Cleaner aluminium depends on three things going right at once: scrap collection, melting it in a furnace without much carbon, and the electricity behind the whole chain not being coal-powered. Developments across North America, the UK, the European Union (EU), Egypt, Thailand, Malaysia and India depict how unevenly those pieces are falling into place. While some markets are losing recoverable metal at the sorting line, others are redirecting cargoes or writing scrap into industrial policy, and a few are lining up green projects to hold primary aluminium production together. Aluminium scrap trade: North America leads, Thailand bans, EU retains The international aluminium scrap market is facing a combination of changing trade flows and growing pressure to secure cleaner, more consistent...
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...
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The temporary high phase of LME aluminium at the end of 2017 is fading away as the light metal contract dropped further from US$ 2205.5 per tonne on January 5 to close at US$ 2177.50 per tonne on January 8. As seen by Shanghai Metals Market, a rising US dollar would accelerate the drop of LME aluminium further, which is expected to trade at $2,150-2,185/t today. Aluminium was the only metal to end lower at the end of trading on the London Metal Exchange on Monday January 8. As on January 8, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$ 2,177per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2177.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$ 2193 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2194per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$ 2265per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2270...
A leading can manufacturer Ball Corporation announced the latest addition to the European beverage packaging range with its smallest slim can. The 15- centiliter slim can will be produced at the Naro Fominsk plant in Russia. Irina Dolyanovskaya, Russian Sales Manager at Ball said: “At first we assumed that the 15-centiliter size would be most convenient for strong alcohol or vodka, particularly within the Russian market. However, we are actually seeing that this can format is also appealing to the newer canned beverage categories such as juices, waters and cold brew coffees.” With hectic lifestyles, a desire for on-the-go consumption, and a greater focus on health and nutrition, European customers and consumers are seeking smaller packaging formats that offer portion control, portability...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), the Bahrain based international aluminium smelter, yesterday announced that it has set another production record during 2017. The company now aims to rise higher in 2018 as they progress with the construction of Line 6 Expansion Project. The company produced 981,016 tonnes per annum in 2017, up by 1% Year-over-Year (YoY). Alba’s production volume is the highest annual production recorded in company’s history. Commenting on its new record, Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray said: “Alba’s record-breaking production speaks volumes about our resilience and determination to achieve excellence against all odds.” “I thank our employees and contractors alike for their hard work, commitment to Safety practices and for working together as one team to achieve this...
Australia’s Batchfire Callide Pty Ltd will continue to operate the coal mine in Central Queensland after the State Government approved an extension to its Boundary Hill mine lease. The mining lease period of the mine has been extended till 2043. Anthony Lynham, Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, made the statement on Thursday, January 2. Lynham said, “The lease will allow the Callide mine to continue to supply approximately 6.5 million tonnes of thermal coal each year for baseload power generation and alumina manufacturing.” Batchfire Resources had acquired the mine from Anglo American in 2016. The mine produces low sulphur, sub-bituminous thermal coal primarily for domestic power generation and alumina refining. The company had applied to the state government to start the...
According to a report from Navigant Research, Global plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) sales hit 1 million units in 2017. Sales revenues of such vehicles have increased by over 40% every year since the launch in 2011 and it is expected to maintain a 38% growth rate in 2020, the report said. “Battery costs have dropped dramatically over the past five years and they will continue to go down with the commercialisation of solid-state batteries. In addition, regulatory pressure in Europe and China will further promote the development of plug-in electric vehicles no matter what happens to oil prices,” Navigant senior analyst Scott Shepard was quoted as saying. Electric vehicles were getting all the highlights at 2017 Frankfurt IAA, the world’s largest motor show. Many premium brands announced...
HMD Global, Finnish company that secured Nokia branding rights in late 2016, has launched second generation of Nokia 6 (2018) after some upgradations. The phone that is crafted from 6,000 series aluminium has been launched in China at a price of CNY 1499. The new model has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 processor, whereas the previous model had a Snapdragon 430 processor. The new version also gets a fingerprint scanner at the back. The aluminium body phone sports a 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels. The smartphone bears 16MP autofocus rear camera with dual-Tone LED Flash and PDAF. Nokia 6 (2018) can be expanded up to 128GB via a microSD card. It is powered by a 3000mAh non removable battery.
Spot Alumina prices have registered mixed momentum in China today. Average spot alumina price in China has registered a small drop to stand at RMB 2854 per tonne today. In the four domestic alumina market, average price stands at RMB 2825 per tonne, registering a slight increase. In South China market alumina drops to RMB 2830 per tonne along with the drop in primary ingot price. Only in North China market, prices registered some rise. As seen by Platts analysis, near-term expectations are mixed. Some market participants see higher levels on the back of potential restocking ahead of the Lunar New Year in February, while others expect lower ranges as aluminium is expected to stay weak because of growing inventory, which is expected to reach record high in February. This would keep alumina...
India’s leading automotive component manufacturer and aluminium die-casting producer Endurance Technologies Ltd has bagged an order from Hyundai Motor India. The order worth INR 42 crore involves supply of aluminium die casting parts from its Aurangabad facility during 2018-19. Ramesh Gehaney, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Endurance Technologies told the same to ETAuto. Endurance Technologies supplies automotive component to Hyundai Motor India, one of the key customers of the company. The company has also earmarked investments of INR 275 crore for capacity expansion, R&D, and new projects during FY 2018-19. The company will spend INR 120 crore on its factories in Italy and Germany. Bajaj Auto, Royal Enfield, Renault-Nissan, Daimler, Fiat Chrysler, BMW and Tata Motors...
After registering some gains at the start of the New Year, LME aluminium is on a downward trend driven by dollar’s uptrend and higher Chinese inventory. The support of the 10-day moving averages became weaker for LME aluminium and Shanghai Metals Market expects the light metal contract to trade at $2,190-2,229/t today. The LME aluminium contract fell further from US$2,230 per tonne on January 4 and closed the first week of January at US$ 2205.5per tonne on January 5, Friday. As on January 5, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,205 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2205.5 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2224.50per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2225per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2300per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is...
According to the latest report from United States Geological Survey (USGS) domestic primary aluminium production in October 2017 was 63,000 tonnes. The average daily production in October was 2,020 tonnes, essentially unchanged from that in September 2017 and slightly more than that in October 2016. However, the amount drops 51% from that in October 2015. The October 2017 average U.S. market price of primary aluminium ingot and average cash price on the London Metal Exchange (LME) increased slightly from those in September 2017 to stand at US$ 2124 per tonne and US$1932 per tonnes, respectively. Inventories of primary aluminium in LME-approved warehouses in the United States dropped to 79,900 t at the end of October from 89,750 t at the end of September. Production of secondary aluminium...
India’s Navaratna public sector enterprise National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) is considering plans to open a second caustic soda plant in Odisha’s major seaport town of Paradip. The plant thought to supplement Nalco’s upcoming facility in Dahej- a JV between Gujarat Alkalis & Chemicals Ltd., will help check the spiralling overhead costs of its aluminium smelting operations. While explaining the reasons behind considering a second caustic soda plants, Nalco Chairman and Managing Director Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand marked the following pointers: Bringing operational costs under control is a priority in order to face global competition. Chinese producers get coal at highly subsidized rates which place them in an advantageous position against Indian aluminium producers in the international...
Ball Corporation, a leading beverage can maker with production facilities around the globe, announced that it has won a 2017 Asia CanTech Award from CanTech International for its Riya Bindas Mania aluminium aerosol deodorant can for Reacha Cosmetics. The 53-millimeter diameter aluminium aerosol cans were manufactured at company's Ahmedabad, India, facility. “Reacha Cosmetics had a clear goal with Riya Bindas Mania to achieve graphics that would stand out on a saturated shelf. The product features a man's face designed to have a photo-realistic feel.” “Reacha asked Ball to achieve printing the man's face on an aluminium aerosol can with high-level definition and sharpness. With its extensive graphics experience and a close relationship with the customer, Ball was able to execute at a level...
Equipment manufacturers and technology suppliers are an integral part of any industry and metal industry is no exception. The aluminium industry value chain is one of the most widely spread ecosystem that covers participants from the ore to the end user segments. The entire range of operations starting from mining to final processing of end –products requires highly effective technology and fixed and mobile equipment. The technology and the equipment also need to be upgraded from time to time in order to keep pace with changing needs of the industry, market and environment. This reinforces the significant role played by the equipment suppliers in the aluminium industry value chain. Quebec, being at the center of Canada’s aluminium industry with the presence of Alcoa, Rio Tinto Alcan and...
China imported 61.44 million tonnes of bauxite in the first eleven months of 2017, up 30.55 per cent year-on year. In November, the country’s import of bauxite increased 13.89 per cent year-on year to 5.8 million tonnes. Nov YoY (%) Jan-Nov YoY (%) Data Source: Shanghai Metals Market Guinea’s export of bauxite to China grew in November. The country shipped 2.7 million tonnes of bauxite in November 2017, up 84.75 per cent year-on year .During January-November, the volume increased 143.99 per cent year-on-year to reach 24.5 million tonnes. Guinea has the largest bauxite reserve in the world at 7.4 billon tonnes, the most of which is still unexplored leaving high potential for investment in the country in the bauxite sector. Guinea’s government recently approved more than $2.8 billion...
Bosnia's "Alumina" will invest 12 to 15 million marka ($7.4-9.2 million/6.1-7.7 million euros) in 2018 towards expanding its alumina production capacities into non-metallurgical segment. According to the company CEO, Alumina is branching out from its metallurgical production programme. Bosnia's Alumina doo is located in the Industrial zone of Zvornik, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina and is into the production of alumina, hydrate, zeolite and water glass. Alumina Ltd is the only company in the south part of the Middle Europe which processes bauxite through Bayer's process and produce different types of hydrates and alumina. The company is expected to start the construction of a new production facility from this month only. In 2017 it invested 25 million marka in the construction...
The Aluminum Association has announced the addition of two new member companies – Vulcan Inc. and Lethiguel Inc. Vulcan Inc. joins as a producer member – any firm that makes or fabricates aluminium – and Lethiguel Inc. joins as an associate member – any firm that supplies the industry with goods and services. The new additions bring the association membership total to 115 companies with 55 producers and 60 associates. “We are excited to welcome Vulcan Inc. and Lethiguel Inc. as the newest members of the Aluminum Association,” said Heidi Brock, President & CEO of the Aluminum Association. “2017 was a busy and significant year for our industry, and it’s important we continue to bring new voices to the table as we prepare for the opportunities ahead of us in 2018. Both Vulcan and Lethiguel...
Aluminium scrap is a significant resource to be used as raw material to produce secondary aluminium and subsequently new aluminium products. According to the Product Complexity Index (PCI), scrap aluminium is the 303rd most traded product and the 820th most complex product. Norway’s import of aluminium scrap has been fluctuating quarter on quarter. In the fourth quarter of FY2017-18, the country is expected to witness a slight increase in aluminium scrap import. On a quarterly basis, Norway imported an estimated 7887 tonnes of aluminium scrap in the first quarter of FY2017-18 (April- June). In second quarter, estimated aluminium scrap import stood at 5390 tonnes and in third, the volume stood at about 5949 tonnes. In the fourth quarter of FY 2017-18 (January-March), estimated aluminium...
China aluminium prices are struggling to stay up in the face of higher inventory and lower raw material prices. After registering a slight drop yesterday, Average A00 ingot price increases today to stand at RMB 14,770 per tonne and expected to move within a range of RMB 14,750-14,790. According to SMM, SHFE aluminium is expected to trade just below the five-day moving average at RMB 15,050-15,220 per tonne. Spot discount is set to shrink to RMB 220-180/t. Aluminium ingot prices in all individual markets in China have registered a substantial increase. The following table shows the growth in ingot price in the domestic markets: Average prices of aluminium alloys have registered an increase in all markets today following the rising A00 ingot price. Average Aluminum Alloys (ADC12) price...
