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...
Grow with
AL Circle
Indian Aluminium futures weaken on global cues
Aluminium prices fell 0.69 per cent to INR 123 per kg in futures trade today as participants reduced their exposures amidst weak global cues. Besides, sluggish demand in the domestic spot markets also weighed on the metal's price. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in August eased by 85 paise, or 0.69 per cent, to INR 123 per kg in a business turnover of 381 lots. Similarly, the metal for delivery in September traded lower by 85 paise, or 0.68 per cent, to INR 123.45 per kg in 10 lots. Marketmen said the weakness in aluminium at futures trade was mostly in tune with a weak trend in the metal at the London Metal Exchange and low demand at domestic spot market.
JLR still tops when it comes to aluminum
With total global sales of 425,000 vehicles last year, Britain’s Jaguar Land Rover is well behind German rivals BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi. But there is an asterisk next to the sales figures for luxury car companies. Today, no one makes more aluminum-bodied vehicles than JLR. Its latest, the Jaguar F-Type sports car, is a global hit, as are the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport. All have aluminum bodies. Next month, JLR will introduce in London the Jaguar XE, a compact BMW 3 series-sized sedan, also to be made from aluminum. It could be the company’s highest volume aluminum vehicle when it goes on sale next year. Novelis Inc. is the exclusive aluminum supplier to Jaguar for the XE. At the seminars today, Mark White, JLR’s chief technical specialist for lightweight vehicle structures,...
More aluminum capacity to be dedicated to Autos in North America
Alcoa and its competitors have enough rolling capacity in North America to meet demands from automakers for more sheet aluminum, but aluminum-intensive vehicles will take material away from other uses, says Mike Murphy, vice president-automotive at Alcoa. The losers will be the lowest-margin products, he says, which in some cases will be beverage cans. Alcoa has made two $300 million investments in recent years to increase automotive-specific capacity. An expansion in Davenport, IA, is ramping up now. In Tennessee, where an existing beverage-can line had excess capacity, automotive aluminum production will be ready in 2015. A third investment, of $400 million, in a joint venture with KSA in Saudi Arabia also will result in its first automotive coil in 2015. The basic rolling capacity...
North American aluminum wheel plant wins Masters of Quality Supplier Award
Accuride Corporation – a leading supplier of components to the North American commercial vehicle industry – today announced that two of its wheel-production facilities have received the Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) "Masters of Quality" Supplier Award for 2013. Accuride's Camden Operations aluminum wheel plant in Camden, S.C., and Accuride de Mexico steel and aluminum wheel plant in Monterrey, Mexico, both received the award for their performance in 2013. This is the third time that Accuride de Mexico has received the award, and the first year for the Camden plant. The annual program – now in its 27th year – recognizes outstanding suppliers that have received high scores on their quality, delivery, technology and cost performance as measured on a Balanced Scorecard. These suppliers...
China’s aluminum semis exports grow less than expected to 280,000 tonnes in June
China’s aluminum semis exports did not grow as much as expected in June, Shanghai Metals Market learned. Outbound shipments rose only 2.9% from a year ago to 280,000 tonnes. Overseas buyers continued to push for lower prices, squeezing Chinese producer margins. Besides, many processors preferred to maintain stable domestic sales as a hedge against interruptions in exports. Both factors constrained the growth in export volumes, SMM understood. Exports by segment in June are detailed as below: Segment Quantity (Tonne) YoY Extrusion 69,500 43.55% Foil 69,900 7.77% Plate/sheet 125,200 -13.99%
CMRA says China imported 3.7 million tons of scrap in June
The Beijing-based China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Recycling Metal Branch (CMRA) says data released by China Customs shows that in June 2014 China imported 3.7 million tons of scrap commodities, including metal, paper and plastic scrap. The value of the 350,000 tons of “unwrought coppers and copper products” imported in June was $2.65 billion, according to CMRA, representing a “slight dip” from the previous month. In its monthly news notice to members, CMRA also says Chinese government agencies continue to seek action regarding perceived overcapacity in several metals production sectors. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has reportedly been assigned “a mission of eliminating the backward and overcapacity [in] provinces countrywide” in several...
Novelis expects to double auto aluminum production in 4 years
Novelis Inc., the world’s largest sheet aluminum producer, said today it expects to double its North American production of automotive aluminum by 2018 or so from 2014 levels. The company said it plans to produce 260,000 tons of automotive aluminum in North America in 2014, up from about 50,000 tons in 2013. That figure will rise to 365,000 tons in 2015 as Novelis supplies aluminum for the Ford F-150 pickup truck and other models. Demand is robust, and the company is already producing at full capacity, Tom Boney, general manager of automotive for Novelis North America. To keep up with demand, Novelis is in the third phase of a $500 million expansion of its aluminum plant in Oswego, N.Y. This year, the company announced plans to melt and re-use scrap aluminum from Ford Motor Co.’s stamping...
Rio Tinto's aluminum unit set to outperform
Rio Tinto PLC's financial results have followed a predictable theme in recent years: strong profits from iron ore and bad news on aluminum. This year, investors are expecting something different. A run-up in aluminum prices on cutbacks at Chinese smelters and stronger-than-expected demand from the U.S. to Europe is providing positive earnings momentum to Rio Tinto Alcan, a unit that incorporates the name of one of the costliest deals in global mining history. In 2007, Rio Tinto spent US$38 billion on the acquisition of Canadian aluminum maker Alcan Inc. in a bet that developing Asian economies such as China would need more of a metal used in everything from soda cans to car parts. The deal--struck as aluminum prices reached their highest level in decades--quickly soured as metals demand...
Andhra Pradesh Govt to take a re look at bauxite mining issue
The Andhra Pradesh Government has launched an exercise to review a stand on the contentious bauxite mining issue. The MoU signed by the AP Mineral Development Corporation during 2005-07 have been put under abeyance by the UPA-II Government in August 2010 following strong objections raised by then Araku MP V. Kishore Chandra Deo and others against mining in Scheduled Areas in contravention of Constitution. After his induction as Union Minister for Tribal Affairs a year later, he had asked the State to scrap the agreements. Post-bifurcation, on assuming charge as Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu is treading cautiously to undertake bauxite mining by taking the stakeholders into consideration. When contacted, Minister for Panchayat Raj Ch. Ayyanna Patrudu told The Hindu on Monday that...
Chinese alumina production slows to 22.77 M Tonnes in H1
China’s alumina production slowed to 22.77 million tonnes in H1 2014, up by 6.50%, due to production cuts and expansion delays, Shanghai Metals Market learned. Alumina producers reliant on imported ore cut output against depressed alumina prices in H1 and Indonesia’s export ban. Moreover, new alumina capacity came on stream at a slower pace, SMM’s survey found. Output in June inched up 1.69% on the year to 3.89 million tonnes, according to the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA).
Sesa Sterlite to spend Rs 8,000 crore on expansion
Sesa Sterlite, a Vedanta group company, will spend up to Rs 8,000 crore in the next three to four years to expand its Lanjigarh refinery in Odisha, after it received consent from villagers last week, a senior official, who declined to be named, said. Sesa Sterlite recently got villagers' approval to expand capacity of Vedanta Aluminium's refinery in Lanjigarh to produce 6 MT of alumina from the present capacity of just 1 MT, according to the Odisha government. "Formal approval of MoEF will be sought in 15 days. The application might be taken up by the Environment Appraisal Committee in their monthly meetings either in August or September. Once we have a formal approval, we will start expanding the refinery," said the official. The official said the total cost of the project is Rs...
Nalco's Panchpatmalli mines awarded
The Panchpatmalli bauxite mines of National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has bagged the Sita Ram Rungta Social Awareness Award for 2013-14 instituted by the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI). Ansuman Das, chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of Nalco received the trophy from Narendra Singh Tomar, Union minister of steel, mines and labour & employment during the annual general meeting of FIMI in New Delhi today in the presence of Anup K Pujari, Union mines secretary. Soma Mondal, director (commercial) and V Balasubramanyam, executive director (production), Nalco were also present on this occasion.
Sapa in new offshore application
A lot of aluminium extrusions from Sapa are used offshore. System 2000 Group in England has just developed an extrusion-based application that protects employees during drilling operations and enables 100 percent drilling productivity. The development process began when one of Sapa’s long-standing customers, System 2000 Group (S2G), was approached by Rigmar Services of Aberdeen, to design and manufacture an automatic horizontal roller shutter door on the Rowan Norway drilling rig. Once installed, the system would allow the rig to drill via an offshore installation with zero downtime, by protecting the workforce on the lower deck during drilling operations. S2G called Sapa at an early stage to assist with their extrusion design. Rigmar Services, an innovative projects and service provider...
Steel and aluminum maker announces expansion, new jobs at Blount facilit
A Japanese auto parts manufacturer is expanding its presence in Blount County by building a new 76,000 square-foot facility and creating 32 new positions. The Blount Partnership and Koide Tennessee Inc. announced Friday the company is expanding its operations in the Stock Creek Development Technology Park in Rockford with a $10,106,000 investment. Koide is a worldwide corporation that specializes in precision cut-to-length steel and aluminum tubing used to manufacture anti-vibration devices for the automotive industry. This expansion allows Koide to expand its customer base while increasing productivity for its current clients. Koide currently employs 67 people on three shifts at its current facility where it operates a high speed cutting and chamfering machine. The new hires include 27...
LME aluminium to approach resistance at $2,043
LME aluminium may approach a resistance at $2,043 per tonne, as it remains within a rising channel. The lower channel line of which has established a support, holding the fall from the July 22 high of $2,054.75. Wave pattern suggests the fall could be labelled as a wave 4, which will be totally reversed by an upward wave 5. However, a drop below the Aug. 1 low of $1,968 will signal an escape from the channel, and a bearish target will be established at $1,934, the 76.4 percent Fibonacci projection level of an upward wave C that developed from the June 12 low of $1,836. The views expressed are his own. No information in this analysis should be considered as being business, financial or legal advice. Each reader should consult his or her own professional or other advisers for business,...
Iran Produces over 89,000 Tons of Aluminum Ingot in 3 Months
Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade announced that in the first quarter of the current Iranian year, which started on March 21, 89,400 tons of aluminum ingots have been produced in the country. In a report, the ministry said that in the spring season, 62,700 tons of alumina powder were also produced. Aluminum ingot production topped one million tons in the first three years of the Fifth 5-Year Economic Development Plan (2011-2015), showing an increase of 37 percent compared with the same period in the Fourth Development Plan (2005-2009), the ministry added. Also, Iran’s aluminum ingot production in the years of 2011 to 2013 stood at 318,000, 337,000 and 350,000 tons, respectively. Iran’s aluminum production is planned to hit 1.5 million tons by the end of the country’s 20-Year...
Aluminium industries to focus on reducing energy use
Deliberating on processes to reduce energy consumption by aluminium industries will be the focus of the national conference organized by the Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC) in Nagpur from Monday. A part of silver jubilee celebrations of JNARDDC, the conference titled 'Energy Efficiency Opportunities and Challenges in Aluminium Industries' will be held in association with Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Maharashtra Energy Development Authority (MEDA), SESA Sterlite Industry, GIZ, Indo-German Energy Program (IGEN) and National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO). Convener of the conference Mukesh Laddha on Saturday said JNARDDC has been closely associated with BEE since last three years as sector expert for providing technical knowledge and expertise...
Oman Aluminium re-assessing expansion plans to double its capacity
Oman Aluminium Processing Industries (OAPIL), a joint venture between Oman Cables Company and Takamul Investment Company, is re-evaluating its plans to expand the company's present capacity. OAPIL earlier said that it was planning to double its capacity to over 100,000 tonnes per annum (tpa), from 48,000tpa now as per its master plan. OAPIL gets its feedstock — liquid aluminium — from Sohar Aluminium to produce rods and overhead conductors. The company has invested OMR15 million for the present plant. The plan was to add one more production line with the existing plant, which produces aluminium and alloy rods and overhead conductors for the power industry. The sales and profitability of Oman Aluminium Processing Industries for the six-month period was in line with the plan and has...
