AL Circle analysis: How do Germany’s 32.8% automotive aluminium share, 40% Diet Coke can price rise & 3.54Mt North American extrusion demand matter?
Aluminium’s downstream and end-user world is having one of those fortnights where a beer can, a luxury sports car, a German construction site and an Indian furnace all end up in the same conversation. The metal may begin its life far upstream, but its real fuss is playing out in cans, cars, extrusions, buildings and factories, where tariffs, trade policy, energy costs and demand cycles decide who wins. This fortnight highlights that aluminium demand is moving towards electric vehicles, lightweight transport and long-life infrastructure, even as packaging and construction feel the pinch of cost and weak activity. Meanwhile, producers from Vietnam to New Zealand are arguing over the oldest question in the business of how much protection, taxation or openness does a downstream industry need...
AL Circle Analysis: Guinea’s 150Mt bauxite cap, China’s import swings, US tariffs draw aluminium Q4’26
The global aluminium supply chain is facing a series of changes that extend from bauxite mines and alumina refineries to smelters, regional premiums and finished-metal trade. In 2026, the market’s direction is being shaped not only by production volumes but also by freight costs, export restrictions, shifting Chinese demand and tariffs. Developments across Guinea, Australia, China, Europe and North America point to a market where access to supply is increasingly as important as the availability of raw materials. Bauxite supply: Guinea’s cap meets a well-stocked China, but is it stable? Guinea remains central to the seaborne bauxite market, with its shipment connections to China demonstrating the importance of reliable logistics. A new sea-rail route has enabled a Guinea bauxite shipment...
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TRIMET France puts continuous caster into operation
After a test phase lasting several months, the TRIMET plant in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne put a vertical continuous caster into full operation on December 10, 2014. With an annual production capacity of around 60,000 tons of rolling ingots, the system represents a strategic addition to the product portfolio of the facility in the French Alps. Around 145,000 tons of primary aluminum is produced here annually. In addition to rolling ingots, aluminum wire for the energy and automotive industries is mainly produced by some 500 employees in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and the sister plant in Castelsarrasin, in southwestern France. TRIMET took over the plants at the end of 2013 and has since consistently worked toward full utilization of the production capacity. The recommissioning of the continuous...
Aluminum avoiding metal slump as autos drive demand
At a time when other commodities are slumping, aluminum is making a comeback as automakers under pressure to build more fuel-efficient cars increase their use of the lightweight metal. While copper prices are down 14 percent this year and iron has slipped 7.7 percent, aluminum has gained 0.1 percent. The rise is small but significant, marking an improvement from a year in which the price of aluminum fell to its lowest level since 2009. Meanwhile, producers including Alcoa Inc. and Rio Tinto Group predict demand will continue to rise over the next few years as the metal grows in importance to car makers. “Aluminum looks very different from other commodities,” Oleg Deripaska, the billionaire president of the world’s largest producer, United Co. Rusal, said in an interview in Davos last...
Finch’s Beer Co. goes local with move to Rexam cans
Finch’s Beer Co. is going local. The Chicago-based craft brewer has teamed up with Rexam, choosing the company’s 16 oz. cans as the ideal packaging choice for its lineup of beers. Rexam is a leading global beverage can maker with North American headquarters in Chicago. Finch’s has already launched Secret Stache Stout, Hardcore Chimera, Finch’s Pale Ale and Nuclear Winter in Rexam cans with Sobek & Set, Fascist Pig and Threadless coming soon, followed by Wet Hot American Wheat this summer. Finch’s began the transition in the middle of 2014, and plans to have all eight of its labels – plus two additional new labels – in Rexam cans by mid-2015. Finch’s Beer Co. utilizes cans because of their many inherent benefits. Aluminum cans block out all light and oxygen which helps preserve the beer’s...
The Oman Aluminium Rolling Company (OARC) completes performance test for plant
The Oman Aluminium Rolling Company (OARC), owned by Takamul Investment Company, based in Sohar (Oman) and constructed by FATA EPC (a division of FATA S.p.A.), successfully concluded its extensive final IPPT (Integrated Plant Performance Tests) Program in November 2014. OARC has produced coils across all product ranges and have now begun their ramp-up to full production. The OARC Plant is a state-of-the-art, world-class light gauge sheet rolling facility with a capacity of 140,000 tonnes per year. It includes a Hazelett Twin Belt Caster which provides unique metallurgical properties that benefit customers in their business applications of aluminium sheet products. The successful combination of the industry leading technology of the Hazelett belt caster with the state-of-the-art Hot...
Bauxite and alumina winners at China commodity trade data
Commodity trading figures for 2014 in China confirms a trend that shows higher import volumes as a result of low commodity prices. Key commodities showed a rise in imports due to falling prices. There are a few commodities in which cases both the volumes and prices went up and these according to a Reuter reporting are the real winners in the story of natural resources demand in China. The last year was a positive and strong one for bauxite and alumina, the raw materials for aluminium. Imports of alumina went up 37.7% to 5.27 million tonnes in 2014, while the price of alumina as reported by Chinese customs in December 2014 was $382.34 a tonne, up from $364.97 a year back. Imports of bauxite plunged 48.3 percent to 36.28 million tonnes. However, this must be viewed in terms of the massive...
Alba wins the 2015 Green Era Award
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), recognised as a leading environment-friendly aluminium producer, is proud to announce that it has been declared a winner of the “The Green Era Award” for 2015. Granted by the French “Otherways Association” to companies and firms from both public and private sectors who have made sustainability a key driver in their business strategy, Alba was awarded for its outstanding environmental achievements and sustainable practices. Commenting on this achievement, Alba’s Chief Operations Officer, Isa Al Ansari said: “Alba continues to make great strides in its positive contribution to a “greener” world. We are proud to win the Green Era Award as it recognises the Company’s on-going commitment to responsibly manage its operations, thus making a positive impact on the...
Aluminium gains as global stockpiles dwindle
The global aluminium stockpiles drops to the lowest it has been in more than five months, tightening supply and pushing the aluminium prices up. London Metal Exchange tracked the metal stockpiles to find that it has now hit 4.08 million which is the least it has been since May 2009. Aluminium prices also were bolstered by the expectation of new business opportunities in Europe as a result of positive economic stimulus. Equities have been trading high in Europe inching towards a seven-year high on January 26. The commodity has also gained 1.4% this year, making it the best performing metal among the six listed on the LME. Aluminum for delivery in three months rose 2.6 percent to $1,879 a metric ton at 5:51 p.m. on the LME, gaining the most since Jan. 16. Prices fell 1.9 percent in the...
Surge in Chinese exports may threaten aluminium prices
Global aluminium fundamentals would have been in a much better state had the Chinese industry exercised the same kind of production discipline as was seen in other regions, especially Europe and America. Of the global aluminium production of 53.746 million tonnes (mt) in 2014, China alone accounted for 27.98 mt. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, aluminium capacity use in China ranged from 82 per cent to 84 per cent, several percentage points higher than in other countries. That there hasn't been any capacity decommissioning in China isn't true. Many believe under pressure from the Xi Jinping-led government, high-cost and polluting smelters with a combined capacity of 2.1 mt have stopped production permanently. Another 1.5 mt of capacity is due to be scrapped. Some Chinese aluminium producers...
China’s alumina imports surged again in December
China’s aluminium imports continue to surge, rising another 44% from the previous month and 83.7% from last year importing a total of 638,586 tonnes of alumina in December, according to the latest customs data. Australia, one of China’s biggest suppliers, alone contributed 399,121 tonnes in December rising 18.3% year-on-year. The supplier country’s alumina production has also seen a surge with BHP’s Worsley plant achieving record production in the December 2014 quarter. Brazil too contributed generously to China exporting 113,535 tonnes of alumina to China up by 15.4% from the previous month. In 2014, China imported a total of 5.27 million tonnes of alumina and 673,558 tonnes of bauxite from Malaysia pushing up the numbers of unwrought aluminium exports from China considerably. For the...
Aludium launched as Atlas Holdings acquires Alcoa rolling assets in Spain and France
On January 1, 2015, Atlas Holdings LLC launched Aludium — its newest operating company — with the acquisition of rolling mills in Spain and France from Alcoa, a global leader in lightweight metals technology, engineering, and manufacturing. Included in the transaction are mills located in Amorebieta and Alicante (Spain) and Castelsarrasin (France), as well as the state-of-the-art Cindal research and development facility in Alicante. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Aludium produces engineered, high-quality products for a broad array of sectors including building and construction, brights and decoration, and closures and cosmetics. The company will maintain its existing focus on these core markets. “Our objective is to become Europe’s premier supplier of aluminium sheets,...
Alcoa of Australia refuses to be tempted by bauxite boom
Rising demand for Australian bauxite has not tempted Alcoa of Australia to join the export rush, with the aluminium giant saying it would prefer to create local jobs by turning Australian bauxite into finished products. Bauxite prices rose strongly in 2014 and are expected to rise again in coming years as a shortage of high quality bauxite in China starts to take effect. Several Australian companies are planning to meet the increased demand, with Rio Tinto mulling a multi-billion dollar expansion of its bauxite operations at Weipa later this year. Former BHP Billiton executive Alberto Calderon is involved with another local bauxite aspirant, Gulf Alumina, while ASX-listed junior Australian Bauxite Limited has beaten them all to the punch by beginning trial production of a new bauxite mine...
Novelis commissions $48 million automotive closed-loop recycling investment in Oswego plant
Novelis, the global leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, today announced the completion of a $48 million investment in its automotive scrap aluminum recycling facility in Oswego, N.Y. It expands upon the company's recent growth in Oswego to meet the increased demand for aluminum automotive sheet in North America. Including this recycling center, over the past five years, Novelis has invested more than $400 million in Oswego and hired more than 430 new employees, with around 250 additional jobs planned by the year 2020. The recycling investment includes a new 81,000 square-foot building capable of processing, sorting and storing automotive scrap aluminum. Additional investments were made in infrastructure improvements such as road and parking upgrades to handle increased truck...
2017 Jeep Wrangler may get a hybrid powerplant, be made of aluminum and carbon fiber
The Jeep Wrangler is a vehicle sort of encumbered by its success, in that everyone wants it to remain exactly the same, but improve at the same time. This is the conundrum Jeep chief, the aptly named Mike Manley, is forced to contend with as it prepares to update the vehicle for 2017. In an interview with Auto Express, Manley discusses the possibilities that lay ahead for the off-roader, including the introduction of hybrid power. “You have the potential for hybrid powertrains in the future,” he admitted. “For those people who use the Wrangler, the most important thing is the initial torque and the crawl ratio,” said Manley. “With an electric motor you have the most torque available and with the right combination of transmission and gear ratios you can create incredible crawl ratios.” It...
Ford contract, aluminum truck parts discussed
A Ford Motor Co. executive on Friday carefully skirted high-stakes questions about how the resurging automaker will handle labor contract negotiations this year with its hourly workers. Instead, John Fleming, Ford's executive vice president of global manufacturing and labor affairs, echoed recent remarks from United Auto Workers leaders, saying that the automaker and the union are "aligned" on the goal of ensuring that Ford remains competitive after a new pact is reached later this year. Fleming, who spoke at the Governor's Luncheon which concluded the annual Kentucky Transportation Conference hosted by Kentuckians for Better Transportation, gave a brisk talk, using a PowerPoint and few notes, that touched on Ford's expanding reach around the world and its pride in having Kentucky...
Sapa is pushing copper substitution in Chicago, at AHR 2015
Sapa is bringing new and revolutionary to Chicago at the world’s largest HVAC&R marketplace, the 2015 AHR Expo. Its aluminium tubing innovations include the WebMPE. The AHR Expo is held annually for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) industry. Sapa’s Precision Tubing business area will again be present at the three-day international trade fair, which opens on Monday, January 26, at McCormick Place in Chicago. One of the highlights at October’s Chillventa exhibition in Germany was Sapa's innovative WebMPE. Now, Sapa will be showing it for the second time – at the AHR Expo. Expert engineers will be present at Sapa’s stand to elaborate on the dramatic and revolutionary design of this brazed aluminium heat exchanger. Indeed, for the first time, the...
Metro Alloys joins ISRI’s Circle of Safety Excellence
The metals recycling company Metro Alloys Inc., East Point, Georgia, has been added to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) Circle of Safety Excellence, an industry initiative focused on improving operational safety for recycling companies. ISRI says the key to the new initiative is the establishment of a platform through which like-minded companies voluntarily come forward to share safety data and best practices for the betterment of their own safety operations. By taking this step, companies such as Metro Alloys are being recognized by ISRI for their commitment to safety. Companies must apply annually for membership in the Circle of Safety Excellence. “Employee safety must be embedded in a recycler’s day-to-day operations to be effective and its importance simply cannot be...
EGA targets future global aluminium demand at US symposium
The strength of Emirates Global Aluminium ("EGA") in being able to meet future primary global aluminium demand was highlighted during the Platts Aluminium Symposium 2015, which was staged in Scottsdale, Arizona from 18 to 20 January. Speaking at the symposium, of which EGA was one of the sponsors, Adel Abubakar (Managing Director of DUBAL America Inc.) told delegates how statistics show the Americas and Asia - both key EGA markets - will provide the major sources of growth in primary aluminium demand. "Global primary aluminium demand is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate ("CAGR") of 7.6% from 2014 to 2017 with statistics indicating that Asia and the Americas will generate the greatest share of aluminium demand in the next few years," said Abubakar, citing industry analysts....
China’s refined aluminum imports shrink to lowest since 2008
Chinese refined aluminum imports in December fell to a six-year low as domestic production surged. Inbound shipments of primary aluminum shrank to 1,857 tons in December, a tumble from 76,060 tons the previous year, according to data from the General Administration of Customs on Friday. The monthly figure was the lowest since June 2008. Full-year imports slumped 27 percent to 267,700 tons. The fall in imports reflects China’s rising output of refined aluminum and its surging aluminum product exports. Its primary aluminum output rose 7.7 percent to a record 24.4 million tons last year, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Global aluminum makers may add a net 3.9 million tons of new capacity this year, a 39 percent increase from 2014, according to...
