German downstream aluminium exports fall 13% in H1 2026 but US enters top 5 with 228.1% import surge
Germany’s downstream aluminium export map underwent a noticeable shift in H1 2026. Shipments to the world fell, with most of Germany’s traditional European customers taking less aluminium downstream product. Yet, amid that broad retreat, one market moved in the opposite direction: the United States. German downstream aluminium exports to the world fell to 897,773.19 tonnes in H1 2026 from 1 million tonnes in H1 2025, a decline of 13 per cent year on year. The contrast was particularly sharp in the US market. American imports of German downstream aluminium reached 68,061.61 tonnes in H1 2026, up 228.1 per cent from just 20,743.62 tonnes in H1 2025. The increase of more than 47,000 tonnes was enough to push the US into Germany’s top 5 destinations for the first time. The export map is...
Caustic soda plant setup in India: How aluminium growth is reshaping demand, costs and opportunities
Caustic soda may not be the most visible ingredient in aluminium production, but without it, the journey from bauxite to alumina would look very different. The chemical, also known as sodium hydroxide, is a crucial reagent in the Bayer process, where it helps dissolve alumina-bearing material in bauxite and separate it from impurities. The dissolved material is then processed to recover alumina, which ultimately feeds aluminium production. That makes caustic soda more than just another industrial chemical. Its availability, price and efficient use can influence the economics of alumina refining and, by extension, the wider aluminium value chain. As India expands its alumina and aluminium capacity, the requirement for this chemical is also becoming increasingly important. For companies...
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Solvay acquires Germany's Flux to bolster aluminum brazing formulations
Solvay has acquired Flux Schweib- und Lotstoffe GmbH (Flux) to complement its aluminum brazing capabilities and products with fast-growing formulations for automotive heat exchangers and stationary heat, ventilation and air conditioning units. “A flourishing and innovative German company, Flux will become part of Solvay’s Global Business Unit (GBU) Special Chemicals whose aluminum brazing products are recognised as the industry standard under the Nocolok brand,” said a Solvay press release. Flux, which reached sales of Euro 21 million in 2013, has its headquarters and production site in Garbsen, close to the Solvay Special Chemicals site in Hannover. The combination of Solvay’s fluorinated chemical research and innovative capabilities with Flux’s outstanding know-how in formulations and...
Ford ties up with Michigan-based Chemetall for their aluminium-bodied F-150
A Michigan-based plant Chemetall has teamed up with Ford to prepare their aluminium-bodied F-150 for the local winter by helping with environmental testing techniques for the surface treatment of the aluminium based bodies. On Monday, 15 September, a special supplier certification was awarded to Chemetall Surface Treatment Company, 1100 technology Drive. The aluminium body is already cutting down 700 pounds from the Ford’s popular pick up trucks, now with Chemetell, they are now testing how long it takes for the paint as well as the other parts of the vehicle to erode in the Michigan winter. Several Ford executives visited the plant site on Monday to hand over the Q1 Supplier Status certificate as well as take a tour of the premises. Chemetall is a prime producer, supplier and developer...
ISRI seeks nominations for Design for Recycling Award
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), the Voice of the Recycling Industry™, today released a call for entries for the 2015 Design for Recycling (DFR) Award. The DFR Award is ISRI’s highest award given annually to the most outstanding contribution to products designed with recycling in mind. It recognizes proactive steps made by manufacturers who have actively incorporated DFR principles into products and processes. “When designing a product, manufacturers should be giving just as much of a priority to the product’s ability to be recycled as manufacturers do cost, appearance, and other factors,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI. “Effective recycling begins at the drawing board. ISRI is looking to reward companies, designers, and manufacturers with the mindset of producing...
Australian Workers Union demand 100% RET exemption
The Australian reports that the Australian Workers Union has called for a 100% exemption from RET from their current 90% and urged that the Renewable Energy Target be pushed back to 2022 from 2020. The paper reports that the delegates from the AWU aluminium will meet in a conference today and pass the resolution to bring these two changes to the fore. Before the AWU’s appeal, 25 federal lower house Coalition MPs had also called for a full exemption for the aluminium smelters. According to the aluminium sector, they spend close to an additional $80 million a year thanks to the imposed RET. Despite the industry’s complains, the federal Government’s RET Review discovered that this sector would in fact benefit from RET as per calculations as the subsidy costs are surpassed by the downward...
Indian aluminium sector grows following global cues
Indian aluminium industry is gaining strength in the past two weeks as the aluminium prices move forward and the international market is gaining ground, enough to make the Indian aluminium sector to start participating in the global aluminium market. Breaking out of the dismal average price-per-ton of US $1,693 of February 2014 to its current above $2,000 figures on the LME, aluminium is looking up, and with a possible worldwide deficit in aluminium this year, the price would become dearer. The Indian markets too are trying to keep up with the global market trends with spot and aluminium prices doing better in the last few days. The analysts in fact predict that the national aluminium capacity will rise from the 1.71 mt of 2012 to about 4.36 mt for the current fiscal year. Now with the...
Chalco’s senior executive Sun Zhaoxue has resigned
Sun Zhaoxue, a senior executive at Aluminium Corp of China Ltd (Chalco), has resigned according to the company’s statement on Tuesday. The resignation came a day after the declaration that he was under suspicion of corruption by a top anti-graft government agency. Sun Zhaoxue is also the general manager at Chinalco which is the unlisted parent company of Chalco. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said on Monday that Sun was suspected of corruption. Sun resigned from his post in a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange and the Chalco shares rose by more than 6 percent in Shanghai post the announcement. In the past 10 months, Sun is the second person to leave Chalco, the first one being Li Dongguang who resigned in November 2013 from the post of vice president.
Aluminum Association updates on North American Downstream Market
The Association’s “Index of Net New Orders of Aluminum Mill Products” for August was down 2.4 percent from July. Orders for flat roll products (sheet, plate, can stock and foil) declined 1.9 percent over the previous month, orders for extruded products were down 4.0 percent, while orders for redraw rod were off 2.7 percent. Compared to August 2013, total orders increased 2.4 percent . On average, orders recorded by domestic producers through August 2014 were essentially flat compared to last year. Excluding domestic can stock, year-to-date orders are up 3.3 percent over last year. Shipments of can stock totaled 377.9 million pounds during August 2014, up 3.5 percent over the August 2013 total of 365.1 million pounds. Compared to the previous month, shipments rose nine-tenths of one...
Jharkhand govt shuts 5 Hindalco bauxite mines
The Jharkhand government has shut five bauxite mines of Hindalco Industries, flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group. This follows a report by the Shah commission on illegal mining, which had alleged such mining was causing widespread damage to the environment and losses to the exchequer. Earlier, the Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on Hindalco’s Mahan mine in the coal block allocations case. The action against Hindalco follows similar moves by the Jharkhand government against Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) and Tata Steel. Jharkhand earlier ordered the closure of 12 iron ore mines and a few manganese mines in that state. These include SAIL’s mines in Budhaburu, Durgaiburu, and Kiriburu-Meghahatuburu and Tata Steel’s Noamundi mine. In its report on Jharkhand, the Shah...
AMMG Targeting 3000 TPA High Purity Alumina (HPA) Production
Highlights : • Launch of Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) targeting 3000 tpa HPA operation • Aiming become a dominant global HPA producer • Pilot plant test work to be completed at laboratory • BFS to be completed towards end of Q3 2015 • Subject to funding, in position to place long-lead orders for plant Australia Minerals and Mining Group Ltd. (AMMG) is pleased to announce that it has launched a Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) based on the development of a 3000 tonnes per annum(tpa) high purity alumina (HPA) operation. The target production capacity would position the Company as one of the top three HPA producers in the world. The Global High-purity Alumina market was valued at 19040tpa in 2014 and is expected to increase to 48230 tpa by 2018, growing at a CAGR of 27.89% according to...
Red mud used to seal road potholes
The International Centre for Environmental and Nuclear Sciences(ICENS), an agency of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (MSTEM), has developed a new low-cost mix to repair potholes using a blend made from red mud, the waste material produced from bauxite processing. It is a cementitious product, meaning that it has the properties of cement. Dubbed NEWMAT-1, the pothole patch was launched last Friday at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), where ICENS is based. The initiative springs from the experiences of director general of ICENS Dr Richard Annells, a foreigner who had difficulty driving on a few of the island's pothole-filled roads during his first weekend in Jamaica three years ago. As a result, Annells approached Professor Peter Claise of...
Bremco Aluminium to upgrade its Messer Airport Highway facility
Bremco Aluminium, founded in Birmingham 1921, recently announced that they would be renovating Messer Airport Highway facility and they have already invested $5 million for the project. This company that manufactures secondary aluminium alloys is based in Birmingham. Two 220,000-pound furnaces is an important addition to the upgrade out of which one had already started operating in early 2014. There is another 220,000 pound furnace in the pipeline along with a new pollution control system. The specialty of these new pollution control systems is that the can handle both reverberatory furnaces as well as the rotary furnace simultaneously. The company did not reveal whether the upgrade will create more jobs.
Mechanical behaviour of twinned aluminium discovered using nanoindentation technique
A team of researchers from Texas A&M University have revealed the work-hardening and plasticity properties of twinned aluminium with incoherent twin boundaries using an in situ nanoindentation technique. Twin boundaries in nanotwinned metals help to maintain thermal stability, electrical conductivity and ductility, whilst also helping to improve mechanical strength. This has led to scientists becoming increasingly interested in studying the properties of nanotwinned metals. Earlier studies have predominantly concentrated on nanotwinned metals having low stacking-fault-energy and coherent twin boundaries. However, the plasticity of twinned high stacking-fault-energy metals have previously not been very well understood. Materials with incoherent twin boundaries, such as aluminium, can be...
Aluminium futures weaken on global cues
Aluminium prices fell 0.61 per cent to INR 122.95 per kg in futures trading today, taking weak cues from global markets. Further, subdued demand in the domestic spot markets also weighed on the metal prices. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in current months shed 75 paise, or 0.61 per cent, to INR 122.25 per kg in business turnover of 192 lots. Similarly, the metal for delivery in October contracts traded lower by 75 paise, or 0.60 per cent, to INR 123.55 per kg in seven lots. Market analysts said the weakness in aluminium at futures trade was mostly in tune with a downtrend in base metals at the London Metal Exchange (LME). This was amidst data signalling industrial-output growth in China was the weakest in August since the global financial crisis, leading to...
Alcoa announces proposed public offering of mandatory convertible preferred stock
Alcoa today announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering, subject to market and other conditions, of 25,000,000 of its depositary shares ("Depositary Shares") (or up to 28,750,000 Depositary Shares if the underwriters of the offering exercise their over-allotment option in full). Each Depositary Share represents a 1/10th interest in a share of Alcoa’s Class B Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock, Series 1, par value $1.00 per share ("Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock"), $500 liquidation preference per share of Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock (equivalent to $50 per Depositary Share). The Depositary Shares entitle the holders, through the depositary, to a proportional fractional interest in the rights and preferences of the shares of the Mandatory Convertible...
Hydro and Norwegian school kids on scrap treasure hunt
Hydro wants a bigger piece of the recycling market and to strengthen its position as a leading aluminium company also in recycling. The partnership with WWF and Norwegian school children in the Tea Light Hunt campaign has increased knowledge about Hydro and aluminium recycling in Norway. During the last three years, 87,000 Norwegian children from schools and daycare centers collected nearly 30 million used tea lights for recycling, thereby saving the environment from 170 tonnes of CO2 emissions. This is a staggering amount for the children who have participated in Tea Light Hunt, but according to Hydro's plant manager at the rolling mill in Holmestrand, Kjetil Ebbesberg, the children will have a much bigger impact in the long term. "In the big scheme of things, tea lights do not contain...
PRIME Minister Tony Abbott visits indigenous bauxite mines at Arnhem Land
Prime Minister Tony Abbott recently visited indigenous bauxite mines operated by the Gumatj clan of Arnhem Land. Tension over bauxite mining on Gumatj and Rirratjingu country when it began in the 1960s prompted the land rights movement among the people there. It is a symbolic victory for Gumatj clan now to be mining its own bauxite deposits. The mining businesses are still supported by mining royalties from Rio Tinto’s bauxite operations on the Gove Peninsula. But the Gumatj Corporation hopes to be self-sustaining and independent some day. Gumatj Corporation is planning to establish a mine training centre at the Gulkula site with support from Rio Tinto. The mining giant has so far committed $2.4 million investment on the project. Rio Tinto Alcan president and CEO of bauxite and alumina,...
“We expect the bullish trend in aluminium to continue in 2015 and probably beyond” Dr. Frank R. Feret – President, ICSOBA
Just a month before the upcoming ICSOBA Conference in Zhengzhou, China, AlCircle had the opportunity to speak to Dr. Frank R. Feret – President, ICSOBA; who is also an Independent Consultant for Feret Analytical Consulting, Quebec, Canada. He is an expert in providing insight into the characterization of materials for metallurgical process control from bauxite exploration to metal recycling and published some 50 scientific papers and contributed in three books in his field. He shared his view on the current trends in the bauxite, aluminium industry and also on the objectives and activities of ICSOBA. AlCircle: Please tell us in brief about the main objectives and the functional areas of The International Committee for Study of Bauxite, Alumina & Aluminium (ICSOBA) Dr. Feret: The...
Shandong Xinfa to invest $14 billion towards Guinea bauxite project
A Guinea government official revealed that China’s Shandong Xinfa Aluminium & Electricity Group is in talks with the government to take up the bauxite project abandoned by BHP Billiton by investing $14 billion towards it. A government tender was floated regarding a bauxite concession in the region 150 kilometers north of Conakry, the capital city. Shandong Xinfa beat the other three bidders for the Boffa-Santou-Houda project, where they plan to invest $14 billion over the next 15 years. The government official who reported this did not wish to be named as this information is not public yet. The proposed investment is twice the amount of Guinea’s current economy of $6.2 billion. Guinea, the largest exporter of bauxite which is the prime ore for aluminium extraction, has attracted the...
