
Global primary aluminium production experienced a sequential recovery in the third quarter of 2026, supported by the gradual restoration of disrupted smelting capacity in the GCC countries, stronger operational performance in Europe and Oceania, and incremental production gains across Asia and China. But beneath this quarterly improvement lies a contrasting reality - global output remained below the corresponding levels of both 2025 and 2024. According to data from the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), global primary aluminium production reached 18.377 million tonnes in Q3 2026, an increase of 2.1 per cent from 18.003 million tonnes in the preceding quarter. However, compared with Q3 2025, when production totalled 18.683 million tonnes, output declined by 1.64 per cent. Production...
Europe's aluminium industry is facing mounting pressure from rising carbon costs, shifting trade policies and limited willingness among buyers to pay premiums for low-carbon metal. Yet, despite a series of crises since the Covid pandemic, producers remain committed to maintaining their presence in Europe and investing in decarbonisation, said Paul Voss, Director General of European Aluminium. In an exclusive interview with Fastmarkets at Aluminium Düsseldorf, Voss described the European aluminium industry's condition as bruised but resilient. He highlighted concerns over the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), the potential inclusion of indirect (Scope 2) emissions under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the treatment of aluminium scrap in carbon accounting. Reflecting on...
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Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange dropped 0.86 per cent to US$ 1564 per tonne on Wednesday, June 24, from US$ 1577.5 per tonne on Tuesday. As of Wednesday June 24, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1564 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1564 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1586.50per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1586.50 per tonne; Dec 21 bid price stands at US$ 1688.50 per tonne, and Dec 21 offer price stands at US$ 1688.50 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock stood at 1614100 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled 1427950 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 186150 tonnes. LME aluminium 3-months Asian Reference Price is hovering at US$ 1591.61per tonne. SHFE Aluminium Price Trend The market will be closed on Thursday and...

Hindalco Industries Limited has again reduced its aluminium prices in line with the market demand and supply, following a hike last week. The company has cut its aluminium ingot price by INR 2000 per tonne or 1.43 per cent, with effect from June 25, to bring down the price at INR 137,500 per tonne from INR 139,500 per tonne on June 18 . With the latest cut, Hindalco's aluminium wire rods and billets prices have come in at INR 148100 per tonne and INR 144100 per tonne, respectively, down by INR 2000 per tonne from INR 150,100 per tonne and INR 146,100 per tonne, as of June 18. The Indian aluminium producers generally link prices of its products to the three-month futures of aluminium on the London Metal Exchange. The three-month futures of aluminium declined more than 11% so far in 2020...

Pierre Fitzgibbon, Quebec's Minister of the Economy said that he is "convinced" that there is no reason for the United States to impose tariffs on its imports of aluminium from Canada. On 23 rd June’20, he said: “Such tariffs would harm our savings; our green aluminium has always allowed a stable supply to the American market. We will continue to defend the interests of our aluminium industry.” The U.S. economic news agency has reported that the Trump administration could impose 10% tariffs on its imports of Canadian aluminium as early as 26 th June’20. Aluminum Association of Canada spokesperson Jean Simard says he is "disappointed" but not "surprised". He said: “What I think is speculative is that we will find ourselves in the situation before the tariffs were lifted. The Americans are...

Africa produced 139,000 tonnes of primary aluminium in April 2020, a decrease of 2.11% from 142,000 tonnes in May 2019. The output climbed by 4.51% from April’s 2020’s production of 133,000 tonnes and 0.72% from March 2020’s production of 138,000 tonnes, according to the latest data showed by the International Aluminium Institute (IAI). Primary aluminium production stood at 673,000 tonnes in the first five months of 2020 as compared to 688,000 tonnes in the first five months of 2019. This marked a decrease of 2.18% year-on-year. IAI reported that primary aluminium production in Africa came in at 1.643 million tonnes in 2019 as compared to 1.668 million tonnes in 2018. That was down 1.5 per cent year-on-year.

China’s estimated aluminium production in May 2020 recorded a growth of 3.60 per cent to stand at 3.105 million tonnes, following a month-on-month drop in April, found the International Aluminium Institute (IAI). In April, China’s estimated aluminium output was 2.997 million tonnes, down by 3.17 per cent from 3.095 million tonnes in March 2020. In February, China had produced approximately 2.909 million tonnes of primary aluminium, meaning the country’s production in March increased by 6.39 per cent. However, China’s estimated production in February registered a decline of 5.43 per cent from 3.076 million tonnes of output in January 2020. On a year-on-year comparison, China’s estimated aluminium production in May increased by 1.64 per cent from 3.055 million tonnes. In the five months of...

On 14 th September’19, the Finance Minister of India, Nirmala Sitaraman announced Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP). The scheme is progressive towards boosting exports and employment generation in various sectors in the country. The RoDTEP scheme will replace the existing Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). INR 50,000 Cr. budget provision was kept for RoDTEP by Finance Minister. The Indian cabinet approved RoDTEP Scheme on 13 th March’20. RoDTEP scheme is WTO compliant, will reimburse taxes/duties/levies at the central, state and local level, which are currently not being refunded The sequence of introducing the scheme across sectors, prioritization of the sectors to be covered, degree of benefit to be given on various items within the rates set by the...

Primary aluminium inventories have extended the downfall by 32,000 tonnes over the week ending on Wednesday, June 24, according to Shanghai Metals Market. Data shows the inventories after declining across eight major Chinese consumption areas, including SHFE warrants, have come in at 722,000 tonnes as of today. The reason behind the continued downtrend in inventories this week could be brisk trading ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday from June 25-27. Last week, on Thursday, June 18, the inventories were at 754,000 tonnes after decreasing by 33,000 tonnes week-on-week. The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across China in more details: As the above chart shows, the primary aluminium inventories in Shanghai and Nanhai have declined by 25,000...

The US dollar continued to edge lower on Tuesday, June 23, hitting the lowest level in more than a week, as the US President Donald Trump boosted investors’ optimism after he tweeted that the trade deal with China was “still intact”. This followed an increase in the greenback when the markets were unsettled by surprise comments from White House trade adviser Peter Navarro who said the hard-won deal was “over”. Three-month LME aluminium consolidated weakly around the five and 10- day moving averages on Tuesday, falling to an intraday low of US$1,590.5 per tonne near closing and paring some losses to end 0.59% lower on the day. As of Tuesday, June 23, LME aluminium cash (bid) price and LME official settlement price increased from US$ 1573 per tonne to US$ 1577.50 per tonne. 3-months bid...

On World Environment Day, Assan Aluminyum a subsidiary of Kibar Holding made public its "Protecting Biodiversity Project," that aims to conserve biodiversity through a research partnership with the Kocaeli University (KOU) Biology Department. The company, one of the leading manufacturers in the flat-rolled aluminium industry, continues to contribute to sustainability with this project, which has begun by reintroducing the endangered endemic "Amsonia Orientalis" plant back to nature. The project began with the "Amsonia Orientalis" plant, also known as "Blue Star," which has been identified by the European Commission in 2002 as a plant species that need to be preserved in the flora. This particular endemic plant is currently known to only exist in a few locations in the Marmara Region of...

Hindalco is exporting more than 80 per cent of the total output to minimise inventory build-up and to absorb plant fixed costs. Countries like Korea, the USA, Malaysia, Brazil, and Japan are leading importers of these products. The demand from the domestic market is down due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Domestic aluminium consumption declined 6% YoY to 3.72 million tonnes in FY20 and 11% in Q4. “We are exporting more than 80 per cent of our total output to countries like Korea, USA, Malaysia, Brazil, Japan, while minimizing our inventory build-up and absorbing the plant fixed costs. Our aluminium downstream plants in India had shut down initially, except at two plants, while other downstream facilities continued to operate and serve essential sector customers”, said Satish Pai, managing...

Fitch Ratings has amended the Outlook on Mytilineos S.A.'s long-term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Negative from Stable and affirmed the IDR and senior unsecured ratings at 'BB'. The amendment of the Outlook exhibits the weak macro environment with prolonged low commodity prices, material pressure on aluminium consuming industries, the expected underperformance of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) business and uncertainties around the COVID-19 situation/shape of the recovery. The current three-month LME aluminium price is trading short of USD1,600/t, a reduction of around 12% from the 2019 average price. The company has revised its aluminium price assumptions down for the second time this year and it expects 2020 and 2021 LME prices to average USD1,560/t and USD1,600/t,...

Iran's production of aluminium ingots stood at 65,170 tonnes during the first two months of the current Iranian year (March 20-May 20), an increase of 58% compared with the same period last year, according to the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO). Iran’s flagship aluminium producer Iran Aluminum Company (IRALCO) contributed 31,984 tonnes of the total output. The output records a 4% growth year-on-year, Fars News Agency reported. Hormozal Aluminum Company produced 13,537 tonnes, which was a 163% rise on the year. Almahdi Aluminum Company’s production came in at 11,881 tonnes, up 128% year-on-year. The output from South Aluminum Company (SALCO) stood at 4,493 tonnes. Iran Alumina Company produced 3,275 tonnes. Iran has an estimated...

The US dollar fell on Monday. Overnight, LME and SHFE base metals closed mostly higher. LME aluminium added 0.95% and SHFE aluminium increased 0.96%. Three-month LME aluminium rebounded after initially falling to a session low of US$1,581.5 per tonne. It ended up 0.95% on the day at US$1,601 per tonne. As of Monday June 22, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1573 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1573 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1590.50 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1590.50 per tonne; Dec 21 bid price stands at US$ 1696 per tonne, and Dec 21 offer price stands at US$ 1696 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock stood at 1617825 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled 1420600 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 197225 tonnes. LME aluminium...

National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has again increased its aluminium prices with effect from Saturday, June 20, following a cut on Wednesday, June 17. According to the prices revealed by the company, aluminium ingots prices are now ranging between INR 140050 per tonne and INR 143,550 per tonne, up by INR 1000 per tonne or nearly 1 per cent from INR 139050-142550 per tonne on June 17. With the latest hike, the prices of aluminium billets have come in at INR143500-146150 per tonne compared to INR142,500-145,150 per tonne after the previous cut, while the prices of aluminium wire rods have clocked at INR 144,550-148,900 per tonne as against INR 143,550 – 147,900 per tonne on June 17. The above data shows that both the prices of aluminium billets and aluminium wire rods of NALCO have...

On a further downfall of the social inventories of primary aluminium ingots in China on a brisk consumption on Monday, June 22, the price of A00 aluminium ingot has recorded a hike of RMB 70 per tonne to RMB 14,030 per tonne, found Shanghai Metals Market. This marks the second consecutive growth of A00 aluminium ingot price, crossing the benchmark price of RMB 14,000 per tonne. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 14,010 per tonne and RMB 14,050 per tonne, with spot contract to be traded at a premium price of RMB 220-240 per tonne. Chongqing has seen the highest growth in A00 aluminium ingot price today of about RMB 90 per tonne to RMB 14,020 per tonne, followed by Foshan, where the aluminium ingot price has increased by RMB 70 per tonne to stand at RMB 14,110 per tonne....

The United States of America is planning to re-impose tariffs on aluminium imports from Canada, as reported late on 22 nd June’20, mentioning people familiar with the matter. The announcement is expected to come by the end of the week. If Canada declines to impose export restrictions, the United States will announce on Friday, 26 th June’20, the re-imposition of 10% tariffs on aluminium from the country, as per the report. The report also added that tariffs will be implemented by 1 st July’20.

Global primary aluminium production stood at 5.448 million tonnes in May, an increase of 0.7% from 5.410 million tonnes in May 2019, according to the latest data showed by the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) on Monday 22 June 2020. On a month-on-month comparison, the output increased by 3.3% from 5.274 million tonnes. Total aluminium production amounted to 26.771 million tonnes in the first five months of 2020, an increase of 1.44% from 26.392 million tonnes in the first five months of 2019. In Asia ex-China, aluminium production reduced by 8.56% year-on-year but up 2.7% month-on-month to 342,000 tonnes in May. In January-May, output came in at 1.712 million tonnes, a decrease of 6.6% from 1.833 million tonnes in January-May 2019. In the Middle East, primary aluminium production...

In a spectacular development, China has lost a dispute to the European Union at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for a market economy status, as the former allowed the dispute to lapse. The development occurs after four years of battle for the market-economy status by China. The designation would have put the country in a stronger position in respect of its commercial and trade partners. The WTO Secretariat said China allowed the dispute to lapse. “At the request of China, the panel suspended its work on 14 th June 2019 (WT/DS516/13). Since the panel has not been requested to resume its work, according to Article 12.12 of the DSU, the authority for the establishment of the panel lapsed as of 15 th June 2020.” As per the European Union, China subsidises its industries to a great extent,...