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.
3.4% drop: Alcoa’s stock does not agree with CEO Bill Oplinger’s caution
Alcoa’s stock came under pressure on Tuesday after Chief Executive William (Bill) F. Oplinger alerted that President Donald Trump’s steep tariff regime risks making aluminium prohibitively expensive and deflating demand for domestically produced steel and aluminium. Shares of the Pittsburgh-headquartered producer slid 3.4 per cent in regular trading, though retail sentiment on Stocktwits remained broadly bullish, with chatter on the counter spiking 67 per cent in the past 24 hours. Image source: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-oplinger/ Also read: Alcoa’s Q1 2025 performance displays stable 26% EBITDA growth amid first phase of tariff pressure In a recent media interview, Oplinger said aluminium prices in the United States have surged under Trump’s tariff framework, which doubled duties...
EU plans to be back at talk with the US! Here’s who we think needs it more…
On Wednesday, the European Union announced its intention to resume discussions with the United States regarding the reduction of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminium. This move comes as various nations seek to address ongoing trade tensions. EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic is scheduled to meet with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in the coming days to discuss the possibility of removing or reducing the current tariffs, as Sefcovic informed a Bloomberg reporter. But does European Union really need to stress on negotiation when they are accustomed with the ‘tariff structure’ from long before? Image for representational purposes only The European Union has had its own tariff policy While the United States has taken the centre stage for the past 8years or so whenever the...
Apt Group's sustainable FY24: Focus on business impact & pathways for European AL leadership
“2024 was an important year for the apt Group in many respects, characterised by strategic decisions and operational development. Our path toward achieving climate neutrality by the end of 2044 continued,” wrote Manon Gahmann, Director of CSR Compliance. This statement comes amid the European aluminium industry facing a historic pivot of climate legislation and escalating energy prices. It demands circularity that is no longer a choice but an existential factor shaping business models. And Apt Group stands out in this landscape as a regional leader with four production sites across Germany, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic, pressing 44,393 tonnes of rods and selling 43,392 aluminium profiles for construction, transport, automotive, and industry sectors. In 2024, the company...
Japan’s aluminium can demand holds at 2.09 billion units in 2025
Japan’s aluminium can industry is treading water. According to the Japan Aluminium Can Recycling Association (JACRA), total demand for aluminium cans (including both domestic and imported volumes) will remain at about 2.091 billion units in 2025, unchanged from the previous year. Domestic demand is estimated at 2.07 billion units, essentially flat. This makes 2025 the tenth consecutive year that aluminium can consumption has hovered around the two-billion mark. Image for representational purposes only (source: https://www.tskg-hd.com/) Also read: Canned out: America’s food can market declines 16.7% in four years On the surface, the data might appear to signal maturity, even stagnation. But dig deeper, and the story is more complex. Aluminium cans dominate Japan’s beverage packaging...
Queensland’s 52,000 km copper-to-aluminium cable shift planned due to security purposes
Queensland’s state-owned electricity distributor Energex, has announced plans to replace about 52,000 kilometres of copper cabling with aluminium across its Southeast network. The move comes as copper theft continues to rise in the region, costing the utility approximately AUD 4.5 million annually in damages and repairs. Image source: https://m.media-amazon.com/ Also read: Canned out: America’s food can market declines 16.7% in four years The replacement decision came in with an interest in both economic and safety considerations. Copper, with a higher market value, has become an increasingly limelight target for theft in recent years. Energex reported that the damaging incidents have quickly aggravated since 2020, with thieves targeting high-voltage network components despite the severe...
Alumina refining fuel consumption hit 1 million TJ in 2024 — Fuel mix transition weighs in
The International Aluminium Institute (IAI) has reported that the global alumina refining industry has had an annual consumption of 1,188,250 Terajoules (TJ) of fuel in 2024. Between 2023 and 2024, global alumina output climbed from 133.54 million tonnes to 138.59 million tonnes, a 3.8 per cent increase, yet total fuel consumption remained almost flat, inching up by just 0.4 per cent. The million terrajoules of consumption is a stark reminder of the heavy reliance of metallurgical alumina production on various energy sources. Image credit: https://international-aluminium.org/statistics/ Also read: Here's what Johannes Zutt of World Bank divulged: BRICS push renewables to forefront, but India faces harder questions Of the total alumina produced, 122.52 million tonnes in 2023 came from...
Pankaj Jain of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas: LNG, biofuels & hydrogen to aid the long-term energy transition
At the Financial Times organised Energy Transition Summit in India, Pankaj Jain, Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, mapped out India’s evolving energy roadmap. His intervention cut through partisan mottos and international pressure with a pragmatic reality check of hydrocarbons remaining central to India’s energy security, but biofuels and hydrogen already altering the mix faster than expected. For energy-intensive sectors such as aluminium, which live or die by affordable and reliable energy, Jain’s remarks are far beyond policy signals and are a blueprint of the fuels that will shape India’s competitiveness for decades. Image source: https://www.hindustanpetroleum.com/ Also read: Here's what Johannes Zutt of World Bank divulged: BRICS push renewables to forefront, but...
A rendition of what Johannes Zutt of World Bank divulged: BRICS push renewables to forefront, but India faces harder questions
At the Financial Times Energy Transition Summit in India, Johannes Zutt, Vice President for South Asia at the World Bank, offered a candid assessment during a keynote interview session of how emerging economies are recalibrating their growth strategies around clean power — and why the aluminium sector should be paying close attention. Image souce: https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/ Also read: Scotland’s circular economy adds £7B to GVA but methodology constraints cloud comparisons Zutt drew a parallel with Brazil, noting that the country’s success in solar was no accident. “Successive governments saw the potential of exploiting high solar irradiation in the northeast and put in place a comprehensive programme to realise that potential,” he said. The Brazilian model combined competitive...
Scotland’s circular economy adds £7B to GVA but methodology constraints cloud comparisons
Scotland’s circular economy has been quantified in hard numbers for the first time, with a new economic study placing its contribution at GBP 7.11 billion in gross value added (GVA) in 2021. The valuation represents 4.7 per cent of Scotland’s total GVA, or 3.9 per cent of GDP when including offshore oil and gas extraction. Employment linked to circular activity stood at 81,447, accounting for 4.4 per cent of total Scottish jobs. The figures, published by Zero Waste Scotland and produced by Eunomia Research & Consulting with University College London, establish a baseline for measuring circularity’s role in Scotland’s economy. They also highlight the scale of opportunity: circular activity already outpaces EU averages, but significant data limitations mean the true footprint may be larger...
Scrap export tax: European Aluminium advocates for the litmus test in aluminium policy
As Brussels pushes forward with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and doubles down on its climate ambitions, the European aluminium sector is sounding the alarm on another missing piece in the policy puzzle: aluminium scrap. The call is not new, but it is urgent. As downstream manufacturers and industry veterans univocally demand expanded inclusion of goods into CBAM framework, the European Aluminium has advocated for scrap export taxation. Also read: EU top export destinations: Aluminium tube export rebalance as US slump & Norway-Türkiye rise European Aluminium, the industry’s leading voice, argues that without a scrap export tax, Europe risks squandering its strongest competitive lever in the race for decarbonisation — its recycling base. The recycling paradox Recycling is...
Deepfakes and aluminium: Warning mock-up of a new risk in a metal-heavy world
The aluminium industry has spent years wrestling with geopolitical turbulence, energy volatility, and erratic trade regimes. In the same breath, it has leaned on technology and artificial intelligence to squeeze out efficiencies and carve a path toward a greener future. But the same digital tools that promised opportunity are now breeding a new, more insidious risk: deepfakes. Synthetic media — doctored video, cloned voices, AI-fabricated documents — may not move molten metal, but they can sway markets, fracture trust, and throw supply chains off balance. For a sector as global and strategically critical as aluminium, the threat is far from abstract. Image for referential purposes only Also read: Indian brands to slash prices: Almost all AL-inclusive goods are cheaper with 'GST 2.0'...
Indian brands to slash prices: Almost all AL-inclusive goods are cheaper with 'GST 2.0' revised rates
Goods and Services Tax, rather commonly known as GST, was first introduced in India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on July 1, 2017. It was said to have replaced a complex web of central and state taxes such as excise duty, service tax, VAT, octroi, and entry tax, unifying them under a single Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework. 8 years later, present Finance Minister of India has introduced ‘GST 2.0’ slashing previous five slab structure into a more concise 4 slab distribution. Image source: https://www.iasexpress.net/ Also read: Electricity behind aluminium’s price tag? Then, why does Europe’s “green” metal costs so much? When it rolled out in July 2017, the tax system was dressed in five different slabs of 0 per cent, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per...
China’s aluminium trade contradiction: Export peaks but import grows, too!
China’s aluminium story has always been a study in contradictions. On paper, the country dominates the industry. It produced nearly 43 million tonnes of primary aluminium in 2024, more than half the world’s supply. Yet in the same year, it imported over 3 million tonnes of primary aluminium, largely from Russia. Even more puzzling, China simultaneously exported about 6 million tonnes of semi-manufactured aluminium products, making it the world’s largest exporter of value-added aluminium. Image source: https://www.omfif.org/ Watch exclusively on AL Circle: Aluminium and Other Base Metals: Understanding Risk Management and Hedging by Jorge Eduardo Dyszel The paradox raises pressing questions as to why the world’s biggest producer and consumer of aluminium needs to import. Why does it...
Electricity behind aluminium’s price tag? Then, why does Europe’s “green” metal costs so much?
Whenever there is a question of pricing, the aluminium industry has pointed towards a single influx inducer — electricity. If you’ve ever toured a smelter or skimmed an investor deck, you’ll hear the same refrain, “power is king, and aluminium is electricity in solid form”. But, as Maros Durka, Area Sales Manager at Grupa Kety, states, that is only half the truth. Yes, electrolysis eats megawatts like popcorn, but if power were the only story, Europe’s aluminium would be cheap and cheerful by now. After all, Europe boasts the cleanest smelters on earth, with over 78 per cent of output powered by renewables. And yet, paradoxically, European primary aluminium is still the world’s priciest. So, what gives? Why are Europe’s ‘green’ tonnes also the most expensive ones? Also read: China, a...
China, a decade-old ally, unharmed in Guinea’s bauxite game. But why?
Over 100 mining licences were cancelled in Guinea, where big names like EGA have made headlines. But how many China-owned firms have been the target of Guinea’s ‘mine here, refine here regime’? The answer is a big-n-bold ZERO. The only report that deep search found when AL Circle was investigating the matter was of the single active operation affected by this crackdown of a joint venture in the Boffa-Fria corridor that included the Chinese-backed company SD Mining SA, which held a 42 per cent stake. Naturally, the question arises as to why Guinea has been cooperating with China when it comes to mining (we are mainly concerned about bauxite). For over 30 years, China has actively supported Guinea in various aspects. But why? As we dig deep, it seems to be clearing layer by layer. Also...
FORECAST DATA: US & Europe slowed, Asia-Pacific's aluminium future shot to frontline
Asia-Pacific, where labour is affordable, setup costs of plants are cheaper and regulations are more friendly for business owners and stakeholders, have grown to become the focal point of the aluminium industry in the past decade. But what seems like a regional jump is a fruit of longstanding geopolitical blips and economic volatility. From culture to couture, production to market capture, the west has led the game for centuries. But as we approach the half of the ongoing century, a single question nags the mind. Why is the east now replacing the west (for aluminium or not)? And the answer is simple — availability beats class. Image source: https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/ Also read: From €15.6B to €2.8B: Eurozone’s June trade surplus collapses under tariff pressure US economic fallout...
German power cost up even with 75% solar capture! Europe’s aluminium runs with 78% renewable
Europe’s renewable boom has a two-faced economy. On long, bright, windless days, it floods grids with cheap or even negative-priced power; when the weather turns, capture prices, as in the money actually earned by wind and solar assets after weighting by when they produce, recover sharply. That swing is not academic for aluminium. The metal’s primary production is among the industry’s hungriest electricity consumers, and swings in capture and wholesale power prices cut straight to smelters’ margins, investment plans and decarbonisation pathways. S&P Global’s Platts Renewable Energy Price Explorer shows exactly this dynamic playing out through mid-2025. Solar and wind output across Europe’s five largest markets rose about 10 per cent year-on-year in July, but output eased from June’s...
Stories that travel from Brazil to the Moon: RECYCLING & SUSTAINABILITY recap
The aluminium industry’s sustainability journey in August 2025 has been exciting as ever. From the bustling can recycling networks of Brazil to futuristic waste conversion experiments on the Moon, and from India’s pandal aesthetics to Europe’s policy battles, the past month have shown how recycling and energy transitions are shaping the sector’s long-term narrative. Image for representational purposes only Brazil: still the world’s recycling poster child Brazil has long worn the crown as the world’s aluminium can recycling champion. And even though the country saw a slight dip (2.7 per cent down in 2024), its recovery rate still stayed comfortably above 95 per cent. That’s fifteen years of near-perfect performance, showing how deeply recycling is embedded in Brazilian culture. For most...
