Downstream aluminium is where geopolitics meets the shop floor. Tariffs, shipping disruption, regulation and shifting demand are deciding who rolls the metal, who gets it and what it becomes, whether a beer can, a battery housing or a length of wire. Fifteen recent developments across North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Oceania depict how aluminium flat rolled products (FRPs), packaging and electric vehicle (EV) demand are being rerouted, and where traders, exporters and buyers may need to adjust. Aluminium FRP and wire: tariffs and policy redraw the flows The tariff debate has reached the bar counter. In Virginia, Democrat Tom Perriello is campaigning on aluminium tariffs that he says raise brewers’ packaging costs. Across the border, a Windsor, Ontario brewery reports its...
The global aluminium industry is entering a new phase of competition, with access to raw materials, affordable energy and production capacity increasingly shaping the position of major producers. China is preparing a large overseas smelting expansion, Ghana is attracting investment in its bauxite reserves, and India and Vietnam are advancing new aluminium projects. However, the expansion drive comes against a complicated market backdrop. Alumina prices have fallen sharply, energy and logistics costs remain significant, and trade policies are reshaping the economics of production and exports. Together, these developments point to a market in which securing resources is only part of the challenge; converting them into competitive aluminium will matter just as much. Africa’s bauxite...
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Numerous items untangle as well as increase the quality of our daily life are partly made of aluminium like cars, refrigerators, kitchenware, electric power lines, packaging for food and medicine, computers, furniture, etc. the metal aluminium is heavily utilised in the manufacturing of household articles for its corrosion-resistant property due to surface oxide formation. The Northern European nation, Finland imported aluminium household articles of 4836 tonnes during 2019-21, incurring revenue expenditure of around $29.71 million from the import. Finland imported 1418 tonnes of aluminium household articles during 2019, attracting foreign revenue outflow of $9.87 million, whereas, in 2020, the import exemplified 14.80% growth from its previous year, as the import volume rose to 1628...
LME aluminium opened at US$3,417 per tonne on Wednesday, March 23, and closed at US$3,685 per tonne, an increase of US$179 per tonne or 5.12 per cent. LME aluminium cash bid price stood at US$3,558 per tonne with a rise of 0.22 per cent or US$8 per tonne and LME aluminium official settlement price settled at US$3,560 per tonne with an increase of 0.27 per cent or US$9.50 per tonne, comparing the records of Tuesday. 3-month bid price grew by US$8 per tonne to rest at US$3,558 per tonne and 3-month offer price had a raise of US$9.50 per tonne to close at US$3,560 per tonne. On the same day, December 23 bid price and December 23 offer price stooped by 0.54 percent to US$3,307 per tonne and US$3,312 per tonne, respectively. The price of Natural gases soared 34 per cent in Europe following the...
The Russian aluminium giant and one of the leading global aluminium producers declared the accomplishment of the construction of social infrastructure facilities in the village of Tayozhny, Krasnoyarsk region with a kindergarten school and a clinic. Collectively, the company has allocated 7 billion rubles for the development of Tayozhny, a nearby location of the Boguchansk aluminium smelter. Rusal gratified its obligations under the agreement on social and economic cooperation with the Krasnoyarsk region. The company financed the construction of social infrastructure in Tayozhny for 13 residential buildings for 790 apartments, water purification facilities and two kindergartens for 500 children with swimming pools, a school with a swimming pool and a clinic furnished with modern...
Queensland Alumina Limited, one of the largest alumina refineries by alumina output capacity, on Tuesday unleashed a caustic spray of chemical following an equipment breakdown at Gladstone, central Queensland. The matter is being investigated by the Department of Environment and Science, according to which a high-pressure pipe bearing sodium hydroxide collapsed overnight on Tuesday, releasing the toxic spray over the sight and into the neighbourhood. Queensland Alumina Limited stated that none was hurt due to the chemical leak and after looking into the scope of the spray, they also revealed that the effects were expected to be limited. However, Department of Environment and Science is investigating the matter to decipher the reason behind the incident. According to Glenn Butcher,...
The average alumina spot price in China has increased by RMB 7 per tonne on Thursday, March 24, after remaining restrained for the past four days at RMB 2,963 per tonne. According to the Shanghai Metals Market, the rise today has brought the domestic alumina spot price to RMB 2,970 per tonne. In Lianyungang and Bayuquan, alumina spot price has hiked by RMB 50 per tonne to settle at RMB 3,425 per tonne and RMB 3,525 per tonne, respectively, followed by the growth of RMB 20 per tonne in Shandong and Guangxi to RMB 2,920 per tonne and RMB 2,960 per tonne. In Shanxi, alumina price has gained RMB 10 per tonne to RMB 2,965 per tonne, while the price in Henan and Guizhou has remained muted at RMB 3,000 per tonne and RMB 2,965 per tonne as of March 24. On the same day, A00 aluminium ingot price...
Owing to the increased alumina and aluminium prices and increased output, Aluminium Corp. of China or Chalco's net profit in 2021 was bolstered by 564.6 per cent Y-o-Y to a 14-year high. In the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2021, the world's largest alumina producer had a net profit of RMB 5.08 billion ($797 million), more than six times greater than the RMB 764.3 million in 2020. Every year, earnings per share increased 853 per cent to RMB 0.29 from RMB 0.03 but fell short of Visible Alpha's mean projection of RMB 0.32. Revenue increased 45 per cent year over year to RMB 269.75 billion, above the Visible Alpha consensus forecast of RMB 246.96 billion. According to Chalco, the company was able to source supply and alter output to limit the impact of power outages and the COVID-19 outbreak,...
Novelis, a subsidiary of multinational aluminium and copper manufacturing company Hindalco Industries has announced the launch of Novelis HRC57S®, an innovative, anodising quality aluminium product containing more than 90 per cent recycled scrap. As claimed by Novelis, the product proves to be of superlative quality for decorative batch anodising with extra bending capacity and non-combustible properties which is not found in any other alloy of aluminium, till date. The new HRC57S® alloy had to go through a lot of tests and experimentations to ensure that the shine, colour and corrosion resistance concur with the standards of the architecture industry. In 2021, Novelis Inc. introduced a high-recycled, pre-anodised product, HRC73A®, which has already been nominated for the prestigious...
Hindalco Industries Limited has continued to expand its aluminium products and aluminium ingot prices, albeit lower than the previous day, with effect from Wednesday, March 23. The company has grown its aluminium wire rod price by INR 3,500 per tonne to INR 319,850 per tonne from INR 316,350 per tonne on March 22. Hindalco’s aluminium wire rod price on Tuesday saw a surge of INR 20,000 per tonne from INR 296,350 per tonne on March 18. Hindalco’s aluminium billets price has also seen an increase of INR 3,500 per tonne on March 23 to stand at INR 322,850 per tonne. On Tuesday, March 22, the price stood at INR 319,350 per tonne, soaring by INR 20,000 per tonne from INR 299,350 per tonne. With the latest rise, aluminium ingot price has come in at INR 308,750 per tonne versus INR 305,250 per...
Novelis, one of the world’s largest recyclers of aluminium and a global pioneer in the development of new aluminium goods and solutions, has recycled a total of 133.3 billion aluminium cans since its inception in 2012. On Monday, March 21, Novelis announced its record-breaking news of recycling a total of two million aluminium cans in its Yeongju, Korea, recycling plant. As we all know how harmful CO2 is for our environment, Novelis’s achievement of recycling this many cans has resulted in saving 20 million tonnes of carbon emission (CO2), which is the equivalent of planting 340 million trees every year. Recycling aluminium cans helps to reduce environmental impact by lowering energy use and natural resource extraction. When compared to creating new aluminium from mined resources,...
A rift between the United States and the United Kingdom over aluminium and steel tariffs has finally come to an end as the former has agreed to lift the duties. On Tuesday, March 22, Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan, a British politician serving as Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade since 2021, officially said that both the countries reached a common term to remove the four-year-long aluminium and steel tariffs. To resolve the dispute, the United Kingdom has accepted a condition that Chinese-owned steel companies in Britain must undergo annual audits to ensure no cheap Chinese steel supply to the US tariff-free. Britain, to return the favour, has also agreed to withdraw retaliatory tariffs on US exports, including whiskey. 10 per cent tariff on...
According to the USGS data, in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021 US shipped a total of 94,100 tonnes of aluminium scrap from Canada. On a Q-o-Q difference, there was a slump of 11,900 tonnes or 11.22 percent from 106,000 tonnes in Q3 2021. In December 2021, Canada shipped a total of 29,700 tonnes of aluminium scrap to the United States, which on a month-on-month forefront declined by 900 tonnes or 2.94 percent from 30,600 tonnes in November 2021. On the other hand, Q2 vs Q3 data shows a huge jump of 36,763 tonnes or 53.09 percent from 69,237 tonnes in the second quarter of 2021. In the third quarter (Q3) a total of 106,000 tonnes of US aluminium scrap was imported from Canada. As per the USGS statistics, in the second quarter of 2021 Canada’s aluminium export to the US closed at 69,237...
LME aluminium opened at US$3,521 per tonne on Tuesday and closed at US$3,505 per tonne, a decrease of US$16.5 per tonne or 0.47 per cent. LME aluminium cash bid price rose to US$3,550 per tonne and LME aluminium official settlement price surged to US$3,550.50 per tonne, up by US$33 and US$32.50 per tonne respectively, comparing the records of Monday. We observe a rise of 0.93 per cent in the official settlement price and 0.94 per cent in the cash bid price for aluminium. 3-month bid price increased by US$26 per tonne to rest at US$3,550 per tonne and 3-month offer price had a raise of US$25.50 per tonne to rest at US$3,550. On the same day, December 23 bid price and December 23 offer price stood at US$3,325 per tonne and US$3,330 per tonne, showing no change. According to Wood Mackenzie,...
Total Aluminium production worldwide for the month of January 2022 has been 5.641 million tonnes with a decline the next month by 9.34 per cent, amounting to 5.114 million tonnes. African production of aluminium has been on a steep decline from January to February 2022 totalling to 139,000 tonnes and 123,000 tonnes respectively. Primary aluminium production is defined by the quantity of aluminium produced through electrolytic reduction of aluminium oxide in a given period of time. The IAI statistical report has been derived from the data provided by either IAI certified bodies or other noncertified but reliable sources. Though the data might be revised on being updated globally, but it is by far the best source of knowledge for seekers. If we calculate data pertaining to the first two...
On Tuesday, March 22, the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative reportedly welcomed Cameroonian Aluminium Company ALUCAM as a new Production and Transformation member. That brought the ASI’s total number of members to 215. ALUCAM is an industrial aluminium production company (Smelter) located in Edéa, a crossroads city between the Littoral, Center and South Cameroon. It started its operations in 1957 and, until now, has around 600 permanent employees to produce 100,000 tonnes of aluminium in a year. The company also relies on a large number of indirect jobs. Being a public capital company, the Government of Cameroon holds 93.3 per cent of shares of ALUCAM, while the rest are held by the French Development Agency (5.6 per cent) and the Cameroon National Investment Company (S.N.I). ALUCAM...
On Tuesday, March 22, Magna BDW technologies have been successfully accredited with ASI Performance Standard Certification with a focus on Material Stewardship for its automotive sector at Markt Schwaben factory in Germany. Following Magna PT B.V. & Co. KG, which received Performance Standard Certification in October 2021, it is the second Magna Group subsidiary to get ASI Certification. High-pressure aluminium casting of car body structure components, such as pillars, shock towers, and floor rails, is the primary activity of the Markt Schwaben complex. Complex forms, great product durability, and effective integration with mating components may all be produced using the high-pressure casting technique. SZI GmbH conducted an impartial third-party audit of the Magna BDW technologies GmbH...
After about a week of the last price update, National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has revised its aluminium ingot and aluminium products prices, in line with the global aluminium benchmark price. With effect from March 22, NALCO has expanded its aluminium wire rod price by INR 23,500 per tonne to sell the product at 307,050–311,400 per tonne as compared to the selling price of INR 283,550-287,900 per tonne on March 16. NALCO aluminium billets price has also experienced a raise of INR 23,500 per tonne to 308,000- 310,650 per tonne, with effect from March 22. Until then, NALCO was selling its aluminium billets at INR 284,500-287,150 per tonne, slashed by INR 24,800 per tonne from the previous day. NALCO’s aluminium ingot price has also been rebounded by the same amount to INR 304,550-...
Alcoa Corporation global leader in bauxite, alumina and aluminium products announced the completion of its most waited project in Quebec, Canada, which is expected to enhance the stability, efficiency and output of the Deschambault aluminium smelter. The smelter has completed the installation of new electrical infrastructure, which was part of a $47 million capital investment to assist the plant enhance its operations. A third electrical transformer was installed as a part of the project to supply greater amperage to the smelting pots and boost metal output. In addition, the enhanced environmental equipment of the plant will allow it to retain environmental compliance when it expands aluminium output in the coming years. The Canadian government pledged a CA$10 million investment to the...
According to a report on Tuesday, March 22, India’s largest aluminium producer Vedanta Aluminium Business has recycled 14 billion litres of water as of January FY2022, following its own robust Water Management Policy. As part of the commitment to fulfil water sustainability goals, Vedanta strives to increase water reutilisation, reduce freshwater consumption, and ensure zero liquid discharge from operations. In addition, Vedanta Aluminium is working on the construction of water harvesting and conservation infrastructures for perennial water supply in the regions where it operates. Speaking about Vedanta Aluminium's approach to water stewardship, Rahul Sharma, CEO of Vedanta Aluminium Business, said: "Excellence in ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) forms the bedrock upon which we...
