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 London Metal Exchange (LME) launched seven new cash-settled futures contracts on Monday, March 11, including contracts on alumina and aluminium premium. The new contracts are launched to attract more business after profits fell last year. London Metal Exchange (LME) announced about the launch of the seven new contracts on January 23. The LME launched a contract for alumina, which has seen sharp price volatility in 2018. The alumina price twice spiked and tumbled, opening up a market for both consumers and producers to hedge the price. The exchange also launched two regional aluminium premium contracts for U.S. Midwest and Europe. The world’s oldest and largest metal market aims to have a stronger portfolio of products as the rival exchanges such as CME Group of USA is giving fierce...
The US dollar weakened after progress in Brexit negotiations between the European Union and Britain. Base metals rose across the board and LME aluminium grew over 1% and SHFE aluminium closed higher. LME aluminium closed the day’s trading at US$ 1851 per tonne yesterday. Then the contract slid and returned to the five-day moving average after a lower US dollar lifted it to a high of US$1,881.5 per tonne overnight. It closed at US$1,877.5 per tonne. We expect it to test pressure at the 40-day moving average today, with trading range at US$1,840-1,900 per tonne. As on March 12, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1850 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1851 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1877 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1878 per tonne; Dec...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, the A00 aluminium ingot price continued to rise today to RMB 13,730 per tonne. Yesterday the price was at RMB 13,680 per tonne, which indicates that the price today grew by RMB 50 per tonne. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 13,710 per tonne and RMB 13,750 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 40 per tonne. In the east (Wuxi and Hangzhou) and in the north, the A00 aluminium ingot price also recorded an increase by RMB 50 per tonne to RMB 13,720 per tonne and RMB 13,700 per tonne, respectively. In the south, on the other hand, the ingot price grew by RMB 60 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,710 per tonne. But the input costs showed no change today except the aluminium powder, which rose from RMB 17.20 per kg to RMB 17.30 per kg....
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) announced a major safety milestone as its Line 6 Smelter project achieved 30 million working-hours without Lost Time Injury (LTI) as of 31 December 2018. A ceremony was held on Sunday 10 March 2019, to mark the occasion. It was attended by Alba’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer Ali al Baqali, Chief Marketing Officer Khalid Latif, Chief Power Officer Amin Sultan, Director Line 6 Smelter Project and Engineering Shawqi Al Hashimi and Director Safety, Health and Environment Mohamed Khalil, Line 6 Smelter Project team along with other contractor teams. The Chairman of Alba's Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa, said said: “Alba believes in ‘walking the talk’ on matters in relation to Safety, Health and Environment. This achievement...
The Canadian government will reportedly fund $100 million, including $26 million for Quebec, in a bid to support domestic small and medium-sized enterprise aluminium and steel manufacturers. The news came when Navdeep Bains, minister of innovation, science and economic development made the announcement at Nova Steel in Hamilton on Monday, March 11. The objective of this new initiative is to support small and medium-sized producers across the country, who had been impacted the most by the US metal tariffs. The government believes this funding will help their businesses to drive productivity, scale up, and expand into new market to create good middle-class jobs. Bains said in a statement: “In the face of unjust and illegal U.S. tariffs hurting businesses and workers on both sides of the...
The US dollar slipped into negative territory, following an anticipated retail sales report that drew little reaction from the greenback. Base metals closed mixed and aluminium fell 0.51%. SHFE aluminium climbed. LME aluminium closed lower on Monday at US$1830 per tonne. After that a weaker US dollar lifted it to a high of US$1,876 per tonne last night. However, the contract dipped to US$1,845 per tonne, the lowest since February 14 and finally closed lower on the day at US$1,855.5 per tonne, with open interests down 4,251 lots to 663,000 lots. With resistance at the 20-day moving average, LME aluminium is likely to trade at US$1,800-1,890 per tonne today. As on March 11, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1829 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1830 per...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, A00 aluminium ingot price rose from RMB13610 per tonne to RMB13680 per tonne as of Tuesday, 12 March 2019, representing an increase of RMB70 per tonne or 0.51 per cent. The price is expected to range between RMB13660 per tonne and RMB 13700 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 40 per tonne. In the east (Wuxi and Hangzhou), the aluminium ingot price grew RMB 65 per tonne to RMB 13670 per tonne, each. Their prices are expected to range between RMB 13660 per tonne and RMB 13680 per tonne. In the south and north, the price increased RMB 50 per tonne and RMB 40 per tonne to hover at RMB 13650 per tonne, each. Their prices are expected to range between RMB13630 per tonne and RMB13670 per tonne and RMB13640 per tonne and RMB13660 per tonne....
Emirates Global Aluminium has announced its annual financial report of 2018, where it is found that the UAE’s biggest industrial company outside the oil and gas sector has earned a net income of AED 1.2 billion ($325 million), 64 per cent down from AED 3.3 billion ($900 million) in 2017. This havoc decline in EGA’s net income is attributable to the surging costs of raw materials, which is why the company wants to start its alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi and bauxite mine in Guinea. These two projects are expected to reduce the company’s expense towards securing raw materials from overseas and help in boosting its net profit, as a result. Adjusted EBITDA, which was at AED 6.6 billion ($1.8 billion) in 2017 also decreased by 33 per cent in 2018 to AED 4.4 billion ($1.2 billion), despite a...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, social inventories of primary aluminium across eight major consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, dropped 9,000 tonnes over the weekend and came in at 1.74 million tonnes, as on Monday, March 11. This marks the first decline after the Chinese New Year holiday as downstream consumers returned and became active in purchasing primary aluminium on the price drop. The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium across the major Chinese markets: As the above chart indicates, the primary aluminium inventory in Wuxi, Jiangsu plunged 9,000 tonnes from 639,000 tonnes, as on Thursday, to 630,000 tonnes today. In Shanghai, the inventory dipped 3,000 tonnes from 313,000 tonnes to 310,000 tonnes, while that in Gongyi, Henan dropped...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, the A00 aluminium ingot price has dropped over the weekend by RMB 40 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,610 per tonne. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 13,590 per tonne and RMB 13,630 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 50 per tonne to RMB 10 per tonne. In the east (Wuxi and Hangzhou), the aluminium ingot price has plunged by RMB 40 per tonne and RMB 35 per tonne to RMB 13,605 per tonne, each. In the south and north, on the other hand, the price has shrunk by RMB 40 per tonne and RMB 30 per tonne to hover at RMB 13,600 per tonne and RMB 13,610 per tonne, respectively. As far as the input costs are concerned, the alumina spot price shows no change today from RMB 2,731 per tonne. In all the major markets in east and central...
The US dollar fell against most major currencies on Friday. Base metals, except for LME aluminium, declined across the board last weekend. SHFE metals kept their declines within 1%. LME aluminium price closed Friday’s trading at US$ 1848 per tonne. This was up 0.38 per cent from US$ 1841 per tonne on Thursday. LME aluminium faced pressure from the 10-day moving average after it rose to a high of US$1,888.5 per tonne last Friday night. It is likely to trade at US$1,840-1,900 per tonne today. As on March 8, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1846 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1848 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1870 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1872 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at US$ 2008 per tonne, and Dec 20 offer price...
Norsk Hydro is nominated for a Green Award in the category “Innovation of the year” for its technology pilot in Karmøy. The award ceremony will take place as part of the Green Tech Festival 2019 in Berlin, May 24. “A lot of Hydro people have put so much effort into making the technology pilot a reality. They deserve this award,” said Head of technology in Hydro Primary Metal Thorvald Mellerud. The technology pilot has been in full operation since June 2018 and “aims to verify at an industrial scale the world’s most energy and climate-efficient technology for aluminium production,” the company said. The technology will use 15% less energy during production. “We are honored to be nominated and I hope as many as possible in Hydro will vote for us. The realization of the technology pilot is...
According to a recent report, Canadian aluminium exports to Europe are expected to extend rise this year, if the Section 232 tariff is not lifted by the United States. Since when the Trump administration levied 10 per cent tariff on aluminium and 25 per cent on steel imports in March 2018, Canada had been diverting primary aluminium P1020 shipments to Europe, where Canadian exports have duty free status. Consequently, Canadian aluminium exports to Europe rose by more than 11-fold to 15,927 tonnes in 2018, up from 1,362 tonnes in 2017, trade data showed. Canada’s aluminium deliveries to the US last year thus accounted for 4.5 per cent of the region’s total imports of 353,279 tonnes. The surge in exports was also partly driven by the US sanctions on Russian giant Rusal, as buyers secured...
China’s production of primary aluminium decreased 1.54 per cent in February, and stood at 2.68 million tonnes, as reported by Shanghai Metals Market. Domestic primary aluminium capacity under operation stood at an annualised 35.9 million tonnes by the end of last month, a decrease of 130,000 tonnes per year from a year earlier. Despite new capacity at Inner Mongolia’s Chuangyuan and Guyang smelters, capacity cuts at Shaanxi Hengkang, Shandong Huayu, Shanxi Huasheng, Shanxi Huaze, Jiaozuo Wanfang, and Inner Mongolia Tongshun Aluminum kept operating capacity at lows in February. Primary aluminium output is expected to drop 1.6 per cent year-on-year to 2.98 million tonnes in March. Domestic primary aluminium capacity under operation is estimated at an annualised 36.05 million tonnes by the...
The US dollar increased against a basket of currencies, to a near three-month peak as the euro sold off. Base metals declined for the most part last night. LME aluminium inched up and SHFE aluminium closed slightly lower. LME aluminium price closed lower from previous day at US$ 1841 per tonne during the day’s closing yesterday. This was down 0.27% from US$ 1846 per tonne. LME aluminium rebounded after it dipped to a low of US$1,857 per tonne. The metal ended at US$1,863 per tonne. LME aluminium is likely to trade at US$1,840-1,890 per tonne today. As on March 7, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1840.5 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1841 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1863 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1864 per tonne; Dec 20 bid...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, purchasing enthusiasm among downstream consumers improved across spot aluminium markets in east and south China on Thursday morning as prices dropped. Spot transactions were mostly found at RMB 13,610 per tonne to RMB 13,620 per tonne in Shanghai and Wuxi while in Hangzhou, the spot deals were mostly at RMB 13,610 per tonne to RMB 13,630 per tonne. This represents that the traded price fell by over RMB 70 per tonne this morning compared with yesterday. The front-month March aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange also glided from the previous day. Spot aluminium discounts in Shanghai stood at RMB 50 per tonne to RMB 30 per tonne against the SHFE 1903 contract, wider than RMB 30 per tonne to RMB 10 per tonne as on yesterday morning....
RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, announced its results for the year ended 31 December 2018. Total revenue increased by 3.1% to USD10,280 million in 2018, as compared to USD9,969 million in 2017. The company achieved net profit of USD1.698 billion, up 39% from USD1.222 billion in 2017. The recurring net profit stood at USD1.695 billion, as compared to USD1.573 billion in 2017. Evgenii Nikitin, CEO of RUSAL, said: “Despite the OFAC Sanctions, RUSAL’s robust full year results demonstrated skillful crisis management alongside the ability to adapt to a new operations’ environment. It maintained its strong market position through its high managerial competence and operational flexibility. In 12M18, aluminium production totaled 3,753 thousand tonnes which is a 1.2% increase compared...
Social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, stood 1.749 million tonnes as of Thursday March 7, up some 5,000 tonnes from Thursday February 28, Shanghai Metals Market data showed. Inventories declined about 6,000 tonnes from Monday March 4. Growth of stocks of primary aluminium ingots slowed further this week as consumption recovered. The chart below indicates the current status of the primary aluminium inventories across China: Compared with last Thursday, Inventories in Shanghai, Nanhai, Guangdong increased 3,000 tonnes and 22,000 tonnes to stand at 313,000 tonnes and 374,000 tonnes respectively. Stocks in Wuxi, Jiangsu and Gongyi, Henan stood at 639,000 tonnes and 156,000 tonnes as of Monday March 7, down 5,000 tonnes and...
