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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Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) announced on 21st March the grant of certification to UACJ in the aspect concerning Performance Standard (provisional) and Chain of Custody (full) to acknowledge the company’s efforts to responsible production, sourcing and stewardship of aluminium. The certificates received by UACJ Corporation are for the manufacture of aluminium sheet products at Fukui Works, Japan and UACJ (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Thailand. Japan’s Fukui Works is the first in the territory to gain ASI certification to continue with the manufacture of its rolling-ingots, hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and finished sheets which are mandatory in the making of packaging items and automotive. The facility also produces thick aluminium plates which are used to build LNG tankers and in aerospace...
Taiwan’s aluminium scrap imports from the United States in the second half of the fiscal year (H2) augmented by 5,160 tonnes or 35.14 percent from 14,680 tonnes in H1. In the second half of the fiscal year, US exported a total of 19,840 tonnes of aluminium scrap to Taiwan. In December 2021, Taiwan’s aluminium scrap imports from the United States highlighted a jump of 830 tonnes or 20.75 percent to peg at 4,830 tonnes. In November, Taiwan’s aluminium scrap imports from the US settled at 4,000 tonnes, up by 320 tonnes or 8.69 percent from 3,680 tonnes in October. For the same year in September, US exported 2,480 tonnes of aluminium scrap to Taiwan, showing a growth of 1,200 tonnes or 48.38 percent in October 2021. In October, a total of 3,680 tonnes of US aluminium scrap was exported to...
According to the latest data shown by the International Aluminium Institute, world primary aluminium production in February 2022 recorded a downfall of 9.34 per cent month-on-month to stand at 5.114 million tonnes. In January, the output scored at 5.641 million tonnes, up by 1.95 per cent sequentially from 5.533 million tonnes. Also, on a year-on-year calculation, world primary aluminium production in February’22 stood lower by 2.33 per cent than 5.236 million tonnes. In two-month time of this year, production totalled 10.755 million tonnes, reflecting a fall of 2.28 per cent from 11.006 million tonnes during the same period last year. Daily average production of primary aluminium across the world came in at 182,600 tonnes in February 2022 as compared to 182,000 tonnes in January 2022 and...
LME aluminium opened at US$3,417 per tonne on Monday and closed at US$3,522 per tonne, an increase of US$134 per tonne or 3.96 per cent. On Monday, March 21, LME aluminium cash bid price and LME aluminium official settlement price opened the week at US$3,517 per tonne and US$3,518 per tonne, up by US$137.50 per tonne or 4.07 per cent from the previous day. 3-month bid price and 3-month offer price both increased by US$125 per tonne to rest at US$3,524 per tonne and US$3,525 per tonne respectively. 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, which also registered a hike of US$133 per tonne from US$3,192 per tonne and US$3,197 per tonne, respectively. Because of the on-going warlike dilemma, LME aluminium opening...
Yunnan is home to around 10% of China's aluminium production capacity. In May 2021, the province was plagued by drought as a result of the Yunnan government had adopted initiatives to minimise the electrical consumption of aluminium smelters in the province. However, as per the latest reports, Yunnan's electricity crisis has lessened since the beginning of 2022, since water availability has been greater than typical throughout the dry season. Yunnan Shenhuo Aluminium resumed 220,000 tonnes of aluminium capacity due to a better power supply. The remaining 150,000 tonnes of additional aluminium capacity was just placed into service by the corporation. By the end of April, a total of 900,000 tonnes of aluminium capacity is expected to be put into service. Yunnan Electricity Grid has restored...
Built between1979-1983, Russian aluminium giant Rusal owned Aughinish Alumina refinery is facing decline both with import and export items, causing extreme fear among the North Kerry County Community, in Ireland. Aughinish Alumina is the largest alumina refinery in Europe and the largest of the alumina facilities operated by UC RUSAL. It mainly operates on the stewardship; circulation of raw materials and extracted products from or to other contracted companies. By the second week of March 2022 reports were being heard about the Anglo-Australian mining and metal company, Rio Tinto and how it had backed off from supplying raw material, i.e. bauxite to Aughinish Alumina. The latter had a contract with the Australian Kingpin to provide the same amount of alumina in exchange for the bauxite...
Owing to the sudden decision by Coal India to further restrict coal deliveries to the non-power sector via road and rake, with no prior warning, causing huge scarcity of coal rakes for industries now expanding to road-based deliveries. The Aluminium Association of India (AAI) has written to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Cabinet Secretary and the Coal Minister, requesting immediate assistance to stop the sector’s impending disruptions. The AAI has made a very clear request in its letter that immediate steps be taken to resume supply of coal for the highly power-intensive aluminium industry captive power plants (CPP) by assigning at least 25-30 coal rakes per day, as well as enhancing coal supplies via road mode for the sector's continued survival. The domestic coal crisis that had...
Hindalco Industries Limited again reduced its aluminium products and aluminium ingot prices, with effect from March 18, following an intermittent rise on March 17. The company’s aluminium wire rod price was cut by INR 3,250 per tonne on March 18 from INR 299,600 per tonne to INR 296,350 per tonne. Aluminium billets price was also trimmed by INR 3,250 per tonne from INR 302,600 per tonne on March 17 to INR 299,350 per tonne on March 18. Aluminium ingot price came in at INR 285,250 per tonne as of March 18 versus INR 288,500 per tonne on the previous day. Hindalco links its aluminium ingot and aluminium products prices to the three-month future of aluminium on the London Metal Exchange, which decreased by US$18 per tonne on March 17 to US$3,288 per tonne. On a month-on-month calculation,...
Shanghai Metals Market data found China’s new secondary aluminium capacity stood at 1.85 million tonnes in 2021, including 1.17 million tonnes of secondary aluminium casting alloy, while the total installed capacity was 11.96 million tonnes. But the average operating rate of secondary aluminium fell to 44.7 per cent in 2021, down by about 4.2 percentage points from 2020, owing to chip supply shortage across the downstream, control on energy consumption, and a large amount of aluminium alloy ingot imports. In 2022, however, a lower amount of secondary aluminium capacity is expected to be added. According to SMM, new capacity will be around 1.8 million tonnes, of which 870,000 tonnes will be secondary aluminium casting alloy. In recent years, with the narrowing consumption of automobiles,...
China Hongqiao Group Co., Ltd., the world's largest aluminium producer covering the entire value chain, has published its annual results for the year ended December 31, 2021, highlighting the revenue growth of 32.9 per cent (approx.) year-on-year to RMB 114,490,941,000. At the end of 2020, Hongqiao’s revenue stood at RMB 86,144,641,000 tonnes. In CY2021, the company derived RMB 84,312,993,000 of revenue from aluminium alloy products, accounting for approximately 73.7 per cent of the total. From aluminium fabrication and alumina, Hongqiao generated RMB 12,523,879,000 and RMB 16,966,928,000, accounting for 10.9 per cent and 14.8 per cent of the revenue. Gross profit earned by Hongqiao Group in 2021 was up by 57.3 per cent to RMB 30,453,096,000, of which aluminium alloy products accounted...
The landlocked country between Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia, Paraguay is considered as a rich country with uneven distribution of wealth. The economy of the nation decelerated in 2017 and 2018, diminished in 2019 and 2020, and recommenced growth in 2021. However, in the long-term, the country’s GDP is forecasted to trend around $38.20 billion in 2022, according to World Bank. The home to large swaths of swampland, Paraguay exported 47,736 tonnes of aluminium scrap during 2019-21, attracting foreign revenue generation of around $67.06 million from the export. Paraguay’s export of aluminium scrap in 2019 was registered at 13,712 tonnes, incurring revenue inflow of $16.50 million, whereas, in 2020, the export exhibited growth by 6.98%, as the export volume rose to 14,670 tonnes and the...
Evonik Industries, a German industrial conglomerate and one of the largest specialized chemical firms in the world had collaborated with VESTARO GmbH consortium to create a new generation of battery packs, the "Pure Performance Battery,” (PBB). Other members who were a part of this creation include Forward Engineering, a composite structures expert, and Minth, a Tier 1 automotive supplier. Minth joined the collaboration in 2021, bringing with it extensive experience with aluminium solutions, allowing the organisation to address two significant issues that existing battery packs face: the bottom impact use case and vehicle integration. The Pure Performance Battery (PPB) is roughly 2.1m long and 1.58m broad, with maximum heights of 0.15-0.22m, and is reported to be appropriate for a range...
Served, a Herefordshire, England based seltzer brand, declared towards the end of last week that all its drinks would soon come with information about the emissions generated across the product's entire life cycle, from cultivation to distribution. Ellie Goulding, the British singer and song-writer is the proud owner of Served which vows to this noble initiative of a carbonless world. Until now, CarbonCloud, a research-based food-tech startup with a disruptive web-based SaaS solution that enables detailed calculations of climate footprints of food products and production processes, was providing the company with a rapid diagnostic assessment to ensure, Served was leaving less carbon footprint as it was expanding product-wise. Served also added, the life cycle evaluation exercise has...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), the world’s largest aluminium producer outside China, bagged the prestigious International Safety Award – Merit by the British Safety Council for its consistent commitment to keeping the workforce safe and healthy during the calendar year of 2021. Since 1958, the International Safety Award is acknowledging and celebrating organisations efforts worldwide to keeping their workplace safe from injuries and work-related ill health. The award also recognises those organisations that show commitment to the wellbeing and mental health of the workforce. Alba’s Chief Executive Officer Ali Al Baqali said in a press release, “We are pleased to win again the prestigious International Safety Award by the British Safety Council as we stay on course to attain our...
Three-month LME aluminium opened at US$3,380 per tonne last Friday and closed at US$3,388 per tonne, an increase of US$5 per tonne or 0.15 per cent. On Friday, March 18, LME aluminium cash bid price and LME aluminium official settlement price recovered by US$92 per tonne and US$92.50 per tonne to close the week at US$3,379.50 per tonne and US$3,380.50 per tonne. 3-month bid price and 3-month offer price increased by US$84 per tonne and US$83 per tonne, respectively, to come in at US$3,399 per tonne and US$3,400 per tonne. On the same day, December 23 bid price and December 23 offer price stood at US$3,192 per tonne and US$3,197 per tonne, which also registered a hike of US$82 per tonne from US$3,110 per tonne and US$3,115 per tonne, respectively. LME aluminium opening stock continued to...
According to Mahmoud Haroun, the CEO of the largest aluminium extrusion company operational in the Egyptian domestic market, Delemar has publicized that its projects to double its investments in the national market over the upcoming five years and also plans to augment its exports to 40% in 2022, a rise by 20% when compared with 2021. Haroun further stated, “The Company will begin constructing a factory for processed glass in 2022 with total investments of EGP 750 million following the construction of another factory in the Sixth of October Industrial Zone with an annual production capacity of 600,000 sqm.” “In 2023, the company is considering doubling the factory’s capacity as well as going public under an initial public offering (IPO) programme in the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).” “Egypt...
The Government of Australia, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison has prohibited sale to Russia for alumina, bauxite and other commodities used as raw materials in the production of aluminium in retaliation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On 20 th March 2022, Morrison also declared that Australia would donate coal and further military amenities to Ukraine incorporating a new aid package that also comprises $30 million in emergency humanitarian assistance. The Prime Minister stressed himself by quoting, “Russia must pay a very high price for its brutality. It must pay that price economically. It must pay the price in diplomatic terms as well.” The alumina and aluminium ore export ban targets to impact aluminium production in Russia, which generally depends on Australia for 20% of alumina....
The American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells aeroplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment and missiles worldwide, Boeing and MT Aerospace AG, a subsidiary of OHB SE, have consented to deliver structural components for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS). Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company is the industrial prime contractor for the development and production of this heavy-lift launch vehicle, with a maiden flight expected for spring 2022. Boeing has now ordered dome pieces for the cryogenic hydrogen tank of the EUS (Exploration Upper Stage) rocket from Augsburg-based MT Aerospace, extending their existing partnership. The EUS upper stage is for proposed exploration flights in NASA's Artemis programme. The Artemis mission...
