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: China's spot alumina prices mostly stable, futures weaken
On Thursday, Mysteel assessed spot prices for smelter-grade alumina with purity exceeding 98.6 per cent unchanged on day in four key production areas - Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi provinces and the Guangxi autonomous region - averaging between RMB 3,215 per tonne (USD 447.6 per tonne) and RMB 3,325 per tonne. Meanwhile, the assessed price for the same grade in Guizhou province edged up by RMB 10 per tonne from Wednesday to reach RMB 3,320 per tonne, snapping six consecutive working days of stability. The slight price increase in Guizhou reflected more active alumina procurement activity in the southern part of China, as compared to the subdued trading seen in the northern regions, market sources noted. Mysteel heard of one deal concluded in Guizhou where an alumina producer sold 2,000...
Beyond batteries: Lithium metal's pivotal role in advanced technologies
Lithium metal holds a critically important position in modern industry and science and technology, with extensive applications in lithium-ion batteries, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, nuclear industry, aerospace, and metallurgy. I. Key applications 1. Lithium-ion battery materials Technical principles and core advantages: The lithium metal anode offers advantages such as high specific capacity and high operating voltage, which can enhance the energy density and charging speed of lithium-ion batteries, making it the future direction for anode development. Traditional graphite anode materials exhibit good cycling performance but low theoretical capacity, while silicon-based anodes have high theoretical capacity but suffer from excessive expansion during charging and discharging....
50% tariff it is! India-Russia ties over oil, aluminium, and mining irk US — what’s next: payback or patch-up?
The protectionist tariff strategy once touted by US President Donald Trump to revitalise domestic aluminium and steel production appears to be yielding the opposite effect - at least in early 2025. Industry indicators point to a clear downturn, with aluminium demand and production trending downward during the first quarter of the year. Image credit: Aluminum Association PMI signals early warning The first signs of contraction came from industrial sentiment. Both the US and Canadian Purchasing Managers’ Indexes (PMI) dipped below the critical 50-point threshold in March 2025, registering at 49 and 46.3, respectively, indicating a shrinking manufacturing sector. Historically, a PMI below 50 signals a downturn in production and purchasing activity, which typically correlates with weakening...
Molson Coors Q2 result: Profit squeeze looms as tariffs bite and demand dips
The sharp hike in aluminium tariffs under the Trump administration, from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, has significantly disrupted the aluminium industry and its dependent sectors, directly impacting corporate earnings. The beverage industry, in particular, has felt the strain. Molson Coors, which previously reported an 11.3 per cent decline in net sales for Q1 , has now released its Q2 results, indicating plans to revise its financial outlook downward due to continued softness in beer demand and the mounting pressure from aluminium tariffs. Q2 financial results Molson Coors in the second quarter reported a 1.6 per cent decline in net sales on a reported basis and a 2.6 per cent decrease in constant currency. The US GAAP income before income taxes fell by 0.9 per cent to USD 554.9 million,...
Bahrain loses ground in India’s alumina trade as China and France step up
India’s alumina trade landscape is witnessing a significant transformation, driven by expanding domestic capacity and a strategic shift away from traditional suppliers like Bahrain. The shift comes amid rising domestic alumina production and stabilising global market conditions, prompting Indian refiners to re-evaluate where and how they procure this essential input for aluminium smelting. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, India imported just 155,563 tonnes of alumina during the financial year April 2024 to March 2025, a steep 66.27 per cent decline from the 461,078 tonnes recorded the previous year. This dramatic drop reflects both improved domestic output and a changing approach to trade partnerships. Monthly data further underscores this shift. Between January and May...
Guinea strips EGA of concession, hands control to state backed miner
As of August 5, 2025, Guinea has revoked the bauxite concession previously awarded to Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC), a subsidiary of Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), citing violations of the national mining code. The concession has been reassigned to a newly established state-backed entity. This move signals a potential strategic shift by Guinea towards prioritising domestic utilisation of mineral resources and reducing reliance on international operators. Dubai-based EGA, operating in Guinea through its subsidiary GAC, holds a 690-square-kilometre mining concession estimated to contain approximately 400 million tonnes of bauxite reserves. A decree issued late Monday stated that GAC failed to meet regulatory requirements mandating mining companies to submit refinery development plans....
DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices mark time
On Tuesday, Mysteel assessed physical prices for metallurgical-grade alumina with more than 98.6 per cent purity as unchanged in Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, Guizhou provinces and in the Guangxi autonomous region, ranging between RMB 3,215 per tonne (USD 447 per tonne) and RMB 3,325 per tonne. The prices have held steady for around one week, Mysteel Global noted. Spot prices remain on hold mainly because of growing caution in the market, as signs have emerged that domestic alumina supplies are gradually loosening, according to market sources. Some traders reported improved logistics and material pick-up efficiency at alumina refineries in Shanxi, Shandong, and Hebei, indicating that the previous supply tightness has been alleviated, the sources added. As a result, trading activity in the spot...
World alumina production dips in June; H1 trend raises doubts over 2025 target
The world alumina production (including chemical-grade) witnessed a notable setback in June 2025, declining 3 per cent month-on-month to 12.147 million tonnes - the lowest monthly output since February, according to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI). The downturn was driven by reduced output in both metallurgical and chemical-grade alumina, hinting at broader challenges across the supply chain. Chemical-grade alumina saw a sharp 8 per cent M-o-M decline, falling to 714,000 tonnes, while metallurgical-grade output slipped by 2.72 per cent to 11.433 million tonnes. Although metallurgical-grade alumina recorded a marginal year-on-year increase from 11.385 million tonnes, June’s figure was the second-lowest monthly total of the year, again trailing only February. For the second...
US–India trade friction deepens as US rejects consultation at WTO
Note: This image is AI-generated and for representation purpose only On August 5, 2025, the Indian government informed Parliament that the US has rejected its request for consultations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) concerning the recent US tariffs on aluminium, steel and related products. Earlier, following Trump’s decision to double tariffs on aluminium and steel from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, India approached the WTO, arguing that these duties should not be classified as safeguard measures . The development now puts focus on how the US–India trade dynamics may evolve in the coming period. In a recent written response to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada stated that the US has justified these measures on national security grounds....
WEEKLY: Pace of growth in Chinese alumina output, prices eases
Metallurgical-grade alumina output among the 44 Chinese producers regularly tracked by Mysteel totalled 1.85 million tonnes over July 25-31, higher by 0.9 per cent from the prior week, the results of Mysteel's latest survey showed. This marked the sixth consecutive weekly increase, though the pace slowed from the previous week's 2.2 per cent rise, Mysteel Global noted. The mixed impact of maintenance outages and production ramp-ups last week drove the modest rise in output, market sources suggested. An alumina producer in Guizhou province began a 10-day maintenance stoppage on an 800,000 tonnes per year production line on July 26. During the same week, two refiners in Guangxi autonomous region and Yunnan province raised their rates of production slightly to operate at 1.9 million tonnes...
Tariffs toll: Aluminium demand drops across North America amid weak PMIs
The protectionist tariff strategy once touted by US President Donald Trump to revitalise domestic aluminium and steel production appears to be yielding the opposite effect - at least in early 2025. Industry indicators point to a clear downturn, with aluminium demand and production trending downward during the first quarter of the year. Image credit: Aluminum Association PMI signals early warning The first signs of contraction came from industrial sentiment. Both the US and Canadian Purchasing Managers’ Indexes (PMI) dipped below the critical 50-point threshold in March 2025, registering at 49 and 46.3, respectively, indicating a shrinking manufacturing sector. Historically, a PMI below 50 signals a downturn in production and purchasing activity, which typically correlates with weakening...
Recent Thai-Cambodian border clashes: a threat to trade stability?
Despite ongoing border tensions and temporary checkpoint closures, trade between Thailand and Cambodia saw notable growth in early 2025, reflecting both resilience and underlying fragility in their cross-border economic ties. According to data released by Thailand’s Commerce Ministry on Monday, bilateral trade rose by 3.33 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2025, reaching baht 95.147 billion, even as geopolitical tensions began to strain logistics and erode market confidence. The 2025 conflict between Thailand and Cambodia was triggered in late May when a Cambodian soldier was killed, reigniting a long-standing territorial dispute. The situation escalated sharply on July 24, when heavy fighting broke out. By July 27, clashes had spread to 12 border locations, resulting in...
India dethrones China in US smartphone exports, but the real story is aluminium
In a historic pivot that stresses the tectonic shifts in global electronics manufacturing, India has overtaken China as the top source of smartphones sold in the United States. According to Canalys, in the second quarter of 2025, India accounted for a staggering 44 per cent of US-bound smartphone shipments, surpassing China, whose share fell to just 25 per cent, down from over 60 per cent a year earlier. Vietnam, where Samsung Electronics Co. has concentrated much of its manufacturing muscle, ranked second. Image for representational purposes only The shift, while driven by the mobility strategies of Apple Inc. and its supply chain, carries far-reaching consequences for materials markets — aluminium foremost among them. The acceleration of Indian electronics exports is the downstream...
Aluminium supersedes plastic: a sustainable shift emerging in the US, UK, & Canada
According to PMMI’s 2024 State of the Industry US Packaging Machinery Report, packaging machinery manufacturers are actively innovating to support aluminium and other eco-friendly materials, aiming to capitalise on the growing demand for sustainable solutions. This shift comes as sustainability becomes a defining force in reshaping the packaging industry. While the US continues to have less stringent packaging regulations than the European Union, leading companies across North America are increasingly embracing aluminium-based sustainable packaging solutions. Recognised for its recyclability, light weight, and relatively low environmental footprint compared to plastic, aluminium is playing a pivotal role as brands and manufacturers respond to mounting regulatory pressure and evolving...
DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices hold steady, futures
Chinese alumina prices for spot sales remained largely stable across China's five key alumina-producing hubs on August 1, while futures prices declined further. Image is for referential purposes only Last Friday, Mysteel assessed spot prices for metallurgical-grade alumina with purity above 98.6 per cent unchanged in Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Guizhou provinces and in the Guangxi autonomous region, at a range between RMB 3,215 per tonne (USD 447.4 per tonne) and RMB 3,325 per tonne. Meanwhile, domestic alumina futures extended their declines the same day. The most-traded September alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) dropped for the fourth consecutive trading day, sliding 2.86 per cent by the close of Friday's daytime trading session and losing a further 1.2 per cent...
EU-US to forge a common shield, a metals alliance as industrial sovereignty in action
When the European Union and the United States announced the formation of a new “metals alliance” on July 28, 2025, it signalled more than just tariff alignment. It marked a turning point, a coordinated effort to shield their domestic metals sectors from a common adversary: China’s state-driven overcapacity, particularly in steel and aluminium. While the alliance has been framed around steel safeguards and trade architecture, it is aluminium that now demands equal, if not greater, strategic focus. Image source: https://assets.weforum.org/ The proposed framework aims to replace Section 232-era tariffs with quota-based access to the US market for EU metals and jointly coordinate trade defence tools across aluminium, copper, and steel. European Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič summed up the...
Vedanta Q1: Profit down 13%, aluminium underperforms! So, how did EBITDA hit a record?
Vedanta Limited missed quarterly profit estimates for the first quarter of FY26, as weaker aluminium and copper prices, coupled with a sharp increase in tax expenses, weighed on earnings. Despite strong domestic demand and robust operational performance across its business segments, the metals-to-oil conglomerate saw its bottom line shrink. Image source: Vedanta In Q1 FY26, Vedanta reported a consolidated net profit of INR 4,457 crore, down 13 per cent from INR 5,095 crore in the same quarter last year. This decline came even as revenue rose 6 per cent year-on-year to INR 37,434 crore, up from INR 35,239 crore in Q1 FY25, supported by higher product premiums and favourable foreign exchange movements. The dip in profit was primarily driven by a steep rise in tax expenses, which nearly...
FLASH: Twelve Chinese non-ferrous firms make 2025 Fortune Global 500 list
A total of 12 Chinese non-ferrous metal companies made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world's largest firms by revenue, China Nonferrous Metals News (CNMN) noted from Fortune China's release on July 29. Image for referential purposes only (Source: Linkedin) The top three among the 12 firms were China Minmetals, Jiangxi Copper, and Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group, ranking 86th, 165th, and 166th, respectively. Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group, the parent company of Chinese aluminium giant China Hongqiao Group, secured a place on the list for the 14th consecutive year in 2025 with an annual revenue of USD 77.63 billion. Its ranking rose by nine spots from last year to reach 166th. Following closely was another aluminium conglomerate, Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco),...
