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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Limited arrivals to the warehouses and active downstream purchases still continue in China, resulting in a week-on-week decline in primary aluminium inventories across eight major consumption areas. Stocks, including the SHFE warrants, shrank 23,000 tonnes from last Thursday, August 16, to stand at 1.74 million tonnes as of today, August 23, Shanghai Metals Market found. This marks a faster week-on-week drop compared to 14,000 tonnes last Thursday. Stringent availability of railroad cars in Xinjiang province could be responsible for the narrow delivery of aluminium ingots from the area. Alongside, active participation from downstream consumers for purchasing primary aluminium, on the event of reduced aluminium prices at the beginning of the week, also contributed to the plunge in...
The US President Donald Trump’s decision to impose 10 per cent higher tariff on imported aluminium seems to now creating a positive impact on the domestic market as one of the renowned American aluminium producers Century Aluminium marks the ceremonial restart today, on August 22, at its Hawesville smelter. The smelter is reopening three potlines that were dormant since 2015. By the end of the year, the smelter is expecting to return to its full capacity with this recommencement and create nearly 300 new American jobs. The officials of the company believe that this could be possible because of the Trump administration’s higher tariff on imported aluminium that sparked the 115 million dollar investment into the Hawesville plant, which is Century Aluminium's largest location. Century’s...
In a letter to Treasury Department Under Secretary David Malpass, the Aluminum Association called on the Trump administration to address China’s structural aluminum overcapacity when meeting with Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen this week. Malpass will lead the U.S. delegation in trade talks with China in Washington on August 22 and 23. Illegal government subsidies in China for both primary aluminum and semi-fabricated aluminum products have resulted in significant overcapacity in the market, hurting U.S. workers and threatening the industry’s continued health. Chinese smelters can now make nearly 11 million more metric tons of primary aluminum than China actually consumes. This excess capacity alone is equal to nearly all U.S. aluminum demand. Subsidized overcapacity...
The dollar weakened on Tuesday after US President Donald Trump criticised central bank's interest rate hikes. The dollar index settled at 95.238 after it fell to 95.07, its lowest since August 9. LME aluminium closed the day’s trading at US$ 2040.50, higher than last closing and later strengthened to finish Tuesday at US$2,064.5 per tonne overnight. The contract is expected to trade at US$2,060-2,080 per tonne today. As on August 21, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2040 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2040.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2064 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2065 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2108 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price stands at US$ 2113 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock dropped to...
One of two potlines at Century Aluminum's 218,000 mt/year Sebree smelter in western Kentucky idled by a power outage May 29 is mostly restarted and should be fully operational soon, United Steelworkers officials said Monday. According to one USW official, the potline is about 75% restarted and should reach 100% in the next couple of weeks. A second union official agreed. Both asked not to be identified because the Chicago-based company has not released an official restart update. Century officials could not be reached for comment Monday. During the company's second-quarter 2018 earnings call, CEO Michael Bless said both the Sebree potline and the first of three restarting potlines at the company's 252,000 mt/year Hawesville smelter -- also in western Kentucky -- should be in full...
Backed on continued price growth of alumina and steady movement of other input costs, A00 aluminium ingot spot price today, on August 21, has recorded a sweeping surge to RMB 14550 per tonne, Shanghai Metals Market found. Yesterday, on August 20, the price had shown a little bearish sentiment plunging RMB 40 per tonne from RMB 14360 per tonne to RMB 14320 per tonne. That could be because of the limited arrivals to the inventories but active consumption among the downstream consumers over the weekend. However, today in contrast, the price has recorded a significant growth of RMB 230 per tonne. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 14530 per tonne and RMB 14570 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 70 to 30 per tonne. All the major markets in China have witnessed a...
The US dollar index fell below 96 to the lowest in almost one week at 95.76 on Monday after Federal Reserve took decision to raise interest rates. LME aluminium closed the day’s trading at US$ 2033 per tonne yesterday. Then the contract hit a high of US$2,084.5 per tonne during the European session before it finished1.3% higher at US$2,058.5 per tonne during Monday night. We expect LME aluminium to trade at US$2,050-2,070 per tonne today. As on August 20, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2032 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2033 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2065 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2065.50 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2110 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price stands at US$ 2115 per tonne. The LME aluminium...
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the Bahrain-based aluminium smelter, reports that mid of last week August 15, the company received a high-level delegation from General Electric (GE) Power. The delegation was led by the President and chief executive officer of GE Gas Power Systems (GPS) Chuck Nugent and comprised of top officials of the company. Alba’s deputy chief executive officer Ali Al Baqali, chief marketing officer Khalid A Latif, chief power officer Amin Sultan, chief administration officer Waleed Tamimi along with other officials of Alba received the delegates from GE and briefed them about Alba’s historical background, its achievements and importance to Bahrain’s economy. Al Baqali also briefed about the progress on Alba’s Power Expansion project to GE officials. He said, “Our flagship...
The US dollar index fell to 96.11 on Friday on lower demand for the safe-haven greenback, as traders hoped the upcoming trade talks between the US and China would ease tension. LME aluminium fell to a low of US$2,018.5 per tonne before it regained some losses and closed at US$2,032 per tonne on Friday night. The day's trading closed at US$ 1999 per tonne. As the dollar fell, LME aluminium is likely to rebound and trade at US$2,030-2,060 per tonne today. As on August 17, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1998per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1999 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2025 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2026 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2073 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price stands at US$ 2078 per tonne. The LME...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, primary aluminium inventories across major consumption areas in China continued to decline over the weekend ended on August 20, 2018. Stocks, including SHFE warrants, shrank around 20,000 tonnes from last Thursday, August 16, to stand at 1.74 million tonnes. The fall could be attributed to the limited arrivals to all the warehouses and steady downstream purchases. Hence, it indicates that there has been a balance maintained between supply and consumption over the weekend in the market. Compared to last Thursday, inventory in Wuxi and Jiangsu dropped 9000 tonnes to stand at 739,000 tonnes today, while Nanhai and Guangdong, and Gongyi and Henan recorded fall by 3000 tonnes and 8000 tonnes to stand at 237,000 tonnes and 148,000, respectively. For more...
Russia’s sanctions-hit aluminium giant Rusal (0486.HK) declared on Friday, August 17, that its board had approved a change of domicile from Britain’s Jersey to Russia for taking some advantage of new special tax regulations. The announcement arrived a day after Russian energy-related company En+ Group announced that it was considering re-domiciling to one of Russia’s new offshore zones. However, Rusal’s decision to change domicile can only come off if shareholders also give consent to it. Russia has created two special administrative regions where companies enjoy benefits such as a zero tax on profits received by way of dividends - an arrangement similar to foreign offshore tax havens. The company said its board member had decided to change the domicile because they thought that it could...
Mecfor unveiled one of its most innovative projects to date, the first automated guided vehicle for aluminium smelters on August 16 in Quebec. The AGV designed and manufactured in North America, will serve the global primary aluminium industry. Based in Saguenay, Quebec, Mecfor specializes in equipment design and manufacture for the global aluminium, mining and metals, and rail industries. The vehicle is able to manoeuvre itself automatically with the help of artificial intelligence. The ability to move automatically within a smelter that has strong magnetic fields, dust, wide temperature variations and constant interactions with workers and other equipment, was a challenge that has been handled successfully by the team. “With this technological investment, Mecfor is positioning itself...
The US dollar index came off from a 13.5-month high and closed at 96.57 on Thursday, while the Chinese Yuan recovered from its weakest level since January 2017. Most of the base metals rose across the board overnight on Thursday after closing lower for two days. LME aluminium closed the day’s trading at US$ 1998 per tonne yesterday, slightly higher than the last closing. LME aluminium reversed all early losses to a high of US$2,056 per tonne before it edged down and closed at US$2,038 per tonne on Thursday night. Shanghai Metals Market expects it to test the five-, 10- and 20-day moving averages today with a trading range of US$2,020-2,070 per tonne. As on August 16, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1997per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1998 per tonne;...
Spot aluminium trading in east China spurred a bit on Thursday, August 16, than the previous day as drops in SHFE aluminium prices generated some purchases from downstream consumers, found Shanghai Metals Market. The SHFE September contract traded range-bound at RMB 14380 per tonne to RMB 14390 per tonne in the morning after it fell overnight. In Shanghai and Wuxi, most transactions were seen at RMB 14330 per tonne RMB 14350 per tonne, while in Hangzhou, trading activities were heard at RMB 14340 per tonne to RMB 14350 per tonne. Transactions in Linyi and Gongyi, on the other hand, were heard at RMB 14300 per tonne with discounts of RMB 50-30 per tonne and at RMB 14370 per tonne with discounts of RMB 70 per tonne, respectively. SMM believes the recent movement of the US dollar could be a...
The ongoing coal shortage has begun affecting other segments besides power plants and the railways. The ongoing coal shortage has begun affecting other segments besides power plants and the railways, with the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) stating on Wednesday that aluminium makers are seeing an adverse impact on their refinery and smelting operations. The reason, FIMI Secretary General R K Sharma said, is that these manufacturers are unable to run their captive power plants due to the coal shortage. The low availability of railway rakes is exacerbating the issue, he added. According to FIMI, coal is usually allotted to primary aluminium smelters by Coal India Ltd (CIL) or its subsidiary through linkages by way of FSAs (fuel supply agreement). “However, both aluminium...
According to the latest update by Shanghai Metals Market, primary aluminium inventories across major consumption areas in China has recorded a further fall this week with limited arrivals. Stocks across eight consumption areas, including SHFE warrants, shrank around 14000 tonnes from last Thursday, August 9, and 5000 tonnes from last Monday, August 13, to stand at 1.761 million tonnes as of August 16. The current inventory status in the major Chinese cities stands as follows: But despite the limited supplies of primary aluminium stocks in the market, the A00 aluminium ingot price failed to record a surge. As of August 16, the price has clocked a drop of RMB 160 per tonne to stand at RMB 14330 per tonne, in contrast to RMB 14490 per tonne on August 15. The average prices are expected to...
The US dollar index closed at 96.71 overnight after rising to over 96.98 earlier, the highest since June 2017 as investors added their holdings of the greenback on worries over slowing Chinese growth and Europe's exposure to Turkey. The Chinese yuan fell past 6.95 per dollar in overnight offshore trading. LME aluminium continued downward trend and closed the day’s trading at US$ 1994.5 per tonne, the level last seen in April 2018, before the sanctions against Rusal. After that it recovered slightly and touched a three-week low at US$2,007 per tonne and closed at US$2,022 per tonne at Wednesday night. The contract is likely to trade at US$2,000-2,040 per tonne today amid bearish sentiment. As on August 15, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1993.50 per tonne, LME official...
Century Aluminum plant in Goose Creek, South Carolina has resumed hiring after President Trump imposed tariffs on foreign aluminium imports, though it is operating at 50% capacity. Century president and CEO Mike Bless is of the view that the tariffs are having their intended effect on domestic industry. Century aluminium reported a 21 per cent increase in sales for the second quarter. Full-year production is expected to be up more than 60 per cent over 2017. However, they will continue operating at 50% capacity till next year. Century is hiring staff despite the ongoing dispute with the state-owned utility Santee Cooper over electricity cost. Bless points out electricity accounts for 40 per cent of aluminium’s cost of production. The laid off 300 of its 600 employees in 2016. Bless says...
