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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The dollar has nursed losses on Thursday, hitting near one-week lows against the euro and yen, amid signs of a slowdown in U.S. economic growth and a deepening of global trade tensions. Despite the inventory of LME warehouses falling to a multi-year lows and Shanghai Futures Exchange stocks are at two-year lows, LME aluminium continued downward slope and dropped to a record low of US$1697 per tonne during Wednesday’s closing. However, London copper and aluminium prices climbed from recent lows on Thursday morning as a weaker dollar supported prices, while trading was thin due to China’s major Golden Week holiday. As on October 2, Wednesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1696 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1697per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at...
Australia’s Department of Industry on Monday it has lowered its aluminium price forecast for 2019 by 5% from its June forecast to US$1,793/t due to the bearish market conditions driven by trade tensions between the US and China. The revised forecasts were published in its latest Resources and Energy Quarterly report. The department also lowered its aluminium price forecast for 2020 by 14% to US$1,662/t and for 2021 by 20% to US$1,545/t. “Escalating trade tensions between the US and China continue to damper aluminum demand from China, the world’s largest aluminium consumer,” the department said. The department has cut down its alumina spot price forecast for 2019 by 5% to US$356/t, for 2020, by 6% to US$334/t and for 2021, by 9% to US$316/t. The alumina price forecast was driven by an...
A very strong U.S. dollar index that hit a new high for the year overnight is a negative for the base metals markets. Dollar index continues its highs and currently stands at 99.1 putting pressure on LME aluminium. Despite the inventory of LME warehouses falling to a multi-year lows and Shanghai Futures Exchange stocks are at two-year lows, none of that has been able to lift aluminium prices. Total LME stocks last week slipped below 900,000 tonnes for the first time since 2008 but the market saw no improvement in prices. LME three-month metal has touched $1,713.50 per tonne today morning, which is the lowest since January 2017. According to analysts, falling production stocks are just brief trends and the key focus is now on the global drop in aluminium demand. As on October 1, Tuesday,...
Amid ample aluminium supplies in Asia and weak demand from the electronic and auto industries, premiums for aluminium shipments to Japan for October to December have been set at $97 per tonne, down 10 per cent quarter-on-quarter. The news came after three sources directly involved in the price talks said. The figure is lower than the $108 per tonne paid in the July-September quarter, marking the first quarterly drop. It is also lower than the initial offers of $105-$115 made by producers. Japan is Asia’s biggest importer of the light metal and the premiums PREM-ALUM-JP for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the benchmark London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price set the benchmark for the region.
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C (Alba), on course to become the world’s largest aluminium smelter with Line 6, has announced the promotions of two members following the company’s Board meeting. Bryan Harris has been promoted to the Chief Financial Officer on 25 September 2019. Qualified Chartered Accountant Bryan has over 25 years of experience in management roles. Bryan joined Alba in 2019 as the Chief Internal Auditor and Risk Officer and was appointed as the Acting Chief Financial Officer in December 2018. He serves as a Director at the Board of Aluminium Bahrain US, INC. and AlbaCap Insurance Ltd. (subsidiaries of Alba). Khalid Turani has been promoted to Chief Internal Audit and Risk Management Officer. Khalid has 19 years of experience in Audit, Risk, Compliance and Ethics. He joined Alba...
The US dollar held onto three-week highs against a basket of its rivals on Monday. LME base metals closed mixed on Monday and aluminium dropped further. LME aluminium continued its downturn yesterday. Three-month LME aluminium recovered from a low and finished 0.12% higher at US$1,741 per tonne last Friday night. However, it plunged yesterday and closed Monday’s trading at US$ 1722.50 per tonne. LME aluminium may fall to US$1,698 per tonne this week, as suggested by its wave pattern and a projection analysis. Resistance is seen at US$1,748, a break above which may lead to a gain into the range of US$1,764-$1,780 per tonne. As on September 30, Monday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1703 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1703.50 per tonne; 3-months bid...
Primary aluminium inventories in China extended their declines over the weekend as downstream consumers stockpiled for the week-long National Day holiday. Shanghai Metals Market data showed that social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, stood at 894,000 tonnes as of Monday, September 30, a drop of 45,000 tonnes from 939,000 tonnes as of Thursday, September 26. The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across all major China markets: Primary aluminium stocks in Wuxi, Jiangsu dropped 29,000 tonnes from Thursday September 26 to 254,000 tonnes as of Monday, 30 September 2019. Inventories in Shanghai, Nanhai, Guangdong, and Chongqing declined by 3,000 tonnes from Thursday to 176,000 tonnes,...
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) announced it will establish the first-of-its-kind Spent Pot Lining (SPL) Treatment Plant in the GCC and Bahrain. The company will start operations at its new plant by the first quarter of 2021. The plant will have a capacity to treat 30,000 to 35,000 tonnes of SPL a year. A result of the co-operative efforts between Alba and Bahrain’s Supreme Council for Environment (SCE), the SPL Treatment Plant is in line with National Waste Management Strategy led by HH Shaikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Personal Representative of His Majesty King of Bahrain and President of the Supreme Council for Environment, Alba said. With the establishment of SPL plant, the company will be developing a value-creating and sustainable solution for the treatment of SPL with zero-waste....
The US dollar held onto three-week highs against a basket of its rivals on Friday, supported by quarter-end rebalancing flows and after the release of mixed economic data. LME base metals closed mixed on Friday. LME aluminium inched up 0.1%, while SHFE aluminium shed 0.3%. Three-month LME aluminium recovered from a low of US$1,721.5 per tonne and finished 0.12% higher at US$1,741 per tonne on Friday night. The contract continued to pare losses from the previous week and is likely to trade at US$1,730-1,780 per tonne today. As on September 27, Friday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1712 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1713 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1733 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1733.50 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, the A00 aluminium ingot price has recorded the fourth drop in a row by RMB 50 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,980 per tonne, as of September 30. With this continued plunge, the A00 aluminium ingot price stands lower by RMB 310 per tonne from the same period last month. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 13,960 per tonne and RMB 14,000 per tonne, with a spot contract to be traded at a premium price of RMB 0 per tonne to RMB 40 per tonne. The price in Foshan has seen the highest decline of RMB 60 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,990 per tonne, while that in Shenyang by RMB 55 per tonne to RMB 14,005 per tonne and Hangzhou, Chongqing, and Tianjin by RMB 40 per tonne to RMB 14,030 per tonne, RMB 13,990 per tonne, and RMB 14,010 per tonne. In...
Primary aluminium production in Africa stood at 141,000 tonnes in August, a decrease of 2.08% from 144,000 tonnes in August 2018, according to the latest data showed by the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) on Friday, September 20. On a month-on-month comparison, aluminium production increased by 2.17% from 138,000 tonnes. In the first eight months of 2019, Africa’s primary aluminium production stood 0.63% lower than the same period last year. Africa produced 1.102 million tonnes of aluminium in January-August, from 1.109 million tonnes in January-August 2018. Africa’s primary aluminium production for 2018 stood at 1.668 million tonnes, IAI data showed. Global primary aluminium production in August 2019 stood at 5.407 million tonnes, down 1.46% year-on-year. The output was almost...
A00 aluminium ingot price continued higher in the beginning of the week at RMB 14310 per tonne and RMB 14320 per tonne on Monday, September 23 and Tuesday, September 24. The price witnessed a downward movement in the next three days of the week. A00 aluminium ingot price ended the week lower at RMB 14030 per tonne, down RMB 160 per tonne from its previous price. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, inventories of primary aluminium in China fell for a fifth consecutive week, as downstream consumers stockpiled for the week-long National Day holiday. Stocks of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, dropped 27,000 tonnes from a week ago to 939,000 tonnes as of Thursday September 26, after a decline of 6,000 tonnes in the prior week. As far as raw...
Building on the success of its first e-magazine “Aluminium LeaderSpeak 2019”, AlCircle has launched its second futuristic theme e- magazine on the topic “Aluminium Industry 4.0: Drivers & Change Makers”. Notwithstanding the fact that Industry 4.0 is one of the most talked about topics in the technology and industrial sector, when it comes to implementation of "Industry 4.0 technologies in the aluminium industry; even seasoned plant operators are not completely aware of the full potential of such technologies. The term "Industry 4.0" is used to describe the extensive use of digitalization in an industrial environment. It covers the current systems and technologies for automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning and data exchange used in the manufacturing and industrial sector....
According to Shanghai Metals Market calculations based on Customs data, China’s exports of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products in August dropped by 4.31 per cent month-on-month to come in at 466,000 tonnes. August saw a high ratio of SHFE aluminium price to its LME counterpart, which squeezed margins on exports. This, along with trade barriers such as anti-dumping duties in some countries, discouraged Chinese aluminium producers from pouring their cargoes to markets overseas. Previous strong exports, meanwhile, affected near-by demand, with three months earlier this year seeing a monthly export volume of above 510,000 tonnes. In the first eight months, China’s exports of unwrought aluminium and aluminium products thus stood at 3.94 million tonnes, up 5 per cent from the same period...
The US dollar extended its gain on Thursday, with the index that measures the greenback against a basket of other currencies nearing a two-year high hit at the start of this month. LME base metals closed lower on Thursday. LME aluminium slipped 0.8% and SHFE aluminium declined 1.1%. Downtrend continued for LME aluminium yesterday. Three-month LME aluminium fell on Thursday for a third straight day, losing 0.77% to end at US$1,739 per tonne, as the firmer greenback and weak demand overseas drove longs to trim their positions. LME aluminium is expected to trade rangebound at US$1,710-1,780 per tonne today. As on September 26, Thursday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1722 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1724 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1743...
A00 aluminium ingot price has extended its decline to RMB 14030 per tonne on Friday, 27 September 2019, from its previous price of RMB 14190 per tonne on September 26. This indicates a drop of RMB 160 per tonne or 1.13 per cent. The price is expected to range within RMB 14010-14050 per tonne. Spot aluminium price is likely to be traded at a premium of RMB 10-50 per tonne. Foshan has witnessed the highest drop in aluminium ingot price. The price in Foshan stands at RMB 14050 per tonne, down by RMB 200 per tonne from its previous price. The average price is likely to range at RMB 14030-14070 per tonne. In Wuxi and Hangzhou, aluminium ingot price has declined by RMB 145 per tonne and RMB 140 per tonne to stand at RMB 14035 per tonne and RMB 14070 per tonne. Their average prices are expected...
Norsk Hydro, one of the leading aluminium producers in the world talked about cost cutting, restructuring and improving cash flow during the company’s Investor Day Presentation on September 24, 2019, in Oslo. The company will strategize moves to bounce back after the operational setbacks caused by the capacity cut and the cyber-attack that paralyzed networks and dented profit. Hilde Merete Aasheim, President and CEO of Hydro shared the medium term and long term strategies of the company for profitability and sustainability. There was an update on the Alunorte situation, Rolled Products restructuring and market outlook. She talked about the company’s ambition to reduce CO2 emissions in own production and processes by further 30% by 2030. “We are launching new improvement efforts across the...
Primary aluminium inventories in China fell for a fifth consecutive week, as downstream consumers stockpiled for the week-long National Day holiday. Shanghai Metals Market data showed that stocks of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, dropped 27,000 tonnes from a week ago to 939,000 tonnes as of Thursday September 26, after a decline of 6,000 tonnes in the prior week. The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across all major China markets: Primary aluminium stocks in Wuxi, Jiangsu and Shanghai dropped 14,000 tonnes and 7,000 tonnes from Thursday September 19 to 283,000 tonnes and 179,000 tonnes as of Thursday September 26. Inventories in Nanhai, Guangdong stood at 262,000 tonnes, a decrease of 5,000...
