AlCircle News Edited By "Aranya Mondal"
Aranya Mondal is a content writer with two years of professional experience in business writing, technical writing, web content, editing, and research. She handles content creation and editing for online and offline channels to support brand growth and global engagement.
Ontario launches $2.8B aid plan to help industries hit by US tariffs
Ontario has rolled out a CAD 4 billion (USD 2.8 billion) support package aimed at helping manufacturers, metal producers and other sectors still dealing with the economic fallout of US steel and aluminium tariffs. The new funding is structured to give companies financial breathing room as they cope with tariff-driven cost spikes. The province says the package can cover a mix of grants, tax credits, low-interest loans and operational assistance, depending on each company’s needs. The goal is to help manufacturers maintain production, avoid layoffs and offset the higher cost of steel and aluminium that has seeped into everything from auto assembly to construction materials. Officials say the programme is open to manufacturers across Canada that have been hit by the US measures. Part of the...
Global renewables investment hits $807B but growth momentum fades, IRENA warns
Global spending on the energy transition reached USD 2.4 trillion in 2024, a record figure and roughly 20 per cent higher than the average of the previous two years. Of that total, around USD 807 billion went specifically into renewable energy, according to a new assessment released by IRENA and the Climate Policy Initiative. But the growth, isn’t as good as the headline number suggests. Investment in renewables rose 7.3 per cent over the year — nowhere near the 32 per cent jump seen in 2023. Solar kept its lead by a long margin, drawing USD 554 billion, a rise of 49 per cent. Nearly all clean-energy investment — around 96 per cent goes into the power sector. The report adds that fossil-fuel spending inched higher too, despite renewables, grids and battery storage attracting more total...
Rio Tinto cuts Yarwun output by 40% as waste capacity tightens, extending operations to 2035
Rio Tinto will significantly reduce production at its Yarwun alumina refinery in Queensland by 40 per cent from October 2026. The move is expected to stretch the refinery’s life to 2035 and give the company more time to look at ways to modernise the site and possibly extend its life even further. The company chose not to expand because it would be far too expensive right now. By reducing output, the refinery’s current waste areas — which would have filled up by 2031 — will last longer, giving Rio Tinto an extra four years to find long-term solutions. The cutback comes at a time when Australia’s metals processing sector is under pressure from high power and labour costs, weighing on margins and discouraging major capital spending. At the same time, Rio Tinto is managing through alumina...
AM Green sets out $6B plan for a one-million-tonne green aluminium complex in Andhra Pradesh
AM Green Group has announced investments totalling INR 540 billion (USD 6 billion) in Andhra Pradesh, marking one of the largest green industrial commitments made during the 30th CII Partnership Summit on November 14. The company signed MoUs with the state government to develop two major projects — a one-million-tonne-per-annum green aluminium complex in Kakinada and a cluster of 2G biorefineries across North Andhra. Image for represenational purpose The aluminium complex, planned at INR 440 billion (USD 4.96 billion), will be built in two phases of 0.5 MTPA each. According to the company, the facility will run on 2 GW of round-the-clock renewable energy, making it the first operation of its kind globally at this scale. The project is expected to achieve an 80 per cent or more cut in...
LME aluminium cash price drops to $2,797.5/t as cancelled warrants slide 7.35%
LME aluminium prices eased between November 14 and November 17, with both cash and three-month contracts posting modest declines, while exchange inventories also edged lower. The LME aluminium cash bid slipped from USD 2,832 per tonne on Nov 14 to USD 2,797.5 per tonne on Nov 17, a drop of 1.22 per cent. The cash offer fell by the same margin, from USD 2,832.5 per tonne to USD 2,798 per tonne. The three-month bid price decreased 0.77 per cent, moving from USD 2,855 per tonne to USD 2,833 per tonne, while the three-month offer dipped 0.80 per cent to USD 2,834 per tonne from USD 2,857 per tonne. The December 26 bid price declined 0.73 per cent, falling from USD 2,888 per tonne to USD 2,867 per tonne. The December 26 offer price dropped 0.73 per cent as well, from USD 2,893 per tonne to USD...
China's alumina production with 8% growth rate races ahead of primary aluminium, signalling surplus pressure
According to the International Aluminium Association, metallurgical-grade alumina output was 21.3 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2025, then dipped a little in Q2 to 21 million tonnes, only to jump noticeably in Q3, reaching 22.7 million tonnes — an 8.17 per cent increase from the previous quarter. Compared with last year’s third quarter, when China produced 20.91 million tonnes, the latest Q3 total stands 8.86 per cent higher. The monthly trail reveals how the turnaround took shape. January opened at 7.3 million tonnes, but February sank to 6.7 million tonnes — roughly a 7.7 per cent fall — before production bounced back to 7.325 million tonnes in March, up 8.6 per cent. April dipped again to 6.8 million tonnes, though May and June clawed back the loss with 7 million and 7.12...
Rio Tinto pauses Jadar development amid permit gridlock
Rio Tinto has put its Jadar lithium project in western Serbia on hold, shifting the whole operation into care and maintenance for now, though the company says it isn’t walking away from Serbia. But it will hold the legal rights over the deposit and continue to operate in the country. Image for representational purpose The move isn’t particularly surprising. The Wall Street Journal reported—citing an internal memo—that Rio Tinto would stop further work after already spending more than USD 700 million (EUR 602 million) on the project. Long delays on key permits have made it difficult to keep pouring in money at the same rate. Back in August, Jadar project director Chad Blewitt said the company was still waiting for approval of its environmental impact assessment as well as other licences,...
NALCO stock jumps 16% after strong Q2 results and upgraded targets
NALCO’s strong September quarter results have sparked a sharp rebound in its stock, with the shares adding another 2% to hit a fresh high of INR 271.90 and extending the four-day rally to 16 per cent. Investors have been piling in since the company’s Q2 numbers beat expectations and several brokerages responded by lifting their target prices. The state-run aluminium producer delivered a solid set of results for the quarter ended September. Consolidated revenue came in at INR 42.92 billion (USD 484 million), up 7 per cent from a year earlier and 13 per cent from the previous quarter, helped mainly by higher alumina sales. EBITDA improved to INR 19.26 billion (USD 214 million), a 24 per cent rise year-on-year, as the company kept a tight lid on raw material, power and employee costs. Net...
Novelis hits 40% emissions cut after TwinBed II furnace upgrade in Voerde facility, Germany
Novelis has cut the carbon footprint of its aluminium melting operations in Germany by more than 40 per cent after completing a major furnace upgrade in partnership with industrial combustion specialist Fives. The project, finished in November 2025 at Novelis’ Voerde facility, is expected to deliver substantial reductions in natural gas consumption while improving thermal efficiency. The revamp centred on installing Fives’ North American regenerative combustion technology, including the high-efficiency TwinBed II burner system, which recycles waste heat to lower emissions without compromising temperature performance. The upgrade was engineered and commissioned by Fives’ North American Combustion team based in Bilbao, Spain. Novelis says the investment directly supports its “3×30” vision,...
Global aluminium foil demand is set to hit 7.2 MT by 2028 — with the Americas playing a key role
Over the past few years, the aluminium foil market has been moving in one direction — up—and it’s been doing very quietly, without any dramatic spikes. Back in 2018, global use of foil was around 5.3 million tonnes. By 2023, it moved up to 6.1 million tonnes. And if current projections hold, the world will be using close to 7.2 million tonnes by 2028. What’s curious is how familiar the consumption pattern still looks. In 2023, the industrial sector took 30 per cent of total usage, food and beverage packaging held 21 per cent, semi-rigid containers (SRC) formats accounted for 17 per cent, household foil for 13 per cent, other consumer uses for 9 per cent, and pharmaceuticals for 10 per cent. Even by 2028, the distribution barely changes: industrial demand edges to 32 per cent, food and...
LME aluminium cash offer rises to $2,876/t as opening stocks climb to 553,200t
LME aluminium inched higher on November 13 across cash, 3-month and December contracts, with exchange stocks also showing a modest increase. The cash bid price rose to USD 2,874 per tonne on November 13 from USD 2,855.50 per tonne on November 12 — an increase of 0.65 per cent. The cash offer also inched up to USD 2,876 per tonne, up 0.70 per cent from USD 2,856 per tonne the day before. The 3-month bid climbed to USD 2,899.50 per tonne, a 0.40 per cent rise from USD 2,888 per tonne on November 12, while the 3-month offer moved to USD 2,900 per tonne, up 0.38 per tonne from USD 2,889 per tonne. The December 26 contract also strengthened, with the bid price at USD 2,925.50 per tonne, up 0.19 per cent from USD 2,920 per tonne, and the offer rising to USD 2,930 per tonne, marking a 0.17 per...
Europe’s aluminium sector under strain; Premiums, smelter disruption and CBAM tighten the market
Europe’s aluminium market is being squeezed from three sides at once: soaring premiums, a major smelter shutdown and the countdown to CBAM. Together, these pressures are tightening supply, inflating costs and reshaping trade flows across the continent as 2025 draws to a close. Premiums surge as supply tightens across Europe The first sign came from the premium market. By November 2025, Europe’s duty-paid premium had climbed to USD 324.38 per tonne, after touching a nine-month high of USD 330 per tonne on November 3. Forecasts for December point to roughly USD 335.50 per tonne, with 2026 estimates sitting between USD 327.25 and USD 330.50 per tonne. The rise did not come from a single trigger but from a combination of tightening supply, higher freight rates and early adjustments to...
BALCO wins CENVAT credit rights on bauxite mining after court verdict
Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) has won a major tax dispute case after the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) ruled in its favour, confirming that the company is entitled to claim CENVAT credit on the service tax paid for mining services used in bauxite extraction. The tribunal’s decision, delivered on November 6, 2025, dismissed the appeal filed by the Revenue Department and upheld the earlier order of the Principal Commissioner. Image for representational purpose How the dispute began The case revolved around whether BALCO could rightfully claim credit for service tax paid on mining services connected to its captive bauxite mines. The company had hired a service provider to extract bauxite, the key raw material for producing alumina, which is later used...
Guinea targets six alumina refineries by 2030 to end raw bauxite exports
Guinea is about to begin a new chapter with its first generation of alumina refineries, aiming to end decades of raw bauxite exports and finally capture more value at home. Image for representational purpose For years, the West African nation has served as a supplier of high-quality bauxite — prized for its low silica content — to foreign refineries, particularly in China. Around 60 per cent of Guinea’s bauxite currently heads to Chinese ports, feeding the country’s vast aluminium industry. But that dynamic is about to shift. “We are the biggest bauxite producer in the world now… but we don’t have any refineries built since colonial times,” Mines Minister Bouna Sylla said. “That will change.” Conakry has already signed its first alumina refinery deal with China’s state-owned SPIC, with...
From scrap to strength: Why global aluminium scrap is flowing into Southeast Asia
What once filled scrapyards is now driving a regional boom. Aluminium scrap, long treated as waste, is now an important thing into Southeast Asia as factories across Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam hunt for cleaner raw material. With global industries chasing low-carbon supply chains and environmental rules tightening, the region has quietly become one of the world’s busiest recycling hubs — and business is thriving. Malaysia has taken the lead in this shift. According to UN Comtrade data aluminium scrap imports jumped 18.5 per cent in a single year — from 241.99 thousand tonnes in 2023 (worth USD 430.27 million) to 286.80 thousand tonnes in 2024, valued at USD 551.7 million. Among this United States supplied a large share, around 359,000 tonnes. By August 2025, Malaysia already...
LME aluminium cash price slips to $2,840/t as opening stocks fall to 545,225t
On November 11, LME aluminium prices recorded minor declines across key contracts compared to November 10. The cash bid price stood at USD 2,840 per tonne, down 0.94 per cent from USD 2,867 per tonne a day earlier, while the cash offer slipped 0.92 per cent to USD 2,841 per tonne, compared with USD 2,867.5 per tonne previously. For the 3-month contract, the bid price fell 0.61 per cent to USD 2,865 per tonne from USD 2,882.5 per tonne, and the offer price eased 0.59 per cent to USD 2,866 per tonne, down from USD 2,883 per tonne. The December 26 contract also weakened, with the bid at USD 2,897 per tonne, marking a 0.38 per cent drop from USD 2,908 per tonne, while the offer price decreased to USD 2,867.5 per tonne from USD 2,913 per tonne, representing a decline of 1.56 per cent. In...
Europe braces for a 123% surge in flat-rolled aluminium demand — what will fill the gap left by China after anti-dumping duties?
A wave of demand is sweeping through Europe’s aluminium flat-rolled products sector, and this pace of growth is anticipated to reshape the entire market. Flat-roll products (excluding foil) have climbed from 3.95 million tonnes in 2020 to a projected 5.94 million tonnes in 2025. That’s a 50.38 per cent jump in just five years. And this is only the starting point. By 2032, consumption is expected to rise by around 123.3 per cent a surge tied from sustainability targets to changes in manufacturing techniques and the pressure to cut carbon emissions. The plates segment has been following the same upward path. In 2020, it stood at 580 thousand tonnes. By 2025, the figure is expected to reach 856 thousand tonnes — a 47.6 per cent increase. Looking further ahead to 2032, consumption is...
UNU-INRA pushes Africa to claim its place in the critical minerals race
The seventh edition of the Professor Alexander Adum Kwapong Lecture Series, hosted by UNU-INRA in Accra on November 6, brought together policymakers, researchers and industry voices with a single question: what should Africa make of its vast store of critical minerals? Image source:UNU-INRA This year’s theme — “Critical minerals: A new scramble or opportunity for green industrialisation in Africa” — took the discussion beyond geology and into the realm of strategy. Delivering the keynote, Sheila Khama, a Non-Executive Director working with companies listed across FTSE, Nasdaq, Saudi Stock Exchange and AXS, challenged the continent to shift its long-held perspective on raw materials. She walked the audience through the importance of cobalt, lithium, graphite, platinum and bauxite in...
