Germany’s automotive industry drives 32.8% of aluminium consumption as EV production rises 23%, led by Volkswagen, BMW & Mercedes-Benz
Germany’s automobile industry is a major part of the country’s aluminium story, with the metal used in everything from vehicle body panels and chassis components to battery enclosures and electric-drive systems. As automakers develop lighter vehicles and expand their electric models, aluminium has become an important material across the manufacturing process. Germany’s automotive industry consumes around 950,000 tonnes of aluminium annually, accounting for a substantial share of the wider transport sector’s demand. In 2025, Germany’s total aluminium consumption stood at approximately 2.9 million tonnes, with the transport sector accounting for 1.35 million tonnes, representing 46 per cent of the total. This extensive use of aluminium in transport mirrors its importance to the global...
AL Circle Analysis: US scrap imports hit 580kt as China slips 3.2%, who drives aluminium recycling?
Aluminium scrap is no longer a side story in the metal’s market. Rather, aluminium’s next standoff is over scrap. As US imports surge 37 per cent while China’s purchases decline, manufacturers in Europe and India are confronting a common challenge of securing affordable, reliable raw materials. With recycling rates, trade barriers and low-carbon production reshaping market, the global industry faces a critical question: who will control the metal that powers its circular future? Join the fourth edition of the webinar "Hedging for recyclers - Become an expert in 6 hours" by Jorge Dyszel. A 1.1-billion-tonne stockpile: US stocks up, China steps back, India asks for access The US imported 580,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap worth USD 2.07 billion in H1 2026 , with Canada accounting for 63.62...
Grow with
AL Circle
Odisha govt to auction more bauxite mines in 2016
Odisha's economy has experienced a setback following revenue cuts by the Central government. This has affected, in turn, revenue generation from the state's mining sector. Even though revenues from iron ore and bauxite mining in India's mineral-rich coastal state increased during 2015-16 fiscal compared to last year, it has been reported to be lagging behind the target set for the year. However, the scenario is yet not that dissapointing as a collection of INR 3647 crore till December 22, 2015 is expected to put the sector back on a path of recovery. The State Government had initially set a target of INR 6000 crore from the sector, comprising mainly of iron ore and bauxite mining projects, for 2015-16. With the financial year nearing its end, doubts have cropped up whether this target can...
US shredded scrap prices reach $169; aluminium scrap prices stay stable
United States shredded scrap prices gained during the week ended December 11, while major US aluminium scrap commodities weekly average prices on Scrap Register Price Index also showed a steady trend. According to TSI, US Midwest shredded index increased $3 long ton the week to $169 long ton (delivered mill). There is still significant regional disparity across the US, with some mills still paying higher prices (over $190 long ton) the week in order to have prompt delivery of the material. While some prices were as low as $155 long ton, market participants do not expect these prices to last long as inventories need to be restocked, yet scrap is currently in short supply. The major aluminium scrap commodities on the Scrap Register Price Index showed flat trend during the week. The weekly...
Aluminium futures weaken on overseas cues, shed 0.10 per cent
Aluminium prices were down 0.10 per cent to INR 100.70 per kg in futures trade today as investors cut down their bets amid weak Asian cues and sluggish demand in the domestic spot market. In futures trading at the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in the current month eased by 10 paise, or 0.10 per cent, to INR 100.70 per kg in a business turnover of 115 lots. The metal for delivery in January next year contract was trading flat at INR 101.75 per kg in seven lots. Marketmen said the weakness in aluminium in futures trade was mostly in line with a weak trend at the Shanghai Futures Exchange after data from China showed industrial profits declined again, underscoring a manufacturing slowdown in the biggest metal consumer. Aluminum in Shanghai slumped as much as 2.6 per cent,...
38% of Chinese smelters bearish toward aluminium prices this week, SMM survey
38% of the 42 Chinese aluminium smelters surveyed by SMM are bearish toward this week’s aluminium prices . Those pessimists fear that LME aluminium will fall below USD 1,500/mt and that SHFE 1603 aluminium will drop below RMB 10,500/mt. They argued that on-grid power tariffs cuts by the Chinese government and power tariff subsidy by local governments will weaken cost for aluminum prices. Besides, shorts are gathering momentum recently, and longs are cautious about entering, another negative factor. Another 19% are optimistic that LME aluminium will rise above USD 1,530/mt and SHFE 1603 aluminium will climb above RMB 1,700/mt. They noted that aluminium stocks in China’s five major trading markets have been falling for six weeks in a row due to production cuts. Large aluminium processors...
Shanghai aluminium falls 2%; market awaits output cuts
Shanghai aluminium slid more than two percent on Monday, with the market suffering possibly its biggest one-day decline in more than six weeks as a lack of further production cuts in China pressured prices. The most active aluminium contract on Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 2.3 percent to 10,650 yuan a tonne by 0410 GMT. Unless the contract recovers in the afternoon, aluminium will like mark its biggest daily fall since November 11. The London Metal Exchange will reopen on Tuesday after the Christmas break. "Total aluminium curtailment is still around four million tonnes per year for 2015 in China," said Jackie Wang a consultant CRU in Beijing, adding that no further cuts in output have been announced recently. That has put pressure on prices, because the market had been expecting...
Novelis achieves 49% recycled aluminium inputs, makes progress on GHG targets
Aluminium rolling and recycling leader Novelis released its sustainability report for Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) on December 22. The company doubled its recycling capacity over the past five years, among other achievements. Recycled aluminium produces 95 percent fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and requires 95 percent less energy than primary aluminium production, according to the company. Novelis says this enabled them to increase their global production capacity while reducing their GHG emissions by 13 percent from baseline years of 2007-2009. At the end of FY15, Novelis achieved an average of 49 percent recycled aluminium inputs, up 19 percent from the baseline years. Post-consumer recycled aluminium, most of which is used beverage containers, accounts for roughly two-thirds of...
Aluminium die-casting manufacturer DyCast celebrates 25 years of operation
DyCast Specialties Corporation, a custom job shop manufacturing company offering aluminium and zinc high-pressure die castings, is celebrating 25 years of operations and its association Starbuck community. The company opened its doors in Starbuck in 1990. Die casting is a metal forming process in which molten metal is put under high pressure and injected into a die. The molten alloy enters the die through a shot sleeve or sprue nozzle that is connected to the “A” half of the die. The alloy is then directed to the cavity by way of runners (passageways) and gates (inlets and outlets) in the ejector half. Aluminum type die casting molds can produce up to 100,000 casting shots in the life of the mold. DyCast with its pool of competent personnel has succesfully mastered this technique over the...
Andhra govt plans special incentives for Rexam's aluminium beverage can plant
The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to provide some special incentives to Rexam HTW Beverage Can (India) Private Limited. The company will set up a new aluminium beverage can manufacturing plant in Sri City in Chittoor district with an investment of INR 588.88 crore. The proposed can plant, which will supply aluminium made food beverage cans to carbonated soft drinks, food packing companies in the Sri City, is expected to create employment to around 750 people. Apart from providing all the other benefits announced in the Industrial Development Policy (IDP) 2015-20, the State government would extend some other incentives such as reimbursement of 75 per cent VAT for a period of seven years from the date of commencement of commercial production or up to realization of 100 per cent...
EGA said to pay more for loan as liquidity tightens
Emirates Global Aluminium PJSC, a joint venture between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, is said to be paying almost 40 percent more for a loan compared with last year as liquidity in the Gulf tightens after the plunge in oil prices. The state-controlled company will pay 200 basis points, or 2 percentage points, above the London Interbank Offered Rate on a $4.9 billion, seven-year conventional loan and an Islamic facility, according to three people with knowledge of the plan, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. That compares with a spread of 145 basis points that subsidiary Dubai Aluminium paid on a similar maturity facility it raised in December 2014, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Companies in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, home to about 30...
Century Aluminum finds a saviour in CEO Michael Bless before inevitable closure
Century Aluminum’s Mount Holly smelter was due to shut down, probably for good; but just a couple days before the inevitable closure, president and CEO Michael Bless stepped in to try one last time to save several jobs from being lost. The aluminium smelter and its workers saw Bless working till the very last moment to strike a deal that would save at least some of the 35-year-old plant’s 600 jobs and nearly $1 billion in annual economic impact. “We’re pulling every lever we can,” said Bless of his last-minute negotiations with sthe tate lawmakers on a plan to keep Mount Holly operational. A day later, Bless announced that Mount Holly smelter would operate at half the capacity through the first half of 2016 while the Legislature worked to let his company buy electricity on the open...
China aluminium stocks fall for six consecutive weeks
Production cuts and improving demand have allowed aluminium stocks in China’s five major trading markets to fall for six consecutive weeks, SMM learns. It should be noted, though, that aluminium stocks in major trading markets are likely to fall at a slower pace in the future, SMM aluminium analyst pointed out. Downstream demand has shown signs of softening and more aluminium ingots will flow out of Inner Mongolia into main consumption hubs, the analyst explained. The table below shows details of aluminium stocks at China’s five major markets:
Sapa's aluminium facade solutions help lift landmark library in Leeds
Specially-adapted aluminium façade systems from the Wicona brand have been specified for a new £26m library for the University of Leeds, one of the largest universities in the UK. Wicona is one of Sapa’s aluminium building systems brands. The 6,500-square meter learning hub is expected to help the university attract more students in the competitive higher education environment and provide a cultural center to enrich the student experience and the wider community. Designed by ADP, the scheme occupies a sensitive location in a conservation area, surrounded by listed buildings, including two churches, and in a streetscape that has remained almost unchanged in 50 years. It is the fourth building on a challenging tear drop-shaped site, and its design had to be developed with careful...
Ford pumps $1.3 billion more into aluminium pickups
Ford is betting big on its new aluminium-bodied F-150, which has been taking traditional business away from the steel industry. The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker announced it was going to invest $1.3 billion in Kentucky to make the F-Series Super Duty. Ford will invest in an all-new body shop, retooling and various facility upgrades to building the pickup, which has been the best-selling vehicle in America for more than three decades. The Louisville-based plant will make the 2017 Ford F-Series F-250, F-350, F-450 and F-550 Super Duty trucks, which consist of more aluminium to help meet new federal emissions standards. "With the introduction of the all-new Ford Super Duty, America's best-selling heavy-duty pickup, we expect to continue growing our truck leadership," said Joe Hinrichs,...
Coca-Cola mulls expanding the global availability of aluminium contour bottle
Coca-Cola is celebrating its 100-year-old glass bottle in 2015 by expanding the global availability of the iconic package's 10-year-old aluminium sibling. Coca-Cola Amatil (Fiji) Ltd general manager Roger Hare said the company was looking at introducing this in the country as one of its primary focus next year. "For some countries in the world, we have aluminium contour bottle which is a mix of a can and a bottle," Mr Hare said. While expansion efforts have been tremendous, the company has aggressive plans next year, which will be revealed later. The company launched the 100th birthday of the Coca-Cola brand on Tuesday in Suva by honouring the past yet focusing on growth for the future. Coca-Cola, together with key suppliers and manufacturing partners, launched the aluminium bottle...
China A356 aluminium alloy output rises in November on car market recovery
The 15 large Chinese A356 aluminium alloy producers reported higher operating rates and output in November, stimulated by recovering automobile market, SMM survey showed. The average operating rate at those surveyed was 61.67% and total output was 111,000 tonnes in November, both up from October. Data from the CAAM showed that China’s automobile output and sales both hit record highs in November. Automobile output was 2.54 million units in November, up 16.24% month-on-month and 17.74% year-on-year; sales were 2.51 million units, up 12.93% month-on-month and 19.99% year-on-year. Automobile output and sales were 21.82 million units and 21.79 million units, respectively, in the first eleven months of 2015, up 1.80% and 3.34%, and with the growth up 1.78 percentage points and 1.83 percentage...
Guinea's president names mining executive as new prime minister
Guinea President Alpha Conde named mining executive Mamady Youla as prime minister on Saturday as part of a strategy to revive the West African nation's ailing economy, the government announced. Guinea is a major producer of bauxite, an aluminium ore, but growth has been hamstrung by a slump in metals prices and a two-year Ebola epidemic that killed more than 2,500 people and has driven away some investors. Conde was re-elected to a second five-year term in a landslide victory in October, pledging to get Guineans back to work. "The nomination of Mamady Youla, a senior Guinean executive in the private sector and administration, confirms President Alpha Conde's new push to support job creation and training ... and reinforce Guinean businesses," a government statement said. From 2004 until...
Uncertainty looms over Anrak Aluminium's INR 7,000 cr alumina refinery
A big question mark hangs over the future of Anrak Aluminium's Rachapalli alumina refinery located in Makavarapalem Mandal, about 90-km from Vishkhakhapatnam. With the Andhra Pradesh Government announcing the cancellation of the bauxite supply agreement that it had with Anrak Aluminium Limited, the alumina refinery built at a cost of nearly INR 7,000 crore now awaits possible closure. It is learnt from industry sources, however, that the company is mulling signing fresh agreement for bauxite supply with the State Government and clearing issues with local tribal people and opposition parties in order to avoid any such consequences. Anrak Aluminium Limited was promised the raw material by the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corporation from Jerrela and Sapparla blocks in the Agency. It...
Aluminium prices to shine among base metals this week
Aluminium prices, both on the SHFE and LME, will continue gathering strength this week, as market will continue digesting positive news from China. Aluminium stocks in China’s major trading markets have been falling for six weeks in a row and destocking accelerated with expanding production cuts. This will drive SHFE 1603 aluminium up further to 11,000 yuan per tonne and allow spot aluminium in domestic market to trade at premiums over SHFE 1601 aluminium. A softer US dollar and strong SHFE aluminium will push LME aluminium up to $1,530-1,560 per tonne.
