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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Hydro announced that its aluminium plant in Karmøy, Norway will take time to resume stable aluminium production. One of Karmøy’s two aluminium production lines suffered a power failure early on Monday, April 1. The facility has an annual capacity of 195,000 tonnes of primary aluminium. “The affected facility has 288 production cells, of which 45 were subsequently taken out of production to enable stable operations. This represents approximately 10 percent of the total production capacity at the Karmøy plant,” Hydro said in a statement. The Karmøy technology pilot was not affected by the power failure, Hydro added. “It is too early to estimate the financial consequences or when the plant will be able to restart the shut-down cells and resume full production. Customer impact is expected to...
Shandong Weiqiao Group’s prebaked anode purchasing price for the month of April has been revised to RMB 3,030 per tonne after renegotiating with carbon firms, according to the latest update from Shanghai Metals Market. On Monday, April 1, Shandong Weiqiao Group had set its prebaked purchasing price for April at RMB 2,990 per tonne in cash, compared to which the revised purchasing price is higher by RMB 40 per tonne, but down by RMB 150 per tonne from RMB 3,180 per tonne last month. After a drop yesterday in the average price of the prebaked anode in east China, the aluminium raw material has recorded a rise today by RMB 20 per tonne to come in at RMB 3205 per tonne, SMM data showed. This marks the first rise in prebaked anode price in east China this year. Throughout January 2019, the...
US manufacturing rebounded more than expected in March as shown by an industry report released on Monday. The US dollar index rose on Monday as stronger-than-expected US manufacturing data offset sluggish retail sales. LME base metals closed mixed on Monday. LME aluminium dropped close to 1% and SHFE aluminium slid 0.3%. US-China trade progress and stronger-than-expected China factory activity buoyed the three-month LME aluminium to a seven-day high of US$1,931 per tonne on Monday. The contract pared all those gains to finish the trading day close to 1% lower at US$1,892 per tonne as the US dollar index rose. LME official price stood at US$ 1888 per tonne yesterday, slightly lower than last week. As Rusal has resumed aluminium supplies to the US and the US dollar has registered a gain,...
After a sharp fall yesterday, on April 1, the A00 aluminium ingot price has recorded a slight growth today by RMB 20 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,760 per tonne, found Shanghai Metals Market. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 13,740 per tonne and RMB 13,780 per tonne, with spot discount to settle at RMB 20 per tonne, showed the SMM data. Reviewing the aluminium ingot price trend through March 2019, there was a bullish sentiment in the market as per SMM data. With the growing range from RMB 13,550 per tonne on March 1, the ingot price had even extended the benchmark of RMB 14,000 per tonne on March 21. There was some intermittent fall, but the overall trend was on the rise until the latter half of the month (March 25) when the ingot price started shrinking. Other than on...
Hydro announced on Monday, April 1, that its aluminium plant in Karmøy, Norway halted metal production following a power outage. The plant re-established supply of electricity but at a lower amperage. The primary aluminium plant has a production capacity of 270,000 tonnes, of which 75,000 tonnes are from the Karmøy technology pilot. Hydro said the Karmøy technology pilot is not affected by the situation. “The cause of the power failure is not clear and will be investigated. All available resources are mobilized to identify the cause and resume production,” the company said in a statement. In other Hydro news, in the Extruded Solutions business, production is running at an average output of 85% in the three business units Extrusion Europe, Extrusion North America and Precision Tubing. In...
After the lifting of US sanctions, Rusal has resumed supplies to the U.S. market and the company now aims to gain back all the lost customer during the sanction period in which, supply contracts for 2020 were sealed. Rusal could not sign new contracts for 2019 in September as the company was still negotiating with the U.S. Treasury Department for sanction removal. “We fulfilled all our obligations even during the period of sanctions, we did not allow ourselves a single failure. Therefore, some of our former partners are already coming back, new partners are coming,” CEO Evgenii Nikitin said. In an interview with Reuters the CEO said that the company hopes to win back the old customers by September 2019 when period for signing new contracts arrives. The U.S. treasury lifted the sanctions...
Dear Readers, As the first five months of 2019 have come to an end with a sense of reconciliation for the global aluminium industry after a year of trade wars, restrictive tariffs, sanctions and capacity cuts; the industry players and market participants are preparing for the second half of the year with uncertainty and anticipation as market fundamentals do not look entirely promising. While easing of supply uncertainties have created optimism, slower demand and overcapacity in China along with the trade conflicts between the U.S. and China are compelling industry participants to tread carefully. At this juncture, AlCircle has come up with an e-Magazine on the theme “Aluminium LeaderSpeak 2019”. Purpose of this exclusive online magazine is to get industry leaders from the complete...
Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV’s) Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV’s) are an indispensable part of modern industry at the current scenario. Since decades they have been implemented in every type of industry (ports, logistic operations, automotive-industry, etc). A few years ago, the Hencon AGV’s were the first automated vehicles that were able to enter the primary aluminum-industry. The reason why it took much longer to automate aluminum –industry is mainly due the harsh environment in aluminum plants. Dust, high temperatures and electro-magnetic fields were a challenge for engineers to develop a reliable vehicle. AGV’s in aluminum industry have done their first steps in mean while. Hencon sold several projects with automated Furnace Chargers, Anode Pallet Transporters and Crucible...
Shanghai Metals Market found Shandong Weiqiao Group, one of the top aluminium producers in China, once again lowered its purchasing prices of prebaked anode for April 2019. Weiqiao sets the purchasing price at RMB 2,990 per tonne in cash, down RMB 190 per tonne from RMB 3,180 per tonne in March. Today Shanghai Metals Market also found a drop in prebaked anode price in the east. The price today plunged by RMB 95 per tonne to RMB 3,185 per tonne, after remaining at RMB 3,280 per tonne from March 28 to 29. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 2,990 per tonne and RMB 3,380 per tonne. In the central, however, the prebaked anode price is still hovering at RMB 3,200 per tonne since March 28, after declining from RMB 3,400 per tonne. Other aluminium raw materials like aluminium...
Social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrant, declined over the weekend on tax cuts and consumption recovery. Stocks of primary aluminium dropped some 10,000 tonnes from Thursday March 28, as updated by Shanghai Metals Market. Inventories now stand at 1.67 million tonnes as of Monday April 1. The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across China: Stocks in Wuxi, Jiangsu came in at 596,000 tonnes. The figure was down 7,000 tonnes from 603,000 tonnes on Thursday March 28. Inventories in Shanghai and Nanhai, Guangdong decreased 2,000 tonnes and 3,000 from Thursday March 28, to stand at 298,000 tonnes 388,000 tonnes today. Inventories of primary aluminium in Gongyi, Henan increased 4,000 tonnes to...
Emirates Global Aluminium, Mubadala and Dubal officially broke ground on a new AED 1 billion power block at EGA’s Jebel Ali aluminium smelter in Dubai. This state-of-the-art power facility is expected to reduce gas emissions from EGA’s power generation at Jebel Ali by some 10%. Emissions reductions per tonne for both aluminium smelting and power generation are expected to be up to seven per cent. Mubadala and Dubal Holding have formed a joint venture to develop the new power facility at the EGA smelter. EGA intends to buy the facility’s output for 25 years. Siemens will install its H-class gas turbine at the facility. Commenting on the ocasion Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, Vice Chairman of Dubal Holding and Vice Chairman of EGA, said: “This project reinforces our sustainable development...
The US dollar index stemmed earlier losses and rebounded above 97.2 on Friday. LME base metals, except for tin, traded higher on Friday and aluminium gained 0.31%. SHFE base metals closed higher across the board on Friday night. SHFE aluminium rose 0.44%. LME aluminium closed Friday’s trading higher at US$ 1900 per tonne.US-China trade optimism and upbeat China manufacturing activity are likely to buoy LME aluminium today. The contract is likely to trade at US$1,910-1,940 per tonne. As on March 29, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1899.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1900 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1913 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1914 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at US$ 2040 per tonne, and Dec 20 offer price stands at...
The Finance Minister of India has reportedly notified that the retaliatory customs duties on 29 US products have been extended, yet again, till May 2, 2019. This is perhaps the seventh time that the Indian government has postponed the duties. Earlier, the deadline was on April 1. Since June 2018, the government is extending the deadline to impose customs duties on the US in retaliation to the higher tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on certain imported aluminium and steel products. India is pushing the dates as the two countries are negotiating a trade package to boost bilateral commerce. However, earlier in March, the US decided to remove Indian exporters’ incentives that were being provided for exporting certain goods under the Generalised System of Preferences programme. The...
Aluminium Corporation of China Limited (Chalco), the listed arm of China’s biggest state-run aluminium firm Chinalco, reported that it recorded a net loss of RMB 626.1 million ($92.92 million) in the fourth quarter of 2018. According to Refinitiv Eikon data, the company faced the first quarterly loss in more than the past three years, and that was primarily due to low aluminium prices and sluggish domestic demand. Annual net profit plunged 38 per cent to RMB 870.23 million last year, versus a restated RMB 1.41 billion for 2017. Chalco’s net profit stood low last year despite a year-on-year rise in production by 16 per cent to 4.17 million tonnes. The net profit drop could be because of the financial pressure that Chinese smelters underwent in 2018. The prices of raw materials like alumina...
The US dollar traded lower in the beginning of the week as the US government bond yields extended their decline from last week on fears of slower global growth. The dollar then rose for three consecutive trading days and jumped to the highest since March 11. Base metals traded mixed over the week and both LME and SHFE aluminium moved within a tight range. Both the contracts did not register any sharp rise or fall. LME aluminium closed Friday's trading slightly higher from previous closing to close at US$ 1900 per tonne. The weekly trading range was set at US$1,850- 1900 per tonne. The contract is likely to trade at US$1,850-1,920 per tonne over the next week. As on March 29, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1899.50per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1900 per...
Romanian aluminium company Alro announced that the company currently expects its net profit for 2019 to be lower than 2018. The company expects net profit of about USD 12.4 million (EUR 11.0 million), down 78 per cent from last year. ALRO is one of the largest vertically integrated aluminium producers, by capacity, in Europe. With an installed production capacity of 265,000 tonnes per year, the company mainly exports its products to the USA and Asia. In 2018, the company reported net profit of RON 226 million (USD 49 million), down 29% year-on-year. Alro also released production numbers for the full year 2018. The company produced 282,810 tonnes of primary aluminium in 2018. Processed aluminium production dropped to 77,086 tonnes last year. Primary aluminium sales increased to 153,473...
RUSAL and PJSC RusHydro, one of Russia's largest generating companies, commissioned the first potline at the expanded capacity in the Boguchansky aluminium smelter (BOAZ )at Boguchany Energy and Metals Complex (BEMO) in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. In 2018, Rusal announced its plan to launch new capacity at its Boguchansky aluminium smelter after expansion in 2019. With the comissioning, Rusal has almost doubled Boguchansky’s capacity from 150,000 tonnes to 298,000 tonnes a year. Evgenii Nikitin, current CEO of RUSAL and Nikolay Shulginov, Board Сhairman and General Director of PJSC, took part in the ceremony along with government officials. The joint agreement for the aluminium and hydro power project was signed by RUSAL and RusHydro 13 years ago at the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum. The BEMO...
ALRO S.A., one of the largest vertically integrated aluminium producers in Europe by production capacity, published its consolidated and separate financial full-year 2018 results. The company’s net profit decreased from RON 318 million in 2017 to RON 226 million in 2018. The adjusted net profit registered RON 227 million in 2018, from RON 355 million in 2017. ALRO reported primary aluminium sales of 153,000 tonnes in 2018, up from 151,000 tonnes in 2017. The processed aluminium sales slightly decreased to 78,000 tonnes in 2018, from 82,000 tonnes. ALRO Group’s net profit stood at RON 235 million in 2018, down from RON 391 million in 2017. The Group registered the adjusted net profit of RON 250 million. Turnover increased to almost RON 3 billion in 2018. EBITDA margin was above 16%, with a...
