urbanization, consumer durables sectors like aluminium foil packaging, appliances and automobiles will witness significant growth. Five-year data of aluminium foil import by Saudi Arabia shows this correlation: From 8975 tonnes in 2014, Saudi Arabia’s aluminium foil import has surged to 59,513 tonne in 2017. In 2015, the volume reached its highest at 60343 tonnes. However, macro and micro-economic factors remaining constant, aluminium foil import by the Gulf country is estimated to drop to 45214 tonnes in 2018. Saudi Arabia’s GDP stood at US$646.4 billion...
First Bauxite Corporation has announced that it has entered into a loan with Resource Capital Fund VI L.P. for a bridge loan facility with a principal amount of up to US$5 million. The fund from the Bridge Loan would be used for the purpose of funding development initiatives related to the direct shipping operations and working capital expenses of its Bonasika Bauxite Project. The Bridge Loan will be offered in three instalments, a first advance of up to US$2 million, which has been paid to the Company, a second advance of up to US$2 million, which is to be available on or after March 1, 2018 and a third advance of up to an amount equal to the undrawn balance, which will be available on or after April 1, 2018. The loan will be repayable in full on the date of Event of Default that falls...
Resource recovery firm Axion announced that it is undertaking further research into increasing recycled aluminium content in new vehicles as part of REALITY project led by Jaguar Land Rover. The company will develop techniques for sorting and separating specialist alloys from aluminium derived from end-of-life vehicles. Last September, Jaguar Land Rover announced a new aluminium recycling programme- REALITY. The programme will enable JLR to recycle aluminium waste from end-of-life cars and then reuse it in new vehicles. The £2m REALITY project builds on the REALCAR programme set up in 2008 to reuse aluminium waste from the manufacturing process. Axion’s Head of Circular Economy, Richard McKinlay said: “These extracted aluminium alloys will also be extensively tested to assess their...
LME aluminium dropped for the second day in a row even after dollar index touched 3-year low on broad-based weakness. The light metal contract came down from US$2,235 per tonne on Monday, January 22, to close at US$2,213.50 per tonne on Tuesday, January 23. Shanghai Metals Market analysis suggests that LME aluminium will trade at US$2,205-2,245 range on Wednesday, January 24, with support at the moving averages. As on January 23, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,213 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,213.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,217 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,218 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,262 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,267 per tonne. LME aluminium opening stock stands at 1086200...
