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LME aluminium offer rises 2.01% to $3,103/t on stronger trading day; opening stock falls 0.40%
Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) recorded a notable increase on February 3 compared with the previous trading session, while exchange inventories moved lower. On February 3, the LME aluminium cash bid stood at USD 3,102 per tonne and the cash offer at USD 3,103 per tonne, rising from USD 3,041 per tonne bid and USD 3,042 per tonne offer on February 2. This marks a 2.01 per cent day-on-day increase in the cash bid and a 2.01 per cent rise in the cash offer. In the forward market, the LME aluminium 3-month bid climbed to USD 3,112.5 per tonne and the 3-month offer reached USD 3,113 per tonne on February 3, up from USD 3,065 per tonne bid and USD 3,066 per tonne offer on February 2. The bid increased by 1.55 per cent, while the offer advanced by 1.53 per cent. To know more...
With up to 51% consumption and 43% export, Australia’s bauxite market shows a balanced story
Australia’s bauxite story doesn’t shout for attention. It is not driven by sharp swings or sudden shifts, but by gradual adjustments across production, trade, and domestic use. Recent data shows output easing, exports rebalancing across markets, and a large share of material staying within the country’s refining system. Taken together, these trends point less to volatility and more to a controlled realignment, as Australia fine-tunes how it supplies both its own industry and a tightening global market. Production slipped from 104 million tonnes in 2023 to 100.2 million tonnes in 2024, a drop of about 3.65 per cent, before recovering in the first eleven months of 2025, when output rose to 101.4 million tonnes, marking a 1.20 per cent year-on-year increase. The longer view points to a...
Europe’s aluminium foil market decoded: Production and consumption drift apart, altering export–import balances
The numbers tell a quiet but compelling story. Year after year, global aluminium foil consumption has moved steadily upward - not in bursts, but in a measured climb that signals durable, long-term demand that helps in aluminium market forecast. Back in 2018, worldwide aluminium foil usage was about 5.3 million tonnes. By 2023, that figure had climbed to 6.1 million tonnes. Current estimates place consumption at roughly 6.8 million tonnes in 2025, with volumes expected to move closer to 7 million tonnes in 2026. Europe is following a similar path. Demand is gradually firming up, supported largely by pharmaceutical packaging and the region’s continued shift toward premium products. However, stricter regulations aimed at reducing packaging waste, along with elevated energy costs, are keeping...
Alcoa 2025 performance: Revenue jumped 15% in Q4, supported by record output at five aluminium smelters
Failing initially doesn’t mean failing overall - it just means something needs to be fixed, and that’s what summarises the whole of Alcoa’s financial report card. Alcoa started the year well, but after that it mostly went quiet. The business didn’t really improve again until the last quarter, which is what ended up saving the year. Alcoa President and CEO William F. Oplinger said, “Reflecting on 2025, we maintained our pace of delivering on key operational, strategic, and capital allocation objectives, while setting numerous production records. We continue to build on our positive momentum through disciplined operational and financial execution, along with strategic initiatives to maximise value creation.” If we look at the numbers, revenue started strong. In the first quarter, Alcoa...
Slower growth, faster realignment: The upstream aluminium chain rewrites its rules in 2026
As 2026 begins, the upstream aluminium value chain is expanding under rising pressure. New capacity is coming online, capital is returning to upstream assets, and prices are reacting more sharply to supply risk. Leadership reshuffles and cross-border partnerships point to a sector repositioning for tougher competition. Growth is no longer simple - the industry is adjusting as scale, resource control and market influence are being renegotiated across the chain. According to the International Aluminum Institute, primary aluminium production increased only 1.06 per cent in 2025 compared to 2024’s increase of 3.24 per cent. Annual growth was typically maintained at between 2.4 per cent and 2.9 per cent during the four years from 2020 through 2023; therefore, the current growth rate is...
LME aluminium cash offer rises 2.02% to $3,325t as opening stocks fall to 497,725t
Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange showed mixed movements between January 28 and January 29, with cash prices diverging while forward contracts strengthened. On January 29, the LME aluminium cash bid price stood at USD 3323 per tonne, down 1.9 per cent from USD 3258 per tonne on January 28. The cash offer price rose 2.02 per cent to USD 3325 per tonne, compared with USD 3259 per tonne a day earlier. In the 3-month contract, the bid price climbed 1.98 per cent to USD 3325.5 per tonne on January 29 from USD 3261 per tonne on January 28. The 3-month offer price increased 1.96 per cent to USD 3326 per tonne, up from USD 3262 per tonne. To know more about the global primary aluminium industry 2026 outlook, book the report “ Global ALuminium Industry Outlook 2026 ." Further along the...
From bauxite to alumina: key projects redefining aluminium supply in 2025
2025 has marked a year of upstream momentum for the aluminium industry. Across continents, bauxite mines and alumina refineries are coming online, quietly redefining where global supply begins. This shift is being driven by a wave of projects that are expanding raw material capacity and reshaping countries’ positions within the aluminium value chain. Highlighting some of 2025’s key Bauxite project 1. Canyon’s Minim Martap enters commercial reality Cameroon’s bauxite story has moved out of the speculative stage. Commercial activity is now underway at Canyon’s Minim Martap bauxite project in the Adamawa Region, signalling that Central Africa is stepping into a more concrete supply role. The mine is designed to produce high-grade bauxite with low reactive silica, suitable for both low- and...
If aluminium is only 1% of $114 trillion economy, why does it matter so much?
GDP is like a scorecard of the world economy - one number that says whether activity is up or down in a quarter or a year. It adds up everything produced, sold, and earned within a country. When it rises, factories run harder, construction picks up, and transport networks expand but when it slows, those same systems feel it first. That makes the metal a practical barometer of economic activity. Aluminium’s direct contribution to global GDP according to current price is roughly 1.2-1.3 per cent of an economy that’s projected to be around USD 114 trillion in 2025. Every dollar of aluminium output is estimated to support USD 3–5 of downstream activity in infrastructure, transport, energy networks and packaging. This is why governments view aluminium as strategic and trade-sensitive: it is...
US commits $2B to rare earths, taking equity role in strategic minerals push
Washington’s role in the rare earth market changed on January 26, 2026. The US government announced a USD 2 billion commitment to the domestic sector, moving beyond its usual reliance on subsidies and guarantees and into direct ownership. Stocks linked to the sector jumped sharply, with investors treating the announcement less as a policy signal and more as confirmation that rare earths have moved into a different category altogether. What had long been a niche mining space is now tied directly to national strategy. The shift reflects a growing recognition in Washington that supply chains once considered stable can no longer be taken for granted. Rare earths, used across defence systems, electric vehicles and clean energy technologies, are increasingly viewed through a security lens...
Growing aluminium scrap consumption in China leads to a 5-year high import – Is this mirroring the US journey from primary to scrap?
For years, aluminium strength was measured in smelters and megawatts. Primary metal sat at the heart of industrial growth, and power determined who could scale and who could not. That formula is starting to lose its hold. In both China and the United States - the world’s two largest aluminium markets, the focus is shifting away from energy-intensive primary production and toward a material once treated as secondary material in literal sense: aluminium scrap . The US has already taken a decisive step in that direction. China has been found to be increasing its secondary aluminium consumption and hence its imports to a great extent – but the question remains whether the country is shifting its focus from primary aluminium to secondary metal. China’s aluminium consumption profile provides...
LME aluminium cash offer rises 2.63% to $3,175/t as opening stocks fall to 507,275t
Aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange rose sharply on January 23, with both cash and forward contracts posting gains of more than 2 per cent compared with the previous session. The LME aluminium cash bid price climbed to USD 3,174.5 per tonne on January 23 from USD 3,093 per tonne on January 22, marking an increase of 2.63 per cent. The cash offer price rose to USD 3,175 per tonne from USD 3,093.5 per tonne, also up 2.63 per cent day-on-day. In the forward market, the LME aluminium 3-month bid price increased to USD 3,176 per tonne on January 23 from USD 3,113.5 per tonne on January 22, a gain of 2.01 per cent. The 3-month offer price rose to USD 3,177 per tonne from USD 3,114 per tonne, up 2.02 per cent. The December 27 aluminium contract also strengthened. The bid price moved up...
How is electricity reshaping the future of aluminium smelters - and what does it mean for global aluminium production?
Imagine running a factory where one input dominates the cost structure and suddenly, far richer buyers start paying more for the same supply. That is the pressure aluminium smelters are now facing which affacets the overall aluminium smelting outlook 2026. From Europe to Australia to the United States, competition for electricity is quietly deciding which plants keep operating, which manage partial restarts, and which slip into permanent shutdown. The output is retreating across several regions. The explanation is not found in metal markets, but in megawatts. When electricity becomes the real raw material What does it take to make aluminium competitive for global aluminium outlook 2026? Not ore, not labour - but power. Electricity accounts for roughly 30-50 per cent of smelting costs, and...
EU wants aluminium and steel to power 20% of its economic growth - How real is the ambition?
Aluminium is everywhere in Europe’s economy, from power transmission and renewable energy systems to transport, defence, construction and packaging. Its importance has led the European Union to classify aluminium as a critical and strategic raw material. The challenge now is whether Europe’s aluminium supply chain is keeping pace with the scale of that dependence. Europe also likes to point out that it produces aluminium more cleanly than almost anyone else. Recycling rates are high. Carbon intensity is low compared with the global average. On sustainability metrics, the region performs well. But inside the industry, the picture looks far less comfortable. Energy costs remain structurally high. Global trade remains distorted. Scrap is increasingly leaving the region. Carbon leakage risks...
LME aluminium offer prices ease 1% to $3,137/t; opening stocks down 0.41% at 483,000t
London Metal Exchange aluminium prices weakened across most contracts on January 20, reflecting a broad pullback from the previous session, while exchange inventories continued to edge lower. The LME aluminium cash bid price slipped to USD 3,136.5 per tonne on January 20 from USD 3,168 per tonne on January 19, marking a 0.99 per cent decline. The cash offer price followed a similar trajectory, easing to USD 3,137 per tonne from USD 3,168.5 per tonne, also down 0.99 per cent day-on-day. In the futures market, the LME aluminium 3-month bid price edged marginally lower to USD 3,135.5 per tonne, compared with USD 3,138 per tonne a day earlier, representing a 0.08 per cent decrease. The 3-month offer price saw a sharper adjustment, falling to USD 3,136 per tonne from USD 3,152 per tonne, a...
Alcoa heads into Q4 2025 with earnings forecast 8.7% lower and revenues down 7% - can it deliver another beat?
Alcoa Corporation is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2025 earnings after market close on January 22. Estimates have moved higher, although year-on-year comparisons remain tough. Earnings are currently expected to come in at 95 cents per share on revenues of USD 3.24 billion, according to Zacks Consensus estimates. Forecasts have moved up sharply over the past two months, with earnings projections rising 18.8 per cent, even though the bottom line is still seen 8.7 per cent below last year’s level. Revenues are also expected to be lower, down 7 per cent from the same period a year ago. That hasn’t stopped optimism from building. Alcoa has developed a habit of outperforming expectations. The company has beaten consensus earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters, delivering an...
Global alumina output nears 143.5 Mt in 2025, leaving 0.8 Mt surplus - what’s driving the shift and how are top producers adjusting?
Global alumina production is increasing, although the drivers behind the rise are more layered than a straightforward growth story might suggest. Smelter-grade alumina output rose from 134.2 million tonnes in 2023 to 136.9 million tonnes in 2024, after which the curve steepened. For 2025, production is expected to reach between 143.3 and 143.6 million tonnes. That represents an increase of nearly seven million tonnes in a single year, translating into a compound growth rate of around 5 per cent. What’s driving it isn’t sudden optimism or a rush of new approvals. It’s backlog. Capacity that had been planned, financed, delayed, and reworked over several years is finally switching on. In many cases, the hard part - construction, permitting, logistics - is already behind operators. What’s...
Gold and Silver set records amidst geopolitics - does Aluminium at a cash offer of $ 3,168.5/t on January 19 follow the same?
Gold and silver have been stealing the spotlight in recent weeks, pushed higher by a mix of geopolitical anxiety, tariff threats from the United States, and deepening supply - demand imbalances. But apart from these two precious metals, aluminium has been quietly moving in the same direction - less as a safe haven and more as a reflection of how unsettled the global economy has become. The spark has come from rising geopolitical tensions, including renewed friction around Greenland and former US President Donald Trump’s warning of sweeping 25 per cent tariffs on large parts of Europe unless a “complete and total purchase” of the Arctic island is secured. Markets reacted quickly. Capital flowed into assets seen as protection against uncertainty. Gold surged past major technical levels,...
Waaree Renewable to invest up to $4.6M to develop a 120 MW solar park in Maharashtra
Waaree Renewable Technologies Ltd. is preparing to take a bigger ownership position in India’s solar sector with plans for a utility-scale project in Maharashtra, as the company looks to balance its EPC-heavy portfolio with long-term power assets. The proposed project will be developed in Buldhana district as an Independent Power Producer (IPP) venture and is aimed at strengthening the company’s long-term renewable energy portfolio. The solar park is planned with a capacity of 120 MWp and will require around 360 acres of land. Official sources said the project will entail a capital investment of about INR 360 million to INR 420 million and is targeted for completion in FY27, in line with WRTL’s broader expansion plans in clean energy. “The proposed 120 MWp solar power park at Buldhana...
