Europe holds 10% of global aluminium extrusion demand, supported by Germany’s Constellium, France’s Hydro Extrusions & Italy’s Metra
Across Europe, aluminium extrusion has become closely woven into some of the region’s biggest industrial and construction markets. From automotive and transport to buildings and industrial applications, extruded profiles are finding demand across a wide range of sectors. This is reflected in Europe’s position in the global market: the region accounted for 12 per cent of global aluminium extrusion capacity, making it the second-largest regional contributor after China. At the same time, Europe represented 10 per cent of global aluminium extrusion usage, out of total global usage of 35.35 million tonnes . With production capacity and usage shares relatively close, Europe’s extrusion capacity and consumption are broadly at par. If we break down Europe’s 10 per cent share of global aluminium...
H1 2026 sees more renewable energy than ever: Here’s a region-by-region guide to renewable energy supply in the recent past
In the first half of 2025, humanity generated more electricity from renewables than from coal for the first time ever. What led to it? It was possible only because of two decades of falling solar panel prices, taller wind turbines, and governments finally treating clean power like an economic opportunity instead of a favour to the planet. But the renewable energy scenario cannot be portrayed as a single global story. To get the full picture, one has to connect dozens of regional stories moving at wildly different speeds. Some countries are already powered almost entirely by sun, wind and water. Others are still warming up. Here is a tour of how renewable energy supply looks across the world’s regions right now, and who is actually leading the charge. The global scorecard: Renewable energy...
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DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices fall further, futures recover
According to Mysteel's daily assessment, the national average spot price for smelter-grade alumina with a purity above 98.6 per cent slid by RMB 5 per tonne (USD 0.7 per tonne) from Monday to RMB 2,940 per tonne on Tuesday. This marked the 30th consecutive working-day decline. The drop mainly reflected weaker quotations throughout China's five key alumina production regions. Prices for the same grade in Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Guizhou provinces and in the Guangxi autonomous region all fell by RMB 5 per tonne from Monday, averaging between RMB 2,805 per tonne and RMB 3,090 per tonne, Mysteel's data showed. In particular, the assessed price of RMB 2,805 per tonne in Shandong was the lowest in more than two years, Mysteel Global noted. To ease inventory and sales pressure, alumina...
India’s bauxite export story in H1 2025: Surging demand meets domestic roadblocks
India’s bauxite trade rode a wave of highs and lows through the first half of 2025. Global demand shifts, changing tariffs, and mining hurdles at home kept exports swinging sharply from one month to the next. Even with the volatility, India’s performance between January and June (H1 2025) was far stronger than a year earlier. Export earnings rose 143 per cent to USD 12.81 million, compared with USD 5.27 million in H1 2024, while shipments increased 80 per cent to 385,641 tonnes from 214,575 tonnes. Month on month data The year began steadily before turbulence set in. In January 2025, exports grew 88 per cent in value to USD 2.08 million, though volumes dipped slightly to 53,001 tonnes. February brought a clear rebound — earnings jumped 255 per cent to USD 1.21 million, with shipments up...
5 years post-COVID, US auto sector yet again faces the crunch of tariffs and more
Nearly five years since the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced the US automakers to stop production, and now factories are hitting the same brakes once more. A shortage of domestic aluminium, restrictions on semiconductor exports and increasing tariffs are causing delays for key models, like Jeep SUVs and Ford’s high-end vehicles. Additionally, supply chain issues and geopolitical tensions are slowing down America’s auto industry, leaving us to wonder how long production can keep moving forward. Reasons troubling the US automotive industry The US automotive industry is facing a major setback due to a fire at Novelis, a leading aluminium supplier. This incident occurred last month at its facility in Oswego, New York and it is particularly concerning because Novelis provides a significant...
The battle for the Americas: Washington confronts China’s expanding reach
China’s economic rise across Latin America and the Caribbean has quietly redrawn the map of global influence. What began as scattered infrastructure projects has evolved into a network of ports, energy facilities, and data hubs that increasingly serve Beijing’s strategic interests. For years, Washington paid little attention. Successive administrations focused elsewhere, assuming geography and history would secure US dominance in the hemisphere. That assumption no longer holds. The Trump–Rubio (United States Secretary of State) administration countering China’s growing presence in the Americas has become a core foreign policy priority, closely linked to national security, trade competitiveness, and the protection of vital supply chains. Washington’s new doctrine: Hemispheric resilience...
NBS: China's primary aluminium production rises 2.2 per cent Y-o-Y during Jan-Sept
In September alone, primary aluminium output nationwide reached 3.8 million tonnes, rising by 1.8 per cent from the same month in 2024, the NBS data showed. This was 0.3 per cent higher than August, Mysteel Global calculated based on the NBS statistics. Improved profitability encouraged many domestic primary smelters to maintain steady production last month, contributing to the modest rise in output, market watchers said. According to Mysteel's monthly survey, the average profit margin among the 89 smelters under its regular tracking rose by 6.6 per cent on month to RMB 4,849per tonne in September. The higher profits mainly stemmed from firm aluminium prices and lower production costs. For example, in September Mysteel assessed the national price for primary aluminium ingots with over...
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...
SHFE non-ferrous metal futures decline on week
Major futures prices for key non-ferrous metals – copper, nickel, and aluminium – on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) all declined during the week of October 10–17, as macroeconomic uncertainties weighed on market sentiment. Image source: https://www.unionfab.com/ Also read: DAILY: China's thermal coal market resilient on seasonal demand pickup As of the end of daytime trading on Friday, the SHFE's most-traded copper contract for December delivery closed at RMB 84,390 per tonne (USD 11,844 per tonne), down by 1.8 per cent from the previous week. The same day, the most-traded December nickel and aluminium contracts also slipped by 0.7 per cent and 0.3 per cent on week to end at RMB 121,330 per tonne and RMB 20,910 per tonne, respectively. The on-week declines stemmed from concerns over...
UK keeps anti-dumping duties on Chinese aluminium foil until 2029 — here’s why
The UK’s Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has recommended keeping anti-dumping duties on aluminium foil in rolls imported from China for another five years, citing continued risks of unfair pricing and potential injury to domestic manufacturers. The recommendation, set out in the TRA’s 2025 Statement of Essential Facts (SEF), proposes maintaining existing tariffs — ranging from 14.2 to 35.6 per cent — for the period 6 June 2024 to 2029. The review, launched on 20 May 2024, assessed whether the measure — first introduced by the European Union in 2013 and later carried into UK law after Brexit — remains necessary to protect UK producers. The investigation covered the period from 1 January to 31 December 2023 and found that dumping of Chinese aluminium foil at prices below market value “would...
US aluminium scrap trade faces 2025 shake-up amid tariffs and global demand
The global aluminium market is in transition, and nowhere is that more evident than in the United States. What was once a predictable cycle of imports, recovery, and exports has, in 2025, become a story of trade shifts, policy shocks, and surging international appetite for recycled metal. In the first half of the year, tariffs on aluminium and slowing domestic demand collided with a boom in global recycling, leaving the US aluminium scrap trade looking very different from a year ago. The rise in import Between January and June 2025, US aluminium scrap imports rose 31 per cent to 430,000 tonnes from 328,000 tonnes a year earlier. The surge is anticipated to be driven by tariff impacts on primary aluminium, shifting sourcing strategies, favourable price gaps, and sustainability goals — with...
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...
Inside the global race for gallium: The metal behind America’s military edge
Rare earth elements are central to the United States’ military technology that operates across the air, land, sea, and space domains. Their strong magnetic and electronic characteristics enable compact, high-performance motors and actuators used in precision-guided munitions, missile control, and advanced aircraft such as the F-35 fighter jet. In naval operations, rare earth magnets and alloys enhance radar, sonar, and propulsion systems aboard Virginia-class submarines and Arleigh Burke destroyers, providing the stealth and detection capability that defines modern warfare. The US uses roughly 20 tonnes each year, a quantity small enough to fit on a single truck, but its strategic weight is immense. Gallium underpins radar, communication, and satellite systems across the Pentagon’s...
DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices drop further, futures rebound
Mysteel assessed the national average spot price for metallurgical-grade alumina with a purity above 98.6 per cent at RMB 2,961per tonne (USD 415.8 per tonne) on Thursday, down by RMB 14 per tonne from the prior day. This marked the 27th straight working day decline, Mysteel Global noted. By region, the assessed prices for the same grade in Shandong province recorded the largest daily drop, falling by RMB 20 per tonne from Wednesday to RMB 2,820 per tonne. Prices in Shanxi province and the Guangxi autonomous region declined by RMB 15per tonne to RMB 2,880 per tonne and RMB 3,100 per tonne, respectively, while those in Henan and Guizhou provinces slipped by RMB 10 per tonne on day to RMB 2,890per tonne and RMB 3,115 per tonne, respectively. Also Read: Mysteel: China alumina prices continue...
China’s electric vehicle boom powers its fight against pollution and climate change
China is intensifying its efforts to combat pollution and climate change by accelerating its shift toward electric mobility. The automobile industry has become a central pillar of this transition, as record electric vehicle (EV) sales highlight how policy incentives, technological innovation, and consumer demand are reshaping the world’s largest car market. Image for representational purpose The numbers show how fast the change is happening. In September, China’s carmakers sold a record 826,000 battery-electric vehicles, a 28.5 per cent jump from a year earlier, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). It’s the highest monthly figure yet, breaking the record set last December. A rush before the clock runs out The jump wasn’t a surprise to anyone in the business....
DAILY: China's thermal coal market resilient on seasonal demand pickup
On Tuesday, Mysteel's assessments for the prices of 5,500 kcal per kg, 5,000 kcal per kg and 4,500 kcal per kg NAR coal strengthened to RMB 720 per tonne (USD100.9per tonne), RMB 630per tonne and RMB 550per tonne, respectively, FOB northern ports basis with VAT, all higher by RMB 5per tonne from the day prior. Image for representational purpose only Some Chinese power utilities have kick-started their coal hoarding activities for this winter, as temperature drops in northern China drive up household heating demand, sources noted. A strong cold snap is forecast to sweep most regions of the country in the following five days, according to the National Meteorology Administration. Inquiries for thermal coal increased notably in the spot market in recent days, which directly elevated trading...
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...
US aluminium imports slip 2% in H1 2025 amid tariffs and softer demand
The flow of aluminium into the United States softened in the first half of 2025 as tariffs, weaker industrial activity, and higher energy costs reshaped buying patterns. Primary aluminium imports came in at 1.81 million tonnes, a touch lower than the 1.85 million tonnes recorded in the same period a year earlier — a 2 per cent decline. The year started briskly, with first-quarter imports rising to 1.07 million tonnes from 0.91 million tonnes in early 2024 as traders rushed to move cargoes ahead of expected tariff increases. But momentum soon faded as the second quarter unfolded. Monthly shipments fluctuated sharply. Imports surged in March to 438,000 tonnes, up from 270,000 tonnes the year before, but demand tailed off almost immediately afterward. January stood at 335,000 tonnes against...
Mysteel: China alumina prices continue downward trend on supply surplus
On the supply side, China's alumina operating capacity rose above 98MTPA last week. Despite shrinking margins in the alumina sector, no cost-driven cuts or plans have been heard. Besides, according to Mysteel's tracking, China's alumina imports are expected to see a significant rise in October, which will put more pressure on the supply side. On the demand side, China's aluminium operating capacity and weekly production stopped rising last week with the first section of a relocation project in Yunnan being fully commissioned, and it's expected that China's aluminium production growth in Q4 will be very limited, which will not provide much support for alumina prices. On the cost side, seaborne bauxite prices moved down further last week, weakening the support to alumina prices on the cost...
Steady output & green move, Rio Tinto’s Q3 unveils its aluminium edge
Rio Tinto Group has released its production figures for Q3 2025, highlighting continued output across its key commodities. The firm has just rolled out a fresh operating model along with a new executive team, all designed to streamline operations and boost shareholder value. The revamped organisation now features three main divisions: Iron Ore, Aluminium & Lithium and Copper. At the same time, Borates and Iron & Titanium are under strategic review, indicating a shift towards optimising the company’s portfolio. Overall production summary In Q3 2025, the company showcased a solid production performance across its diverse range of operations. Bauxite production reached 16.4 million tonnes, indicating a robust operational quarter. Alumina output was at 1.9 million tonnes, aluminium production...
