
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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Alcoa Corporation, a global leader in bauxite, alumina, and aluminium, has been recognized as the top aluminium industry performer in The Sustainability Yearbook 2020, a complete guide that provides in-depth analysis on environmental, social and governance criteria (ESG). The Sustainability Yearbook, published by S&P Global, uses the SAM Corporate Sustainability Assessment, which also briefs other ESG-related assessments, including the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI). In 2019, Alcoa was named the Aluminum Industry Leader in the DJSI. Alcoa President and Chief Executive Officer Roy Harvey said: "Our strong reputation as a sustainable and responsible operator in the mining and metals industry is a key differentiator in our future success and aligns with our strategic priority to...

National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) published its financial results for the third quarter ended December 31, 2019. The company posted net loss of INR 33.90 crore in Q3FY20, from net profit of INR 302.35 crore in Q3FY19. Nalco’s net sales stood at INR 2088.35 crore in Q3FY20, a drop of 23.2 per cent from INR 2,718.88 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from aluminium business dropped 20.92 per cent year-on-year to INR1,336.16 crore. The company’s a pre-tax loss was INR 53.16 crore in Q3 FY20, from pre-tax profit of INR 470.64 crore in Q3 FY19. Total expenses came in at INR 2054.01 crore in the third quarter. That was down 6.9 per cent from INR 2205.92 crore last year.

RUSAL, one of the world’s major producers of aluminium, appointed Ayumi Murakami as Representative Director of the Company’s office in Tokyo. In March 2015 Murakami joined Rusal’s Japan office as a Technical Customer Support Manager in the sales team. Murakami was appointed as an acting Representative Director of Rusal Japan in February 2019. Murakami worked for Mitsubishi Aluminium from 1993 in various technical roles before joining Rusal. Murakami demonstrated excellent results during his work in RUSAL, building relationships with the Company’s Japanese customers, launching key qualifications to grow the business in Japan and organized RUSAL’s participation in international industrial exhibitions, including Metal Expo Tokyo in December 2019. Roman Andryushin, RUSAL’s Head of Sales and...

The Hillside Aluminium smelter, situated at the quaint, coastal town of Richards Bay, along KwaZulu-Natal’s North Coast in South Africa. Hillside aluminium smelter is the leading producer of aluminium in South Africa, which is used in the daily life of peoples, is equipped with world-class equipment, efficient systems and a talented workforce. Hillside Aluminium, building a legacy and improving the lives of people in South Africa for generations to come. Hillside aluminium is the sole producers of aluminium into the economy, so they have to be in constant support and believes in sustaining the aluminium industry in South Africa. The aluminium supply company like Isizinda in Richards Bay and Hulamin in Pietermaritzburg, who in turn supply other businesses in South Africa. Hillside...

The US dollar continued to rise and hit a four-month high against the euro on Monday. LME base metals closed mixed on Monday. LME aluminium fell 0.81%. Three-month LME aluminium dropped for the second consecutive day. It finished the Monday session at US$1,707 per tonne, down 0.81%. The contract is likely to move at US$1, 700-1,760 per tonne today. As on Monday February 10, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1675.5 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1676 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1704 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1705 per tonne; Dec 21 bid price stands at US$ 1835 per tonne, and Dec 21 offer price stands at US$ 1840 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock decreased to 1229700 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled 8822600 tonnes, and...

AlCircle, the world’s leading aluminium industry portal, has launched its Chinese edition ( www.chinese.alcircle.com ) to reach out to the vast majority of Chinese audience who play a very significant part of the global aluminium community. Visitors to AlCircle China can scroll through and stay up-to-date with the latest news from the complete global value-chain of aluminium. Users can access News, Interviews, Blogs, Events and LME and SHFE price updates in AlCircle Chinese portal. China, the largest aluminium producer and consumer, contributes more than 50% of the entire global production and consumption. China’s production and consumption of primary aluminium stood at 35.44 million tonnes and 36.07 million tonnes, respectively, in 2019. The colossal amount of the country’s production...

Vedanta Limited, in its unaudited consolidated results for the third quarter of FY2019-20, ended on December 31, announced that it achieved year-on-year stronger financial performance despite market headwinds. The company's EBITDA rose 10 per cent over the year to INR 6,531 crore, and attributable PAT surged 49 per cent to INR 2,348 crore. As of Q3, the company had total cash and liquid investments of INR 35,205 crore. Vedanta attributed its stronger performance to the highest ever quarterly alumina production of 476,000 tonnes in Lanjigarh refinery, up 16 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Also, continuous structural reduction in cost by about 9 per cent to $1,691 per tonne over the quarter was also a reason behind the company’s enhanced financial performance. Mr. Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan,...

Dennis Barnes, CEO, Contact Energy NZ is optimistic that Rio Tinto, the major-owner of Tiwai Point Aluminium smelter can keep it open, but with an upgrade of the power grid - for when the facility does eventually close - will happen sooner rather than later. Rio Tinto's review of the ageing smelter - which uses about 12% of New Zealand's power output - is due by the end of March’20. Contact Energy, which has large-scale hydro generation capacity in the south of the South Island, said Rio Tinto's review of Tiwai remained "firmly on the radar". A spokesperson of Rio Tinto said, "A disorderly exit of the smelter would be a poor outcome for New Zealand and we are actively engaged in negotiations for revised terms for electricity supply to Tiwai.” The contract negotiations are between Meridian...

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the world’s largest aluminium smelter ex-China, has achieved an all-time record in its metal sales in 2019. The sales’ jumped 33% Year-over-Year (YoY) to 1,350,326 tonnes and the production volume topped 1,365,005 tonnes, up by 35% YoY. For the fourth quarter of 2019, sales stood at 405,259 tonnes, up by 54% YoY from 262,346 tonnes in Q4 2018. Year-over-Year aluminium production rose 62% YoY to 401,175 tonnes from 248,149 tonnes. Alba’s Acting Chief Executive, Ali Al Baqali said: “We are pleased to have closed 2019 strong – our operational performance have gone above and beyond our set-targets for the year with Line 6 in full commercial operation. And, this achievement has been made more significant with our remarkable Safety performance of Zero Lost Time...

According to Shanghai Metals Market, the social inventories of primary aluminium, across eight major consumption areas in China, rose over the weekend by 90,000 tonnes to 1.04 million tonnes, as of Monday, February 10. Limited arrival of stocks and lower shipments leaving social warehouses amid an epidemic outbreak is believed to have increased the primary aluminium inventories. The below chart shows the current status of primary aluminium inventories across China in more details: The stocks in Gongyi have seen the highest growth of 32,000 tonnes to stand at 140,000 tonnes, followed by Wuxi and Nanhai, where the stocks have respectively surged by 23,000 tonnes and 22,000 tonnes to 365,000 tonnes and 230,000 tonnes. In Hangzhou, the inventories have increased by 10,000 tonnes to 113,000...

The US dollar rose to a four-month peak against of basket of major currencies on Friday. LME base metals fell across the board. LME aluminium fell 1.12%. Three-month LME aluminium pared some losses after slipped to an intraday low of US$1,706.5 per tonne on loaded-up shorts. It closed 1.12% lower at US$1,721 per tonne. The contract is likely to move at US$1, 700-1,760 per tonne today. As on Friday February 7, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1693 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1693.5 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1720.5 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1721 per tonne; Dec 21 bid price stands at US$ 1850 per tonne, and Dec 21 offer price stands at US$ 1855 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock decreased to 1242950 tonnes. Live...

Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, on 8 th February’20 made public that a giant gas turbine, the biggest in the UAE, has been moved by road from DP World’s Jebel Ali port and installed at EGA’s Jebel Ali site in a carefully-planned overnight operation. The Siemens H-class gas turbine, weighing 457 tonnes and with a length of 13.5 meters, was transported 6 Kms from Jebel Ali port, using an oversized truck. On arrival at the EGA site, the turbine was placed in its permanent location at the heart of a new AED 1 billion state-of-the-art power blocks which will further improve the efficiency of EGA’s electricity generation. The whole operation was completed in just over four hours over two days. JA Power & Water...

Hydro reported underlying earnings before financial items and tax of NOK 560 million in Q4 2019. That was up from NOK 534 million in Q4 2018 on positive effects from increased production in Brazil, lower raw material costs and positive currency effects, mostly offset by a decrease in the realized aluminium and alumina prices. "We have taken firm measures in a weak market. Our improvement program as well as cash release ambition are ahead of plan. Our improvement efforts will continue with full force, in line with our agenda towards lifting profitability and driving sustainability,” said President and CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim. Underlying EBIT for Primary Metal increased from negative NOK 677 million in Q4 2018 to positive NOK 155 million in Q4 2019. That result was attributed to lower raw...

The US dollar hit a new two-month high against a basket its rivals on Thursday, as China announced it will halve tariffs on a slew of US products. LME aluminium advanced 0.9% and SHFE aluminium gained 0.4%. Three-month LME aluminium recovered earlier losses to a one-week high of US$1,751 per tonne on Thursday before closing the trading day 0.9% higher at US$1,740.5 per tonne. The contract is likely to move at US$1, 720-1,760 per tonne today. As on Thursday February 6, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1697 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1698 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1722.5 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1723.5 per tonne; Dec 21 bid price stands at US$ 1853 per tonne, and Dec 21 offer price stands at US$ 1858 per tonne. The LME...

According to Shanghai Metals Market, the A00 aluminium ingot price has extended its growth for the third consecutive day by RMB 50 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,560 per tonne, as of Friday, February 7. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 13,540 per tonne and RMB 13,580 per tonne, with spot contract to be traded at a discount price of RMB 130 per tonne to RMB 90 per tonne. Foshan and Tianjin have seen the highest growth of RMB 60 per tonne to RMB 13,650 per tonne and RMB 13,590 per tonne, respectively, among all the major Chinese cities. Shenyang and Gongyi have witnessed a rise of RMB 50 per tonne to RMB 13,560 per tonne and RMB 13,510 per tonne, followed by Linyi, Wuxi, and Hangzhou, where the ingot price has increased by RMB 40 per tonne and RMB 35 per tonne to come in...

As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, increased in the first week after the Chinese New Year holiday and stood at 945,000 tonnes as of Thursday February 6.That was up 61,000 tonnes from Monday February 3. The chart below shows the current status of the primary aluminium inventories across China in more details: Primary aluminium stocks in Wuxi and Shanghai climbed 22,000 tonnes and 1,000 tonnes from February 3 to stand at 342,000 tonnes and 106,000 tonnes. Inventories in Nanhai, Gongyi and Hangzhou stood at 208,000 tonnes, 108,000 tonnes and 103,000 tonnes, an increase of 22,000 tonnes, 8,000 tonnes and 7,000 tonnes from Monday February 3. Inventories of primary aluminium in Tianjin...

RUSAL, one of the world’s major producers of aluminium has been identified as a global leader for engaging with its suppliers on climate change by the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) Supplier Engagement Leader board. Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is a global non-profit that runs the world’s leading environmental disclosure platform. The high CDP rating is further evidence of RUSAL’s successful efforts to reduce emissions, manage climate risks and ensure transparent communications in this area. CDP evaluated companies that are actively involved in working with their suppliers to reduce their impact on the environment. Out of the 4,800 companies that were assessed, RUSAL was amongst the 160 corporations on the leader-board this year and the first aluminium company in the world to get...

The US dollar extended its rally to a two-month peak against a basket its rivals on Wednesday, as reports of a possible treatment for the new coronavirus and strong US jobs data boosted investor sentiment. Three-month LME aluminium rallied to an intraday high of US$1,728 per tonne on Wednesday before closing the trading day 1.53 per cent higher at US$ 1,725 per tonne. Reports of production cuts at Rio Tinto’s Tomago aluminium smelter in Australia and Chinese steps to offset the damage to economic growth and demand from the coronavirus, buoyed aluminium prices. LME aluminium is expected to hover at US$ 1,700 per tonne to US$ 1,740 per tonne today. LME aluminium cash (bid) price, on February 5, increased by US$ 1 per tonne to US$ 1687.50 per tonne, while LME official settlement price rose...