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...
Grow with
AL Circle
As a part of the industry and its associates, we all know about the exceptional performance of aluminium as a metal in 2017. LME aluminium has seen one of the most positive years reaching the highest in five years. China has moved the market with its decision to cut coal, alumina and aluminium capacity. But how well do we know that? The series of developments that shaped the entire aluminium value chain over 2017 cannot really be seen independently as they are part of a bigger dynamics that actually shaped the momentum of the industry. Aluminium as an industry cannot be complete without its raw materials and semi-finished and finished products and so are the developments that have taken place in the value chain. AlCircle, being an aluminium ecosystem has been covering the industry...
The Smelter Plant of National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), located at Angul, has bagged the National Energy Conservation Award in Aluminium Sector for the year 2017. On behalf the company, Dr. P K Pradhan, Regional Manager (Northern Region), NALCO, received the award from Shri Abhay Bakre, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, at the National Energy Conservation Award ceremony held in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Hon’ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, graced the National Energy Conservation Day celebrations as the Chief Guest. Besides, Shri Raj Kumar Singh, Hon’ble Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy was also present on the occasion. It may be mentioned here that NALCO has always given importance to energy conservation through its...
Market participants have expected alumina prices to rebound following some production cuts due to shortage of natural gas. However, analysts from SMM believe natural gas rationing will have little influence on alumina output next week so the price would slope downward further. Lower inventories have supported alumina prices in the short term; however, SMM believes alumina price is unlikely to rebound further. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, average spot alumina price in China stands unchanged on December 25 after rising slightly up to RMB 2889 per tonne on December 22. Domestic spot alumina prices have also stayed unchanged from RMB 2860/t on December 22. According to an SMM update, four alumina plants, including that of China Power Investment Corp in Shanxi province, which use...
LME has registered some substantial growth during the holiday season with the benchmark LME prices rising above US$ 2130/t. LME aluminium registered a record high in Friday's trading and today trading closes at 12.30 ET on Christmas holiday. As on December 22, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$ 2136 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$ 2137 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$ 2153 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$ 2153.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$ 2193per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,198 per tonne. LME aluminium Opening Stock or the LME aluminium inventory level stands at 1104950 tonnes, slightly down from the last closing. Total Live Warrants is 891525 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrant is 213425 tonnes. Metals are...
The demand for aluminium tubes and pipes is estimated to increase in foreseeable future because of continuous expenditure in sectors such as construction, building, transportation and others. Denmark’s aluminium tubes and pipes export, which was down last year, is expected to rise in 2017.Most of the country’s aluminium tubes and pipes export goes to Czech Rep., Germany, France, Poland, and Sweden. According to recent statistics, Denmark exported 16997 tonnes of aluminium tubes and pipes in 2016, down from 17038 tonnes in 2015. In 2017, the country’s aluminium tubes and pipes export is estimated to rise to 17002 tonnes. The estimated value of aluminium tubes and pipes export was USD 88 million and USD 84 million respectively for 2015 and 2016. In the year 2017, the value of export is...
The Malaysian government has prolonged the period of moratorium on bauxite mining in Pahang for another six months till June 30 next year, which was supposed to expire on December 31. Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said in a statement that the cabinet has decided to extend the ban on bauxite mining after the announcement by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) that it would withdraw its seizure order on 10 million tonnes of bauxite stockpile in Pahang. The ministry said, “On Dec 21, the MACC announced that it would withdraw its seizure order on the estimated 10 million tonnes of bauxite, after the ministry and the Minerals and Geoscience Department as well as the state government agreed to introduce new rules to crack down on illegal mining of bauxite.” The...
Japanese aluminium buyers have agreed to pay producers a premium of $103 per tonne for metal shipped in the January-March quarter, reflecting higher spot premiums, five sources directly involved in the quarterly pricing talks said. The deals, an 8 percent to 10 percent rise from the $94-$95 per tonne premium PREM-ALUM-JP in the previous quarter, mark the first increase in three quarters. Japan is Asia’s biggest importer of aluminium and the premiums for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price set the benchmark for the region. The latest pricing negotiations began late last month between Japanese buyers and global producers, including Alcoa Corp, Rio Tinto, South32 Ltd and Rusal, with initial offers ranging between $110 and $118...
Ball Corporation recently won silver and bronze at this year's Canmaker "Can of the Year" Awards for its L'Oréal Men Expert Antiperspirant can in the "Aerosol Cans" category and its Tactile can in the "Prototype" category. Ball utilized its innovative ReAl technology to make the new silver award-winning L'Oréal Men Expert Antiperspirant can. ReAl paves the way for greater lightweighting potential, as well as stronger cans. Ball's ReAl technology provides increased strength and allows Ball to lightweight the L'Oréal Men Expert Can by approximately 12 percent. Additionally, the 80-station necker Ball uses to manufacture this can enables the production of more intricate shapes. "ReAl is an excellent fit for L'Oréal Men Expert, as the sustainability benefits of meaningful lightweighting...
Philippines Chamber of Mines is set to implement a set of sustainability standards developed by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC). Launched in 2004, the standards named ‘Towards Sustainable Mining’ (TSM) requires companies operating in various mining sectors to assess the performance of their facilities annually in terms of tailings and waste management, biodiversity conservation, safety and health, and community outreach. Philippine’s domestic bauxite mining industry is expected to benefit largely from these initiatives. Under the sustainability programme bauxite mining companies will be mandated to assess the performance of their facilities in segments like crisis management, effective energy use and harmful GHG emissions management. With this decision Chamber of Mines of the...
The Star reported that leader Universal Aluminium Sdn Bhd is aiming high to develop and position itself as one of the top five aluminium rod producers in the world within the next five years. Mr Alex Lim Weng Soon MD said the ongoing and new power-related infrastructure projects globally would push up demand for aluminium rods. He said many projects would take place in the South-East Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries as well as in China and India to cope with their high demand for power. Mr Lim said during an interview that “The power industry in these countries looks promising as they want to ensure they have sufficient, stable and sustainable power supply.” He said billions of dollars would be invested to develop power-related infrastructure in these countries in years to come...
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has decided to withdraw seizure order on 10 million tonnes of bauxite stockpile in Pahang. The decision was made following the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry (NRE), Department of Minerals and Geoscience and the state government agreed to introduce new rules to restrict illegal bauxite mining activities. MACC deputy chief commissioner (Operations) Datuk Azam Baki said: "It is also hoped that the decision will help in bringing down incidences of graft and abuse of power, especially those related to bauxite mining activities in the state.” "The withdrawal of the bauxite seizure order is to enable miners to remove their stockpiles while the moratorium is still in force.” Currently, the moratorium on bauxite mining in Pahang is in...
Kobe Steel Ltd, at the centre of a data-falsification scandal that has shaken Japan’s manufacturing industry, admitted for the first time that executives were aware of the cheating, and reassigned three senior officials. Japan’s No.3 steelmaker, which supplies the manufacturers of cars, planes and trains across the world, has said about 500 customers had received products with falsified specifications, throwing global supply chains into turmoil. Outside investigators appointed by Kobe to look into the malpractice have found that senior officials in the co mpany’s copper and aluminium business knew of some of the cheating. “Based on this information, as of today, we have reassigned these three executives,” the company said, adding it would decide on any punishments after the probe was...
Alcoa Corporation, a global leader in bauxite, alumina and aluminium products, today announced decisions regarding smelting assets in the United States and Italy. The actions support the Company’s strategic priorities to reduce complexity and to strengthen the balance sheet. In the United States, Alcoa intends to permanently close its Rockdale Operations site in Texas, which has been fully curtailed since the end of 2008. The site includes a primary aluminium smelter and casthouse, an aluminium powder plant and associated buildings and equipment. Alcoa’s strategic review of these assets, announced earlier this year, concluded that these operations have limited economic prospects. Separately, the Company continues to market for sale more than 30,000 acres of land at the Rockdale site. In...
Aluminium powder and flakes also known as metana 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, paints and several pigments used in automobiles manufacturing. France export of aluminium powder and flakes is expected to pick up this year after a decline in 2016. Last year, the country exported its majority volume of aluminium powder and flakes to Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Belgium, and the USA. According to international trade data, last year, France exported 4026 tonnes of aluminium powder and flakes, down from 4889 tonnes in 2015. This year, the country’s total aluminium powder and flakes export is estimated to reach 5225...
Representatives from the U.S. aluminium industry yesterday testified before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in support of a determination that imports of common aluminium alloy sheet from China threaten to injure domestic producers, a press release from Aluminum Association confirms. Constellium, Jupiter Aluminum, JW Aluminum Company and Novelis Corporation were the major representatives testifying against low-priced, unfairly traded Chinese imports of common alloy sheets. “Today was an important next step in the ongoing unfair trade investigations on common alloy aluminium sheet from China that were recently self-initiated by the Commerce Department,” said Heidi Brock, President & CEO of the Aluminum Association. “Our industry representatives provided comprehensive and...
Primary ingot prices in China are hovering at a level above RMB 14000 without any strong support after falling drastically at the end of the first week of December. Average A00 ingot price has increased slightly to stand at RMB 14,290/t today from RMB 14,280/t yesterday. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, the primary ingot prices registered some increase in some domestic markets too. The price is expected to range within RMB 14270 – 14310 per tonne. The average price of A00 ingot is trending the highest in the South China market at RMB 14,385/t after registering a small increase. The below table shows the price increase in the other major Chinese markets: The high aluminium inventory in China and falling alumina prices remain a concern for the analysts and they are going to put counter...
Altech Chemicals Limited announced an increase in the total debt package for its high purity alumina (HPA) project. Altech said in a statement that German government owned KfW IPEX-Bank has advised the Company of credit approval for a total project finance debt package of US$190 million. Altech managing director Mr Iggy Tan said, “The Company is delighted with the increased total debt package offered by KfW IPEX-Bank for the project and especially the additional loan cover made available by the German government (ECA cover).” “In our opinion the additional project finance is another significant vote of confidence for the project and follows an extensive detailed independent due diligence process.” The approved finance package is higher than the US$185 million of project finance initially...
The end of the year is seeing some substantial growth in benchmark LME prices closing at US$ 2108.50/t. LME aluminium recorded a six-week high in last night’s trading SMM expects to see rangebound trading next, at $2,130-2,160/t today. As on December 21, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2108 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$ 2108.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$ 2125 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$ 2125.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$ 2165per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,170 per tonne. LME aluminium Opening Stock or the LME aluminium inventory level stands at 1106025 tonnes, slightly down from a day earlier. Total Live Warrants is 892750 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrant is 213275 tonnes. A rising U.S....
