AlCircle News Edited By "Pratyusha Chatterjee"
A writer with 5+ years of experience in the communication industry, Pratyusha Chatterjee has indulged in content from the business, lifestyle, travel industries and more. Apart from news and content, Pratyusha is immensely fond of participating in cultural events and managing them.
GDP and AL industry included, here’s how the world could double prosperity while using less energy
There’s a neat paradox at the heart of the clean-energy debate: richer societies typically use more energy, yet the latest modelling from the Energy Transitions Commission (ETC) suggests we can (provided that we choose to) have a lot more of the good things that energy delivers (travel, cooling, manufacturing) while using less energy overall. The ETC’s October 2025 briefing argues that smart electrification, appliance efficiency and material recycling could let the global economy more than double by 2050 while cutting final energy demand by about 24 per cent compared with today. Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/ Also read: High time to invest in Africa’s solar potential! Why? It records the highest ‘sunshine’ on Earth That claim is startling because it rewrites a default storyline:...
SWREL has announced three fresh EPC contract wins, collectively valued at approximately INR 17.72M
Sterling & Wilson Renewable Energy Limited (SWREL) has been declared L1 for the engineering-procurement-construction of a 363 MWp DC solar PV plant in Rajasthan, and another 580 MWp DC plant in Uttar Pradesh (both domestic and Balance-of‐System [BOS] basis). In parallel, the company has picked up a Letter of Intent (LoI) for a 115 MWp solar project in South Africa worth roughly USD 120 million. Image for referential purposes only Explore- Most accurate data to drive business decisions with 50+ reports across the value chain These new orders bring SWREL’s total order inflows for the current fiscal to about INR 37.75 billion (USD 449 million). For the Indian solar EPC space, the inflow of such scale signals both confidence in execution ability and the underlying growth in utility-scale...
Aluminium’s circular fortnight: From US recycling labs to India’s water breakthroughs
It’s been a fortnight where aluminium stopped talking about circularity and simply started doing it. From the US Midwest to India’s eastern belt, from corporate boardrooms to zero-liquid-discharge plants, the industry’s recycling and sustainability stories have been loud and, frankly, refreshing. Weekly Sustainability & Recycled AL by AL Circle Pvt Ltd EGA doubles down on American scrap Emirates Global Aluminium isn’t tiptoeing into US recycling — it’s diving in headfirst. The company’s Minnesota plant now houses a new metallurgical testing lab , built right inside its expanded recycling complex. It’s a smart move. The lab helps tweak alloy composition on-site, closing the feedback loop between melting and quality control. The expansion pushes capacity to about 200,000 tonnes a year , but...
Japan’s aluminium premium collapses: What the Q4 $86/t settlement means for Asia
In late October 2025, the quarterly surcharge for imported primary aluminium into Japan was assessed at USD 86 per tonne (CIF main Japanese ports, P1020/P1020A ingot) by S&P Global Commodity Insights (Platts) — a 20.4 per cent drop from the Q3 figure of USD 108 per tonne. The decline, which came after a 41 per cent plunge in Q3 from the Q2 level of USD 182 per tonne, is a clear sign of weakening in Japan’s role as the region’s aluminium-import benchmark and highlights pressure points for exporters, especially in Asia. Image for referential purposes only Also read: Japan’s aluminium can demand holds at 2.09 billion units in 2025 Benchmark context and mechanics MJP (Main Japanese Port) aluminium premium is a quarterly negotiation between Japanese buyers and overseas suppliers for CIF...
High time to invest in Africa’s solar potential! Why? It records the highest ‘sunshine’ on Earth
Africa is blessed with sunshine. In fact, the African Development Bank notes that the continent has “almost unlimited” solar potential, roughly 10,000 gigawatts (10 terawatts) of capacity. This equates to more than 50 times the world’s current power needs. Yet ironies abound. Some 600 million Africans (about 43 per cent of the population) still lack reliable electricity, and roughly 80 per cent of all the people on earth without power live in sub-Saharan Africa. Here lies both a challenge and an opportunity: Africa’s abundant sunshine could be the key to closing its energy gap – and in doing so, transforming industries like aluminium that desperately need clean, affordable power. Image for referential purposes only (source: https://unsdg.un.org/) Also read: Reliance Industries’ mega solar...
Vedanta’s Deshnee Naidoo: India’s path to growth and green energy are “inextricably linked”
At the Financial Times’ organised Energy Transition Summit India, Vedanta Resources’ CEO Deshnee Naidoo offered a tempered but confident take on the world’s shifting energy landscape. Speaking to the Financial Times, Naidoo reflected on the complexity of the moment — a time, as she put it, when the global conversation around energy transition is “in a state of emergency,” yet perhaps not as bleak as it appears. Image source: https://www.ausimm.com/ Also read: UK keeps anti-dumping duties on Chinese aluminium foil until 2029 — here’s why Naidoo argued that despite the apparent policy back-pedalling in some economies, underlying momentum remains intact. “I'd like to say that maybe you can take a step back, maybe it's not all lost right now in terms of what's happening,” she said, noting...
In defence of aluminium: Why science is pushing back against Trump’s vaccine claims
It’s déjà vu in Washington. Nearly two decades after the infamous Andrew Wakefield scare linking vaccines to autism — a theory since discredited, retracted, and denounced — the debate has returned to centre stage, this time armed with aluminium paranoia and presidential claims. Earlier this week, former US President Donald Trump reignited controversy by demanding that aluminium and mercury be “removed from all vaccines” and that combination doses — such as the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine — be administered separately. “We want no mercury in the vaccine. We want no aluminium in the vaccine. The MMR, I think, should be taken separately,” Trump declared, adding, “It seems that when you mix them, there could be a problem.” But as researchers were quick to note, what Trump calls a...
Ukraine’s bauxite imports surge 39% till Sept’25 — raw inputs like coke go through a fragile phase
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine’s metals and raw materials sectors have become a battleground not just militarily, but economically. The latest trade data through 2025 reveals a dynamic shift with surging imports in key raw materials, including bauxite and coke, and contradictorily weakening export flows to traditional partners, and a push by Kyiv to rebalance via foreign investment in mining. But the road ahead remains fraught with structural and geopolitical risk. Image for referential purposes only Also read: Metro Mining sets another record in Bauxite Shipment; what’s driving the surge? Surge in bauxite imports: Compensating for domestic disruption In the first nine months of 2025, Ukraine imported 27.22 million tonnes of aluminium ore and concentrate (bauxite) — a...
An analytical comprehension of the MSCI ACWI IMI Aluminium Index
The MSCI ACWI IMI Aluminium Index — a narrow, commodity-dependent equity yardstick that tracks 19 aluminium-sub-industry companies across developed and emerging markets reads like a textbook case of high concentration and high cyclicality. Since its launch (back-tested to May 31, 2007), the index has delivered episodic, large upside followed by brutal drawdowns, and today’s market tells the same story: stronger recent returns on the back of a much lower valuation multiple than the broader global equity market, but materially higher volatility and concentration risk. Image for representational purposes only Also read: Aluminium Alloyed, non-alloyed & scrap: India’s downstream aluminium H1 2025 trade Recent performance: strong short-term returns, volatile long-term picture Over the 12...
When going green becomes the new profit curve for aluminium. Or does it?
The aluminium industry sits at a stark juncture where demand tied to the energy transition is set to surge. But is it a viable choice, bearing the short-term and long-term impact? Industry projections point to roughly an 80 per cent rise in aluminium demand by 2050, while the sector itself remains an outsized emitter, with direct emissions concentrated in primary production and global sector emissions measured in the order of gigatonnes. Meeting downstream demand for “green” metal while slashing the sector’s own footprint is not optional: it is an existential commercial imperative. The choice facing producers is binary in economic terms. Invest now, absorb large up-front costs and capture a durable price and capital advantage; or delay, preserve short-term margins and face growing...
Fastmarkets proposes CBAM cost integration into aluminium P1020A premiums
Fastmarkets, the price reporting agency whose assessments underpin the London Metal Exchange’s (LME) physical aluminium trade, has proposed incorporating the cost of the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) directly into the aluminium P1020A benchmark premiums for Italy and Spain. The move, set for implementation from January 1, 2026, could redefine how carbon costs are priced across Europe’s aluminium supply chain. The consultation paper, released in early October 2025, details that CBAM costs would be integrated into the existing aluminium P1020A premium assessments — MB-AL-0316 (Italy) and MB-AL-0319 (Spain) — reflecting logistics, warehousing, regional demand-supply balances, and prevailing duty costs. Image for referential purposes only The consultation period...
US and Brazil edge toward tariff truce as both economies feel the heat
The White House and Planalto Palace are inching toward détente after months of trade friction that has left industries on both sides bruised. A half-hour video call this week between US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva opened the first door toward thawing relations since Washington hit tariffs on Brazilian imports this summer. Image for representational purposes only (Source: AI Tool) Also read: EGA considers strategic takeover of Brazilian aluminium producer CBA In Monday’s call, which has been described by both sides as “friendly and positive”, Lula persuaded Trump to roll back the 50 per cent tariff on Brazilian goods, calling for a return to the original 10 per cent level and the lifting of sanctions on certain Brazilian officials. “It was...
Axis Minerals vs Guinea: a $1B test for resource nationalism and investor confidence
A single government decree has crystallised a conflict at the heart of modern extractive politics: how far can a resource state push for value-addition and control before it destroys the investment bedrock it claims to need? The answer (for now) may hinge on an arbitration filing lodged in New York that demands USD 1 billion in damages after Guinea revoked the mining licence of Axis Minerals, one of the country’s largest private bauxite operators. Image for referential purpose only Also read- Odisha's AL renaissance: Angul Aluminium Park sets the stage for a global manufacturing hub A purge was announced on television On 14 May 2025, Guinea’s transitional authorities moved to “clean up” the national mining cadastre. The action, deemed public, swift and sweeping, saw the cancellation or...
Press Metal rides the aluminium tide combatting price highs and currency risks
Aluminium prices have climbed steadily through 2025, tightening the pulse of global markets. From April onwards, momentum built, with benchmark prices reaching USD 2737 per tonne by September, catching even seasoned analysts by surprise. The rally has been driven by constrained supply, fragile geopolitical trade flows, and persistent energy cost pressures that have taken capacity offline in multiple regions. Against this backdrop, Maybank Investment Bank Research has raised its outlook on Malaysia’s Press Metal Aluminium Holdings, suggesting the company is well-positioned to capture upside despite volatility. Image for representational purpose only Also read: Alba Receives RoSPA President’s Award at Safety Summit 2025 The bullish view is not without caveats. Press Metal earns...
Rebirth of aluminium — The Hangarbrua Bridge
When the first whispers of Hangarbrua being called by the engineers as “We think we can build a bridge entirely from recycled aluminium,” it was as jaw-dropping as it could have been. A bridge, that too from old oil-platform scrap? It sounded daring. But daring is sometimes the cradle of change. Image for representational purpose only Also read: Automotive Aluminum Market Size Automotive Aluminum Market Size reached US$ 97.86 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach US$ 205.24 billion by 2032 Trondheim, Norway — crisp air, evolving skyline, and a gap across the railroad tracks waiting to be bridged. The city was growing, its bike and pedestrian routes pushing outward, and the Public Roads Administration wanted something bold. Not just a bridge — a symbol. They needed a structure that...
Flames engulf Metalico Scrap Yard in DeWitt, lithium battery suspected as trigger
What began as an early morning alarm turned into hours of firefighting in DeWitt, New York, when a blaze tore through the Metalico scrap metal recycling facility on Sunday, September 28. Crews from across Onondaga County were called in around 6:30 a.m., battling dense smoke and deep-seated flames in a tangled heap of scrap metal until late morning. Image for representational purpose only Also read - Global aluminium pivot: Will low-carbon scrap reshape the market? For residents nearby, the drama unfolded in real time. David Sokolic, who lives just minutes from the yard, woke to the sound of sirens. “I put the scanner on, and I heard it was down there. Then I came outside around 7:30, 8 o’clock, and you could see smoke all up in here,” he recalled. “Then after a little while, you could...
When weight becomes the enemy: How Tesla and Toyota are reinventing the car’s anatomy
At first glance, reducing the weight of a car might sound like an engineer’s fetish. But in the era of electric mobility, it has become the lever between triumph and failure. A 10 per cent drop in vehicle mass can drive a 6-8 per cent improvement in fuel economy, whether for internal combustion engines or electric systems. That’s a rule of thumb long validated by the U.S. Department of Energy. Image for representational purpose only (source: https://www.investopedia.com/ Imagine every battery you carry pushing itself uphill—minus the ballast of unnecessary steel, aluminium, or composite weight. That’s the shadow war Tesla and Toyota are fighting, each in their own way, with implications that ripple far beyond sleek exteriors and range figures. A fork in the road: Radical vs incremental...
LEGO, lean and the next generation: How Bonnell Aluminum is helping build future manufacturers
For most high school students, LEGO means playtime. For 18 seniors from Michigan this October, LEGO bricks will mean lessons in efficiency, waste reduction, and manufacturing mastery. Bonnell Aluminum, in partnership with Berrien RESA, is turning the Bertrand Innovation Center in Niles into a classroom for lean manufacturing, and the subject is snowmobiles. Image for referential purpose only (source: https://forzagroupus.com/) Also read: EU plans to be back at talk with the US! Here’s who we think needs it more On October 9, as part of Manufacturing Week, Bonnell Aluminum and Berrien RESA will host the inaugural Lean 101 LEGO Simulation Manufacturing Day Competition. Students from Brandywine, Buchanan, and Niles High Schools will compete in an immersive, hands-on simulation — producing...
