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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ALRO S.A., one of the largest vertically integrated aluminium producers in Europe by capacity, announced its consolidated financial results for the first quarter of 2019. The Group’s turnover stood at RON 767.4 million in Q1 2019, up 2.4% from RON 749.2 million in Q1 2018. The Group registered a gross profit of RON 105 million in Q1 2019, from RON 167 million in Q1 2018. Operating result (EBIT) stood at RON 59 million compared to RON 101 million in Q1 2018. Marian NASTASE, Chairman of ALRO’s Board of Directors said: "In the first three months of 2019, ALRO Group recorded an increased turnover YoY, with higher revenues generated mainly by the processed aluminium segment and steady income from the primary aluminium segment, in line with our strategy of increasing, in the total production...
As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, China’s production of primary aluminium came in at 11.48 million tonnes in the first four months of 2019. Production increased 4.1 per cent from last year, showed data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday, May 15. In January-March, the country’s production of primary aluminium was 8.57 million tonnes, up 3.9 per cent year-on-year. In April alone, China produced 2.92 million tonnes of primary aluminium, an increase of 3.9 per cent from a year ago, NBS data showed. This followed after a year-on-year rise of 3.4 per cent in March. China’s output of ten nonferrous metals for the first four months of the year increased 5.2 per cent year-on-year to 18.64 million tonnes, NBS data showed.
STAS Inc. announces through a press release that the company, a high-technology equipment supplier for the global aluminum industry based in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada, has acquired SERMAS Industrie, located in St Quentin Sur Isère, near Grenoble in France and which employs around forty employees. World leader in the sawing of large materials for the aluminum industry, SERMAS Industrie develops a complete range of equipment for the manufacture of cast aluminum products: • Complete sawing equipment for ingots, billets and aluminum T-bars including handling, weighing, marking and chip processing; • Milling machines for the manufacture of cast or rolled aluminum plates; • Sealing benches to produce cathodic blocks used in electrolysis pots; • Anode preparation equipment; • Sawing equipment...
The dollar rebounded from a nearly one-month low hit in the previous session, as US and Chinese officials said the two countries would continue to negotiate on trade. US President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that trade talks with China had not collapsed and called the widening US-China tariff war "a little squabble". LME base metals rallied across the board. LME aluminium rose 1.57%, SHFE aluminium gained 0.95%. LME aluminium traded robustly overnight with a high of US$1846.5 per tonne, ending 1.57% higher at US$1,839 per tonne after a positive indication on US china trade negotiations. LME aluminium is trading at US$1,810-1,840 per tonne today. As on May 14, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1791.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1792 per tonne;...
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) announced with a press release that it had successfully achieved a major Safety milestone of 5 million working-hours without Lost Time Injury (LTI) on 30 April 2019. The aluminium producer which has recently completed ramp–up of 212 pots or the 50% of its production capacity in its Line 6 expansion project has celebrated this safety milestone in the smelter site. Commenting on this occasion, Alba’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Murray said: “I am proud to say that Alba has a strong Safety and Health culture driven by employees’ ownership of Safety collectively. As we approach the hot summer months, we have to prepare well and step-up our efforts to ensure that Safety is always a priority. With extreme preparation and mutual commitment, we will go beyond the 5...
Statkraft and Alcoa Norway have inked a long-term contract for the supply of power during the period 2020 to 2026. Statkraft will supply approximately 440 GWh of power annually to Alcoa’s Norwegian aluminium production facilities. Hallvard Granheim, Executive Vice President Markets & IT in Statkraft said: “As competition for long-term power supply agreements has picked up in Norway, I’m pleased to enter a new contract confirming competitive terms and Statkraft’s role as a preferred supplier of electricity to Norwegian industry.” Kai-Rune Heggland, Country Manager Alcoa Norway commented: “Access to renewable energy at globally competitive prices is key to Alcoa’s focus on climate change and further development in Norway. We are very satisfied that Statkraft now can offer competitively...
Russian aluminium giant UC Rusal reportedly announced its first quarter results where it mentioned that revenue dropped 20.9 per cent to US$2,170 million from US$2,744 million in the same period last year. Net profit also decreased by 49.8 per cent to US$273 million, compared with US$544 million in Q1 2018. Recurring profit for the period was at US$300 million, down 43.5 per cent from US$531 million in Q1 2018. Commenting on the first quarter 2019 results, Evgenii Nikitin, CEO of RUSAL, said “The first quarter of the year was significantly challenged by the past year’s events, including the OFAC sanctions which were only lifted on 27 January 2019.” According to the company’s results, adjusted EBITDA came in at US$226 million in Q1 2019, down 60.5 per cent from US$572 million in the...
The US dollar came under pressure as investors moved towards safe-haven currencies such as the Japanese yen and Swiss franc. Despite that the greenback hit a four-month high against the Chinese yuan on Monday. The yuan slid with the escalation of trade war between the US and China. China announced they will impose higher tariffs on US$60 billion worth of US goods after the US announcement of a tariff hike on US$200 billion of Chinese products on Friday. LME aluminium closed 0.25% lower but SHFE aluminium traded strong. LME official settlement price stood almost flat from the last closing at the end of Monday’s trading. Three months LME aluminium is likely to trade at US$1,800-1,820 per tonne today. As on May 13, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1765 per tonne, LME official...
According to the latest report from US Geological Survey, US domestic primary aluminium production stood at 87,000 tonnes in February 2019. The average daily production was 3,100 tonnes, up 42 per cent Year-on-Year. Primary aluminium production increased slightly from January and 54 per cent from February 2017. Total aluminium recovered from scrap was 271,000 tonnes in February, 7 per cent lower than the revised amount in February 2018. This was down 7 per cent less than the revised amount in January and 9 per cent less than the amount in February 2017. Of this, 152,000 tonnes of aluminium was recovered from new scrap and 119,000 tonnes was recovered from old scrap. Primary aluminium inventories in LME-approved warehouses in the United States stood at 44,175 tonnes at the end of February....
True to its reputation as a technology and innovation-driven company, Sohar Aluminium is harnessing the transformational potential of the 4th Industrial Revolution (a.k.a. Industry 4.0) in its quest to position itself as the ‘Smelter of the Future’. Its brief 10-year history as one of the Middle East’s youngest greenfield aluminium smelter is punctuated with accolades and milestones attesting to its superior technological underpinnings and operational excellence. From the use of leading-edge smelting technology with progressive increase in amperage, to the deployment of state-of-the-art production, efficiency and safety optimization tools, technological innovation has long been the cornerstone of its ambition to become the benchmark smelter in the region. Today, Sohar Aluminium is on the...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) will host Arab International Aluminium Conference (ARABAL) 2019 under the patronage of HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain. ARABAL will take place from 19 – 21 November 2019 at the Gulf Hotel, under the theme ‘Shaping the Future of Aluminium in the Arab Region’. Alba’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa said: “ARABAL is reputed as one of the premium platforms for the aluminium industry in the Arab world that brings together the who’s who of the aluminium industry across the globe. Being the first aluminium smelter in the GCC, Alba is privileged to host the 36th edition of the prestigious ARABAL under the patronage of the Prime Minster HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, the primary aluminium inventories in China have continued extending their declines over the weekend ended on May 13, 2019. As demand increased and cargoes arrivals decreased, the social inventories across eight major consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, dropped some 36,000 tonnes from Thursday, May 9, to stand at 1.373 million tonnes. As the above chart indicates, the inventory in Wuxi and Jiangsu has dropped by some 13,000 tonnes to stand at 493,000 tonnes, while that in Shanghai by some 2,000 tonnes to 275,000 tonnes. In Nanhai and Guangdong, Linyi and Shandong, and Chongqing, the inventories have dropped too by some 17,000 tonnes, 2,000 tonnes, and 3,000 tonnes to come in at 293,000 tonnes and 16,000 tonnes, and 26,000 tonnes...
The US dollar weakened against its major rivals on Friday as market participants worked through newly-released consumer price data. US and China trade representatives wrapped up two days of talks but failed to reach an agreement. The Trump administration raised the stakes for future negotiations by raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports. Those tariffs "may or may not be removed depending on what happens with respect to future negotiations," Trump tweeted. Base metals mostly ended higher as LME aluminium rose 0.47%. SHFE aluminium increased 0.64%. Lower inventories across LME warehouses and the weaker US dollar buoyed three months LME aluminium to a high of US$1,821 per tonne, and settled it at US$1,810.5 per tonne during Friday night. LME aluminium is expected to trade...
Iran will continue to exports aluminium to its neighbouring countries despite US sanctions, the secretary of Iran Aluminium Industries Syndicate Abolfazl Rezaiee said. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the Iranian aluminium, iron, steel and copper sectors. The metal sector forms one of Iran’s largest non-petroleum sources of export revenue. He said, “Afghanistan, Turkey and Iraq are our major exports destinations for aluminium and the recent US-led sanctions will have no impact on exports to these countries unless banking difficulties impede us from the set target.” Abolfazl Rezaiee said US sanctions on the country’s metal industry can push the production prices up but the biggest challenge for Iran’s aluminium industry has been...
According to a Platts report, traders in Asia are of the view that the impact of US sanctions on the Iranian copper and aluminium sectors would be minimal on Asia as Iranian exports to the region have been marginal. US President Donald Trump Wednesday signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the Iranian aluminium, iron, steel and copper sectors. The metal sector forms one of Iran’s largest non-petroleum sources of export revenue. Iran has about 487,000 tonnes of primary aluminium capacity. The country’s export revenue from raw aluminium stood at US$144 million according to the latest figures. It also exports aluminium in semi-finished form. However, Iran's aluminium exports have been negligible. In 2018, China imported 160 kg of aluminium foil from Iran. According to the Iranian...
Labour Day holidays in China last week, re-escalations of trade tensions between Washington and Beijing and another LME holiday in the beginning of the week have driven the movements of LME and SHFE aluminium in this week. The US dollar increased on Monday as the cautious stance in the global markets sustained the upside momentum in the greenback, after the US President Donald Trump re-ignited trade effervescence on Sunday. The LME was closed for a bank holiday on Monday and it reopened trading on Tuesday. LME aluminium fell below all moving averages to a low of US$1,796 per tonne last Friday night. After the trading reopened on Tuesday, May 7, Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange dropped to close at US$ 1767 per tonne from US$ 1783.5 per tonne on Friday, May 3. For the rest...
According to a new data released by the Statistics Centre- Abu Dhabi (SCAD) and published by Emirates News Agency WAM, Abu Dhabi’s trade in aluminium and copper increased 14 per cent year-on-year to AED3.4 billion in the first two months of 2019. Aluminium exports rose 2 per cent to AED1.1 billion in the first two months of 2019, from AED980 million in the first two months of 2018. Aluminium re-exports hit AED16.5 million from AED16 million in the same period last year. Aluminium imports stood at AED65 million in the first two months of 2019 as compared to AED102 million in the first two months of 2018. The centre’s statistics show that Abu Dhabi’s trade in aluminium and copper accounted for 9.5 percent of the emirate's total non-oil trade volume in said month, which totalled AED35.8...
Norsk Hydro ASA’s new President and CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim is of an opinion that the company needs to extend its cost cutting after a production halt in Brazil. She said in a statement, “We’ve been heavily affected by the Brazil situation. The effect of the improvement programs was erased to zero because the volumes fell significantly. We will re-establish the improvement programs, but also accelerate and see what more we can do.” Aasheim also intimidated that federal judge in Brazil would expectedly give final approval to restart the Alunorte refinery. However, the timing remains uncertain. The yearlong 50 per cent production cut at the world’s largest refinery has hurt Hydro’s earnings and weighed on its shares, leading to a drop by about 40 per cent since February 28, 2018. The...
