LME aluminium prices gained ground on November 4, with cash and futures contracts moving higher. The Asian Reference Price also edged up, while exchange inventories declined. Alumina Platts prices, however, moved slightly lower. The cash bid rose by USD 53.50 per tonne , or 1.74 per cent, to USD 3,134.50 per tonne from USD 3,081 per tonne. The cash offer increased 1.72 per cent to USD 3,135 per tonne from USD 3,082 per tonne. Three-month aluminium prices also advanced. The bid climbed 1.08 per cent to USD 3,073 per tonne on November 4 from USD 3,040 per tonne, while the offer gained 1.05 per cent to USD 3,074 per tonne. It was previously at USD 3,042 per tonne . Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our report: " Global Bauxite & Alumina Market...
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...
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The World Trade Organization agreed that it would hear complaints coming from a range of countries over the US steel and aluminium tariffs and complaints from Washington over retaliatory duties. The WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) agreed on Wednesday to establish panels to review U.S tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium on a host of countries. The WTO will form separate panels to review complaints coming from different countries. U.S. said that a single panel is not good enough to review and hear all of them. There were complaints from European Union, China, Canada, Mexico, Norway and Russia. A seventh request from Turkey for a panel will be discussed during a meeting later Wednesday. The DSB agreed on forming three panels to rule on the legality of retaliatory...
Social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, dropped by some 29,000 tonnes from Thursday November 15 to stand at 1.424 million tonnes as of Thursday November 22, Shanghai Metals Market data showed. Limited cargoes arrived in social warehouses this week and this accounted for the decline in stocks. Compared to last Thursday, inventories in Wuxi and Jiangsu plunged by 19,000 tonnes to stand at 609,000 tonnes while that in Nanhai and Guangdong dropped by 9,000 tonnes to clock at 20,000 tonnes. The current inventory status in the major Chinese cities is as follow: The A00 aluminium ingot price today, on November 22, rose by RMB20 per tonne after a decline for the past two consecutive days. The price stood at RMB 13,760 per tonne...
The US dollar’s rally paused while the euro rose as the equity selloff eased and demand for risk-averse commodities fell. The greenback was under pressure on some unexpectedly weak US economic data. The pound inched up after a parliamentary group failed to challenge Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership. Base metals increased for the most part. LME aluminium is showing some upward movement after dropping continuously since the second week of November. The contract closed Wednesday’s trading at US$ 1945 per tonne, higher than the previous closing. Then it increased above the five- and 10- day moving averages as the US dollar dipped. With resistance at the 20-day moving average, it is likely to trade at US$1,945-1,960 per tonne today. As on November 21, Wednesday, LME aluminium cash (bid)...
The UAE’s Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri said on Tuesday, November 20, that his country would resolve aluminium and steel tariffs with U.S. as the balance of trade is in favour of the United States. “I hope next year we will resolve it. We will continue to explain our case," Al Mansouri said on the sidelines of an event in Abu Dhabi. Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump imposed import tariffs of 10 per cent on aluminium and 10 per cent on steel, and negotiations have been going on between the two countries to exempt UAE from the import tariffs. Al Mansouri said that Willbur Ross, Secretary of Commerce in the US, promised to look into the issue of aluminium and staff tariffs. The UAE is the United States’ third-most-prolific source of aluminium, after Canada and...
Global primary aluminium output rose 4% year-on-year in October 2018 to stand at 5.414 million tonnes. Primary aluminium production was 5.205 million tonnes in October 2017, according to the latest data showed by International Aluminium Institute (IAI). Month-on-month, primary aluminium production rose 2.13% from 5.301 million tonnes in September 2018, data showed on Tuesday, November 20. The total primary aluminium production stood at 53.437 million tonnes during January to October 2018 as against 53.067 million tonnes in January to October 2017.The figure was up by 0.7% year-on-year. In China, estimated aluminium production rose to 3.05 million tonnes in October 2018 from 3.01 million tonnes in September 2018. The country produced 30.22 million tonnes of white metal in the period...
In 2014 the Taiwanese Government had listed the metal related industry as one of Taiwan's pillar industries. It said going forward it would focus on assisting the sector to upgrade technology and develop high-end products. The country ranks second in per capita aluminium consumption with a rate of about 33.3 kg. The island country has reportedly seen a significant demand growth for aluminium alloy. One of Taiwan’s biggest flat-rolled aluminium products mill C.S. Aluminium has about 400,000 tonnes of aluminium product output capacity per year. However, Taiwan imports both primary aluminium and aluminium alloys. Primary aluminium is used for making aluminium alloys and aluminium alloys for supplementing domestic production and make value-added products. According to the global export-import...
Shanghai Metals Market research found purchasing enthusiasm among downstream consumers of spot aluminium across east China waned as prices of futures declined in late morning trading. The SHFE 1812 contract declined in late morning trade after it moved in a tight range in earlier trading hours. Spot discounts in Shanghai stood at RMB40-30 per tonne. Most transactions were done at RMB 13,720-13,730 per tonne in Shanghai and Wuxi and RMB 13,730-13,750 per tonne in Hangzhou. Sellers across eastern markets remained keen to offload their cargoes and transactions between traders were brisk. Downstream consumers purchased on demand when futures prices held relatively stable. In another update from SMM, the A00 aluminium ingot price today, on November 21, plunged by RMB 20 per tonne to stand at...
The US dollar rallied from a two-week low and settled at 96.79 as a sell-off in global stock markets spurred safe-haven bids and investors grew concerned about slowing global growth. Base metals, except for LME aluminium, fell across the board with LME zinc leading the losses and closing 2.48% lower. LME aluminium continued to trade weakly in absence of strong fundamentals but recovering slowly showing an uptrend. The contract however closed Tuesday’s trading slightly higher than Monday at US$ 1927 per tonne. It is expected to trade weak a trading range of US$1,920-1,960 per tonne today. As on November 20, Tuesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1926 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1927 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1940 per tonne,...
The Aluminum Association, in cooperation with the Aluminium Association of Canada, reported the total primary aluminium production in North America (U.S. and Canada) was at an annual rate of 3,909,503 tonnes during October 2018. This registers an increase of about 77,964 tpy (+2.0%) over the September 2018 rate of 3,813,539 tonnes. The production rate in the U.S. was up 7.7 per cent month on month, while the Canadian rate rose slightly. This increase is driven by restarting of smelters in the US. However, compared to a year ago, the North American annual rate is still 1 per cent below the October 2017 rate of 3,947,875 tonnes. Actual production in October 2018 stood at 332,040 tonnes. The U.S. continues to recover aluminium from new and old scraps to support primary production. New can...
The US dollar dipped and fell to a two-week low after Federal Reserve officials expressed caution over the global growth, prompting traders to reassess the pace of future US interest rate increases. LME aluminium continued to trade weakly given negative fundamentals. The contract however closed Monday’s trading slightly higher than Friday at US$ 1918 per tonne. A weakened US dollar lifted the contract to a high of US$1,953 per tonne at night but it slid below the daily moving average gradually. It is expected to continue the decline with trading range at US$1,920-1,960 per tonne today. As on November 19, Monday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1917.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1918 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1940.50 per tonne,...
According to a recent update by Shanghai Metals Market, primary aluminium capacity cuts expanded sharply in the second half of 2018 as weak aluminium prices and high operating costs caused an immense loss to the producers. Per the SMM research, production cuts for the year are likely to exceed 2 million tonnes. A total of 1.98 million tonnes of primary aluminium capacity across 15 plants has been cut or will be cut this year, showed SMM as of November 19. The second half of the year saw major cuts of around 1.81 million tonnes. According to another update by SMM, the A00 aluminium ingot price today, on November 20, plunged by RMB 10 per tonne after a rise for the past two consecutive days. The price today clocked at RMB 13,740 per tonne. The average prices are expected to range between...
According to Rio Tinto, aluminium inventories in the world outside China would decline in next two to three years as demand will see a quicker growth. Alf Barrios, the chief executive officer of Rio Tinto Aluminium said this in an interview recently. “We see aluminium demand growth being extremely healthy,” Barrios said. Aluminum producers outside China will need to build additional smelting capacity as inventories will decline with growing demands and closed capacity. According to him, North American consumption would gain as the Electric Vehicle revolution is getting momentum. “People believed China was going to be a significant net exporter to the rest of the world in the future, I think people now see China being more balanced,” he said emphasising on the changing role of China from...
Shanghai Metals Market found a sharp plunge in purchasing enthusiasm of spot aluminium among downstream consumers in China as on Monday, November 19. As per the SMM analysis, it could be because of the rise in primary aluminium future prices and the support that downstream production got from the existing primary aluminium stocks at the beginning of the week. The SHFE 1812 contract climbed in morning trades. In Shanghai, most spot transactions were seen at RMB 13,750 per tonne to RMB 13,760 per tonne, with discounts of RMB 30 per tonne to RMB 20 per tonne against the December contract. Transactions in Wuxi were also found the same as that in Shanghai, but Hangzhou recorded a transaction at RMB 13,750 per tonne to RMB 13,770 per tonne. The primary aluminium price gains, however,...
The US dollar closed lower against a basket of the currencies on November 16, Friday night. The pound rallied on Friday but remained under heavy pressure as UK Prime Minister Theresa May fought to justify the Brexit deal. LME aluminium closed the day’s trading at US$ 1914 per tonne on Friday. Weak fundamentals saw LME aluminium unsuccessfully testing pressure around US$1,947 per tonne twice last Friday night. With support below, it rebounded after it dipped below the Bollinger lower band, and settled slightly up on the day at US$1,947 per tonne. The contract is expected to trade within a range of US$ 1,910-1,960 per tonne. As on November 16, Friday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1913.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1914 per tonne; 3-months bid price...
Shanghai Metal Market research found a further drop in social inventories of primary aluminium across eight major consumption areas in China. The stock, including SHFE warrants, came in at 1.438 million tonnes over the weekend ended on Monday, November 19, down some 15,000 tonnes from last Thursday, November 15. The reason for this incessant week-on-week fall in primary aluminium inventories could be the production cuts across smelters due to increased losses. Compared to last Thursday, inventories in Wuxi and Jiangsu plunged by some 15,000 tonnes to stand at 613,000 tonnes while that in Nanhai and Guangdong, and Gongyi and Henan dropped by some 2,000 tonnes and 1,000 tonnes to clock at 207,000 tonnes and 75,000 tonnes, respectively. On the other hand, inventories in Shanghai and...
National Aluminium Company Limited ’s (NALCO) hi-tech pavilion at the Make in Odisha Conclave 2018 used the latest technologies including 3d holographic display, virtual reality (VR), touch screen, gesture driven interactive wall etc to showcase its production units, products, CSR activities, achievements etc. Hi-tech pavilion was held in Bhubaneswar from November 11 to 15. According to Nalco press release, the VR technology was an instant crowd puller that gave the visitors a unique and engrossing experience of virtually visiting the picturesque NALCO’s Panchpatmali Bauxite mines and other operating units at Angul and Damanjodi. NALCO CMD Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand said that the emergence of the 4th Industrial Revolution, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Robotics, Augmented...
On November 8, around 10,000 Spanish workers reportedly marched in Aviles, Spain, protesting the US-based aluminium giant Alcoa’s proposal to close down two of its smelters. They even sought for the intervention of the government regarding the said matter but received a hostile response. According to the report, the shutdown of Alcoa’s two smelters could threaten up to 700 jobs. Rejecting the demand from the workers, Magdalena Valerio, minister of labour, migration and social security, categorically stated on November 11, “We are not in a state-run economy, how [do we] intervene in the company. We are not in a communist regime.” It was on October 17 when Alcoa announced its decision to close two of its smelters in Aviles and La Coruna. The two smelters together have the potential to...
Aluminum Association President & CEO Heidi Brock, on Friday November 16, gave a testimony at the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), highlighting the urgent need for full, quota-free tariff exemptions for Canada and Mexico as part of the final U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The comments were made as part of the USITC’s hearing titled “United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement: Likely Impact on the U.S. Economy and Specific Industry Sectors”. Brock said: “The [USMCA] simply cannot work as intended for the aluminium industry and our customers with tariffs – or quotas to limit access to supply – in place. Full, quota-free exemptions for Canada and Mexico from aluminium tariffs as part of this agreement will benefit the U.S. aluminium industry and the hundreds of thousands of...
