Nautor Swan has unveiled new details and official renderings of its 43.5-metre Swan Alloy 44, the Finnish yacht builder’s first aluminium supermaxi, with construction now underway in the Netherlands. The yacht is being built at Gouwerok Shipyard, where hull and deck construction are currently in progress. Once this stage is completed, the vessel will move to Viareggio, Italy, for final outfitting, launch and delivery, which is scheduled for 2028. The project will also become the largest yacht ever built by Gouwerok Shipyard and its first all-aluminium supermaxi. Although construction is taking place outside Finland, Nautor Swan’s team will continue to oversee key aspects of the programme, including its design philosophy, performance studies and supply-chain coordination. The Swan Alloy 44...
Neuman Aluminium has selected a 40-tonne aluminium melting furnace from industrial furnace supplier Jasper for Hirschvogel’s site in San Juan del Río, Mexico, to expand aluminium production at the facility. After Neuman’s melting furnace upgrade at its Marktl headquarters in Austria , the company is deepening its footprint in North America. Neuman Aluminium recently partnered with Hirschvogel for the project. Construction has begun on two production halls, each spanning 7,500 square metres, with production scheduled to start at the beginning of 2028. Explore- Most comprehensive and forward-looking industry-focused report — Global Bauxite & Alumina Market Forecast to 2036: Supply–Demand, Trade Flows & Price Outlook The furnace will be a tiltable 40-tonne melting furnace equipped with...
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The global aluminium downstream market has been experiencing staggering declines, mapped with price and trade volatility. Recent incidents and market trends are must-watch, to be monitored closely for navigating and decision-making about future trading, hedging and subsequent investments. Products in the spotlight and where to buy them The global aluminium coffee capsule market is expanding rapidly, driven by rising coffee consumption and demand for convenient, premium-quality brewing solutions. Valued at USD 2.48 billion in 2025, the market is projected to reach USD 4.5 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 8.1 per cent. Europe accounts for about 40 per cent of global aluminium coffee capsule consumption, followed by North America with 32 per cent. The industry's growth is driven by...
Riding the wave of firmer feedstock costs, the Chinese prebaked anode market has snapped its brief downtrend, with a major smelter in Shandong lifting its July procurement benchmark by RMB 30 per tonne. While current margins remain healthy above breakeven, looming new capacity is set to intensify localised competitive pressure in the second half. Prebaked anode prices rebound RMB 30 per tonne as feedstock costs resurface Driven by rising raw material prices during the settlement cycle, cost support for anodes has re-emerged, and the prebaked anode market has once again shown a trend of halting its decline and turning upward in the short term. According to Mysteel, the July 2026 prebaked anode procurement benchmark price at a major Shandong-based aluminium smelter increased by RMB 30 per...
When aluminium prices moved this year, demand was not always the driving force. Sometimes the catalyst was a Guinean bauxite export terminal. At other times, it was a power contract in South Africa, tensions in the Strait of Hormuz. Taken together, these developments reflected a broader shift in the upstream aluminium industry. Geopolitics, government policy and supply-chain resilience are increasingly shaping raw material flows, investment decisions and long-term market strategy. Strait of Hormuz disruption reshaped trade The Middle East conflict highlighted the vulnerability of the aluminium supply chain to maritime disruptions. Tensions in the Strait of Hormuz caused higher freight costs, rising war-risk insurance premiums and shipping uncertainty disrupted bauxite movements into the...
The 15th IBAAS–VFMSTA 2026 International Conference & Exhibition, jointly organised by the International Bauxite, Alumina & Aluminium Society (IBAAS) and the Vietnam Foundry & Metallurgy Science and Technology Association (VFMSTA), will be held during October 28–29, 2026, at Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam. The event marks a historic milestone as the first international conference and exhibition in Vietnam dedicated exclusively to the bauxite, alumina, and aluminium industry, creating a unique platform for global industry leaders, researchers, technology providers, and investors to connect with Vietnam's rapidly expanding aluminium sector. The conference has already received around 40 technical abstracts from industry professionals and researchers worldwide,...
Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) has signed a strategic delivery agreement with Canadian engineering firm Hatch to support the development and execution of its future mining and metals projects. Under the agreement, Hatch will serve as Maaden's delivery partner for its project pipeline, providing engineering and project delivery support across upcoming developments. The agreement was signed in the presence of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Investment Fahad bin Abduljalil Al-Saif, Hatch Vice-chair Joe Lombard, Maaden Senior Vice President of Project Development and Engineering Abdulrahman As-Sadlan, along with senior government officials from both Canada and Saudi Arabia. Hatch has worked with Maaden in Saudi Arabia for more than 30 years, delivering...
Aluminium casting is the process of melting aluminium and pouring it into a mould, taking a fixed shape when it cools. That shape can be an engine block, a wheel, a gearbox housing, a window frame or a battery tray for an electric car. People pick aluminium over steel or iron for one simple reason: It is lightweight but still strong. A cast aluminium part can be up to half the weight of the same part in steel. Less weight means a car burns less fuel, an EV drives further on one charge and a plane carries more. There are three main ways to cast aluminium and the difference between them decides cost, speed and quality: Casting method How it works Best for Typical use Die casting Molten aluminium is forced into a steel mould under high pressure High volumes, thin walls, complex shapes Car...
Aluminium scrap: This week, aluminium scrap market prices generally moved sideways. On July 16, SMM A00 spot aluminium prices closed at RMB 23,170 per tonne, rebounding RMB 220 per tonne from last Thursday. In terms of price spreads, the price difference between A00 aluminium and mixed aluminium extrusion scrap free of paint in Foshan stood at RMB 1,972 per tonne on July 16, and the price difference between A00 aluminium and shredded aluminium tense scrap was RMB 658 per tonne, remaining at extremely low levels. Constraints on the supply side continued to intensify, with the impact of the reverse invoicing policy deepening further, and the scarcity of compliant, invoiced aluminium scrap rising steadily. On the import front, China’s imported aluminium scrap prices edged down this week. The...
Recycled aluminium producer Aluminum Dynamics LLC will invest more than USD 200 million to build a recycled aluminium slab centre in Lowndes County, Mississippi, creating 100 new jobs. The facility, to be located in the Golden Triangle Industrial Park, will recycle aluminium-bearing materials, mainly used beverage cans, into 180,000 tonnes of aluminium slabs for the aluminium products industry. Operations are expected to begin in the first half of 2027. The Mississippi Development Authority is supporting the project through road and rail infrastructure improvements, while the facility will also qualify for tax incentives under the Mississippi Major Economic Impact Authority programme. Lowndes County is also providing support for the development. Aluminum Dynamics Operations Manager Devin...
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) materials scientists Aashish Rohatgi and Kate Rader have been awarded the 2026 ASM International Henry Marion Howe Medal for research that advances scientific understanding of aluminium manufacturing. The award recognises the best paper published in Metallurgical and Materials Transactions and marks the culmination of nearly a decade of work on how ultrasonic processing affects aluminium solidification. The research began in 2017, when Rohatgi set out to answer a challenging question: what happens inside aluminium castings when ultrasound is applied during solidification? While earlier studies had compared materials before and after processing, the underlying mechanisms remained largely unknown. Four years later, Rader joined PNNL as a...
The Pacific alumina market is expected to find stronger support in the third quarter of 2026 as uncertainty over Guinea's proposed bauxite export controls, rising aluminium demand in Indonesia and the gradual recovery of Middle Eastern smelting operations begin to ease the surplus seen in the previous quarter. Although the market remains well supplied, participants expect supply and demand conditions to tighten compared with Q2, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights' CERA analysis. Supply concerns have centred on Guinea, where possible export restrictions have raised questions over future bauxite availability. China, which relies heavily on Guinean bauxite, imported a record 23 million tonnes of bauxite in May, up 31.9 per cent year on year, with Guinea accounting for 85.1 per cent...
Alcoa Corporation reported record second-quarter 2026 revenue of USD 4 billion (24 per cent increase sequentially), supported by higher aluminium prices, improved operational performance and progress on key strategic projects. During the quarter, the company also signed an agreement to acquire South32’s interests in bauxite, alumina and aluminium assets, further strengthening its upstream portfolio. Alcoa president and CEO William F. Oplinger said, “During the second quarter, in addition to delivering strong financial results that captured favourable aluminium prices, our team executed on strategic initiatives, most notably the announced agreement with South32.” Bauxite Bauxite production declined to 8.3 million tonnes in the second quarter from 9.1 million tonnes in the previous quarter....
London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium warehouse inventories have almost halved in 2026. Warehouse stocks fell from 440,650 tonnes in January to 246,600 tonnes by June, a decline of nearly 45 per cent. At first glance, that simply looks like metal leaving exchange warehouses. But look closer and the picture becomes far more intriguing. Russian-origin aluminium now accounts for almost 95 per cent of the metal remaining on LME warrant, while Indian inventories have repeatedly entered and exited the exchange. So what exactly is happening? The answer lies in two completely different stories unfolding inside the same warehouse system. One warehouse, two very different inventory trends The decline in total LME inventories tells only part of the story. A closer look at the data shows that Russia...
The Federation of All India Aluminium Utensils Manufacturers (FAIAUM) and the Cable and Conductor Manufacturers Association of India (CACMAI) requested the Ministry of Mines to reduce the effective Customs duty on primary aluminium imports. They cited concerns regarding the current tariff structure, which is increasing raw material costs and affecting the competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The industry bodies submitted a joint representation on July 14, urging the Ministry for an immediate rationalisation of the effective 8.25 per cent import duty on primary aluminium. Explore: The most comprehensive and forward-looking industry-focused report — Global Bauxite & Alumina Market Forecast to 2036: Supply–Demand, Trade Flows & Price Report India's aluminium tariff...
Futures: The most-traded SHFE aluminium 2608 contract closed at RMB 23,255 per tonne, up RMB 90 or 0.39 per cent from the previous trading day's settlement price. It opened at RMB 23,190 per tonne and fluctuated in a range of RMB 23,180-23,285 per tonne. Prices ran above the MA5 (23,185.00) and MA10 (23,094.00) but below the MA30 (23,411.33) and MA60 (24,031.00). The short- to medium-term moving averages displayed a bearish alignment and steadily converged lower, highlighting a pronounced consolidation on a subdued note, with resistance building at each moving average overhead. On the MACD indicator, DIF (-196.6528) stood above DEA (-292.7758), and the MACD red bar registered 192.2462, suggesting some easing of bearish momentum. The recommended core trading range for SHFE aluminium is RMB...
The London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium prices made a modest recovery on July 16. Cash price and futures contracts improved over the previous session’s figures, while the continued decline of opening stocks indicated market volatility. On July 16, the LME aluminium cash bid price edged up from USD 3,153 per tonne to USD 3,169 per tonne, reporting a 0.51 per cent improvement. The offer price moved from USD 3,153.5 per tonne to USD 3,170 per tonne, rising by 0.52 per cent. Explore the relevance of red mud in the sustainable aluminium industry in A Comprehensive Analysis of Bauxite Residue (Red Mud): Sustainability, Resource Recovery and Strategic Recommendations The LME aluminium three-month contract bid as well as offer prices surged 0.51 per cent. While the bid moved from USD 3,150 per...
Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Ltd (SWREL) has reported its highest-ever Unexecuted Order Value (UOV) since the pandemic, closing the first quarter (Q1) of FY27 with an order pipeline of nearly INR 130 billion (USD 1.35 billion) . The milestone was supported by strong domestic EPC activity and a landmark international solar project in Egypt, highlighting continued growth in renewable infrastructure and the increasing use of aluminium-inclusive products like solar module frames, mounting structures, cable systems, battery enclosures and other EPC applications. The company also posted a 36 per cent year-on-year increase in profit after tax (PAT) during the quarter, while revenue from its operation and maintenance (O&M) business rose 40 per cent, indicating the expansion of its managed...
Rare earth minerals have moved from a niche group of metals to a strategically important resource that is vital to sectors from clean energy to consumer electronics, defence and advanced manufacturing. As demand rises and supply chains are dominated by a few countries, rare earths are being labelled critical minerals by governments around the world. Rare earths demand ties aluminium downstream industries more and more The downstream aluminium industry is also increasingly impacted by the rising use of rare earth magnets, particularly as aluminium continues to replace heavier materials in transportation, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing applications. The rare earths are a set of 17 chemically similar elements. Neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb)...
Novelis Korea has announced that Choi Min-young, the company's Director of Government Affairs, has been appointed the inaugural chair of the Aluminium Committee of the Korea Nonferrous Metals Association (KONMA). KONMA is an industry association that supports the development of South Korea's nonferrous metals industry and works to improve the competitiveness of its member companies. The Aluminium Committee was established this year to promote the sustainable development of the aluminium industry and address common priorities across the sector. According to Novelis, the committee will focus on developing policy recommendations, supporting supply chain stability and responding to evolving global trade and environmental regulations. It also aims to strengthen the competitiveness of South...
