AlCircle News Edited By "Aranya Mondal"
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LB Aluminium posts $5.34M net profit on strong segment gains, while revenue drops 9.33%
LB Aluminium Bhd turned in a much stronger set of results for the quarter ended Oct 31, 2025 (2QFY2026), with net profit rising sharply to RM 22.03 million (USD 5.34 million). A year earlier, the group earned RM7.64 million, making this almost a threefold increase driven by better showings from both its aluminium and property operations. Its revenue told a different story. Turnover slipped around 9.33 per cent to RM 270.86 million (USD 65.7 million) from RM280.19 million (USD 67.9 million), mainly because the aluminium division sold less volume. Even so, that segment’s PBT improved, landing at RM 10.58 million (USD 2.56 million) compared with RM 5.30 million (USD 1.2 million) last year. Margins were better, and forex losses didn’t bite as hard. The property side did most of the heavy...
Glencore plans 1,000 jobs cuts, while Rio Tinto and BHP tighten workforces amid cost pressures
Glencore plans to cut about 1,000 jobs as it tries to get its costs back in check and reset the business. The decision comes at a time when big mining companies, including Glencore, are dealing with rising expenses and ageing mines that are becoming tougher and more expensive to operate. At a capital markets day in London on Wednesday, chief executive Gary Nagle laid out a plan that puts copper firmly at the centre of the group’s future. He told investors that Glencore wants to become the world’s top copper producer by 2035, aiming for annual output of around 1.6 million tonnes. For now, the company ranks sixth globally based on this year’s production, though it remains the largest publicly traded coal producer. Copper’s record prices have made the metal even more attractive, yet Glencore...
LME aluminium cash offer rises to $2,867.5/t as opening stocks fall 0.47% to 525,800t
LME aluminium prices posted marginal gains on December 8 across cash, 3-month and December 26 contracts, even as exchange inventories continued their downward trend. The LME aluminium cash bid rose to USD 2,867 per tonne, up USD 2.5 or 0.09 per cent from USD 2,864.5 on December 7. The cash offer also inched up to USD 2,867.5 per tonne, a 0.09 per cent increase from USD 2,865 a day earlier. The 3-month contract showed a similar uptick. The 3-month bid firmed to USD 2,896.5 per tonne, up USD 4 or 0.14 per cent from USD 2,892.5 on December 7, while the offer improved by 0.14 per cent to USD 2,897 per tonne. The December 26 contract recorded the strongest day-on-day move. The bid price climbed to USD 2,920 per tonne, a gain of USD 10 or 0.34 per cent from USD 2,910. The offer increased to USD...
Alumina output nears the 143.3MT 2025 target, with a 2.58% rise expected in 2026
The story of alumina production in 2025 played out much the way analysts had expected, even if the year didn’t unfold in a straight line. Smelter-grade alumina production was projected at about 143.3 million tonnes, as per AL Circle report and by October the International Aluminium Institute had already recorded 119 million tonnes alumina. Production fluctuated from month to month, creating an irregular trajectory: alumina output began 2025 at 12.23 Mt in January, fell 9.45 per cent in February to 11.08 million tonnes, then rebounded 8.6 per cent in March to 12.03 million tonnes before slipping 4.76 per cent in April to 11.46 million tonnes. The middle of the year was steadier — May edged up 2.68 per cent to 11.76 million tonnes, June dipped 0.38 per cent to 11.72 million tonnes, and July...
WA alumina posts $8.2B record sales despite production decline
Western Australia’s alumina industry has emerged as one of the quiet stabilisers of the state’s resources sector in 2024–25, securing its second-highest sales value on record at USD 8.2 billion despite lower production volumes. New figures from the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) show that stronger pricing helped offset operational softness, allowing alumina to hold its ground in a year defined by volatility across several commodities. The broader resources sector delivered USD 220 billion in total sales for the financial year, supported by more than 134,000 on-site full-time equivalent (FTE) workers. But within that landscape, alumina’s performance stood out for its resilience. While gold and mineral sands enjoyed record highs and iron ore continued to dominate, alumina...
New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) at Tiwai names Michelle Henderson as its next general manager
Michelle Henderson has been appointed as the new general manager of New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS), marking a return to the Tiwai Point operation where she first started her career. Her appointment brings a mix of operational experience, governance expertise and deep regional ties at a time when the smelter is preparing for its next phase. She will succeed Matt Black, who has been acting general manager since May. Henderson takes over on January 28, with Black continuing in the interim. Henderson began at Tiwai as a graduate engineer before moving through several frontline leadership roles, later taking on senior responsibilities across Rio Tinto’s global network. She went on to serve as chief operating officer at PowerNet and has held a range of high-profile directorships,...
Rio Tinto and BHP trial Australia’s first battery-electric haul trucks at Pilbara mine
Rio Tinto and BHP have collaborated for Australia’s first Cat® 793 XE Early Learner battery-electric haul trucks to test whether large-scale mining can realistically shift away from diesel. The two trucks have arrived at BHP’s Jimblebar mine, where both companies will run trials alongside Caterpillar to see how the technology performs under real operating conditions. Image source: Businesswire Rather than a straightforward equipment demo, the trial is expected to pressure-test everything that surrounds electric haulage — charging systems, power supply, operational planning and even workforce routines. With haulage representing one of the hardest parts of mining to decarbonise, both miners want firsthand insight into what an electric fleet would demand at scale. BHP Western Australia Iron...
Ivanpah set to shut - What’s America’s 25-year renewable energy plan?
The United States is pushing for cleaner, greener energy across all sectors — including aluminium — using federal funding, new technology and expanded recycling to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 while still meeting rising demand. The industry’s main book for decarbonisation comes from the Aluminum Association’s North American aluminium decarbonisation roadmap, which pictures a world where emissions would drop by 92 per cent from 2021 levels to 2050, even as output grows 78 per cent. A cleaner grid is supposed to do 36 per cent of the work. Turning off natural-gas furnaces and shifting them to electrification, green hydrogen and carbon-capture tools handle another slice. Inert-anode smelting brings in 15 per cent, while cleaning up alumina refining adds 17 per cent more. The federal...
GCC aluminium output down 2.9% in first ten months as the region shifts to new bauxite suppliers post-Guinea ban
Across the Gulf, the primary aluminium and alumina sector has been moving at a noticeably different pace this year. Aluminium output across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has been edging lower through 2025, a trend that becomes clear once the latest numbers are lined up against last year’s. In the first ten months, smelters produced 5,128 thousand tonnes, compared with 5,282 thousand tonnes in the same period of 2024 — roughly a 2.9 per cent drop. Many operators sensed the shift even before the figures confirmed it, as daily output that once hovered around 17.2–17.5 thousand tonnes last year has settled closer to 16.7–17.0 thousand tonnes in 2025. Quarterly numbers confirm it. Q1 settled at 1.52 million tonnes compared with 1.58 million tonnes last year same period, and the daily...
America’s FRP market Part 2: Production falls behind demand, leaving 4.7MT deficit amid tariff shifts and new capacity plans
Part 1 showed how North and South America have become major drivers of global FRP consumption growth. But behind that surge lies a challenge the region can’t ignore — the Americas simply don’t produce enough flat-rolled aluminium to match this accelerating demand. North America manufactures only around 2.3–2.35 million tonnes a year. Novelis supplies the biggest share — 1.2 million tonnes in 2023, 1.25 million tonnes in 2024 and around 1.3 million tonnes expected in 2025. Alcoa adds 450–500 thousand tonnes from its Tennessee and Iowa mills; Constellium brings about 350 thousand tonnes from Georgia and Kentucky; Norsk Hydro contributes roughly 200 thousand tonnes. South America adds another 450–500 thousand tonnes, almost entirely from Novelis’ rolling operations in Brazil. The region...
America’s FRP market Part 1: Consumption to grow 15.29% CAGR through 2030 amid production uncertainty
Flat-rolled aluminium products (FRP), excluding aluminium foil, are no longer just another industrial material — they’ve become part of the machinery that keeps modern life running. They are everywhere: in electric cars, in the hardware behind renewable-energy systems, packaging, etc. As industries chase lighter, recyclable and more energy-efficient solutions, FRP has slipped into a central role almost by default. What’s striking is how quickly demand has climbed. With sustainability rules tightening and manufacturing in emerging economies expanding at full tilt, consumption has been rising at a pace rarely seen in metals. Global FRP demand is on track to jump from 20.33 million tonnes in 2020 to 40.30 million tonnes by 2030, and further rise by 6.82 per cent CAGR through 2032, which...
Canpack posts 9% rise in Q3 revenue to $1.18B but EBITDA falls 6% amid cost pressures
Canpack, a global manufacturer of aluminium beverage cans and packaging solutions has released its results for the quarter and nine-month period ending September 30, 2025, reporting a small rise in beverage-can demand but softer profitability. Q3 2025: Higher volumes, firm sales, softer earnings The company shipped 9.072 billion beverages can in Q3 2025, edging up 3 per cent from the 8.792 billion units recorded a year earlier in the same period. The reason for increase is primarily driven by higher can body volumes in the US and India, partially offset by lower can body volumes in Europe. Net sales strengthened as well, climbing to USD 1.180 billion from USD 1.080 billion, a 9 per cent jump. This positive performance was driven by contractual pass through of higher aluminium LME and...
As the US and EU ring-fencing aluminium scrap through targeted measures, will Asia withstand the supply pressure?
Aluminium scrap has quietly become one of the most protected raw materials in the world specially in United States and the European Union — not through restrictions, but through deliberate exemptions. Washington has carved scrap out of Section 232 tariffs even as it tightened duties on primary aluminium, lifting the tariff rate to 50 per cent by June 2025. The split treatment is intentional. The US has a domestic primary metal shortage of nearly four million tonnes a year, and secondary smelters can expand only if scrap continues to flow in duty-free. Europe has taken a parallel — but more climate-driven — route. Aluminium scrap is excluded from the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which places carbon prices on primary and semi-finished imports but assigns zero emissions to...
LME cash aluminium climbs 0.77% to $2,825/t; exchange stocks slip 0.37%
LME aluminium saw a firm uptick on November 28 across cash, 3-month and December 2026 contracts, while exchange inventories posted a mild decline. On November 28, the LME aluminium cash bid price stood at USD 2,825 per tonne, rising 0.77 per cent from USD 2,803.5 per tonne on November 27. The cash offer price increased 0.78 per cent to USD 2,826 per tonne, compared with USD 2,804 per tonne a day earlier. The 3-month bid price climbed 0.80 per cent, reaching USD 2,850 per tonne on November 28 from USD 2,827.5 per tonne on November 27. The 3-month offer price rose 0.85 per cent to USD 2,852 per tonne, up from USD 2,828 per tonne previously. Prices for the longer-dated contract also strengthened, with the December 2026 bid price increasing 0.87 per cent to USD 2,887 per tonne, compared with...
AI’s power hunger is turning aluminium into America’s new strategic weak spot
The United States should be living through a renaissance in aluminium. Data centers, electric vehicles and the wider clean-energy buildout are pulling unprecedented volumes of the metal into server racks, cooling systems, power grids and vehicle frames. Prices have strengthened, and shares of Alcoa and Century Aluminum have rebounded after last spring’s tariff shock. Yet the companies behind the country’s remaining smelters say the boom is slipping away from them just as demand surges. The problem is electricity. Turning alumina into metal requires vast, steady power — roughly 14 megawatt-hours for every tonne of aluminium. A single modern smelter draws as much energy as a mid-sized American city. For decades, the economics worked only when smelters locked in long-term power at around USD...
Indonesia’s rising aluminium output threatens the $3,000 price outlook for 2026
JPMorgan expects aluminium price may get close to USD 3,000 per tonne in early 2026, helped by stronger copper prices and a market that, for now, looks reasonably tight. But several analysts say the outlook becomes much less straightforward once Indonesia’s new supply starts landing, and that may happen faster than the market is prepared for. For years, Indonesia has talked about becoming a major aluminium producer. What’s different now is that many of the long-promised projects are actually close to starting up. Smelters, refineries and upstream investments are advancing at the same time, creating a level of momentum that could reshape the regional market. Two of the projects — backed by Bintan Alumina Indonesia and Borneo Alumina Indonesia — are pushing the country’s alumina output...
Asia (Ex-China) and Africa reports 4.84MT aluminium and 10.68MT alumina output amid rising domestic demand
The aluminium sector across Africa and Asia (excluding China) has been gathering strength for three years now, and the momentum has carried cleanly into 2025. Over the first nine months of the year, the two regions produced 4.84 million tonnes of primary aluminium, supported by steady monthly output in the 504–544 thousand-tonne range and daily averages holding between 17.3 and 17.5 thousand tonnes. That consistency pushed cumulative production 1.55 per cent higher than in 2024 and 3.70 per cent above 2023, signalling a supply base that has become both more resilient and more predictable. According to International Aluminium Association, the quarterly numbers show the same quiet climb. The 2025, began with 1.59 million tonnes in Q1, edged up to 1.61 million tonnes in Q2, and reached 1.63...
Four-way deal between EGA, TAQA, DUBAL Holding and EWEC to cut aluminium sector emissions
Abu Dhabi is preparing for a major shift in how its heavy industries draw power, following a multi-party agreement that will tie Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) more closely to the emirate’s expanding clean-energy grid. EGA, TAQA, DUBAL Holding and Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) have signed a broad set of accords aimed at cutting emissions from aluminium production while supporting the next phase of renewable and clean-energy development in the region. Image source: EGA For TAQA and DUBAL Holding, the initiative sits neatly within their growth plans. For EGA, it represents a decisive move toward its 2050 net-zero target. And for EWEC, it strengthens efforts to optimise solar deployment and improve the efficiency of Abu Dhabi’s power generation fleet. The agreements were...
