
Primary aluminium imports: According to data from the General Administration of Customs, domestic primary aluminium imports stood at approximately 186,000 tonnes in August 2026, up 0.2 per cent month-on-month and down 14.6 per cent year-on-year. Cumulative domestic primary aluminium imports from January to August 2026 reached roughly 1.657 million tonnes, a year-on-year decline of 3.4 per cent. Primary aluminium exports: Customs data showed domestic primary aluminium exports were around 22,000 tonnes in August 2026, dropping 30.7 per cent month-on-month and 14.7 per cent year-on-year. Cumulative primary aluminium exports between January and August 2026 totalled approximately 168,000 tonnes, representing a year-on-year increase of about 9.3 per cent. Net imports of primary aluminium:...
The London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium price graph continues to drop across the pricing and contract segments on the September 24 trading session, reporting declines over the September 23 close . The LME aluminium cash bid slumped from USD 3,239.5 per tonne to USD 3,227 per tonne, rising 0.39 per cent. The offer price moved from USD 3,240 per tonne to USD 3,228 per tonne, dropping by 0.37 per cent. Explore- Most comprehensive and forward-looking industry-focused report — Global Bauxite & Alumina Market Forecast to 2036: Supply–Demand, Trade Flows & Price Outlook The LME aluminium three-month bid contracted from USD 3,258 per tonne to USD 3,252 per tonne, decreasing by 0.18 per cent. The offer price plunged from USD 3,260 per tonne to USD 3,252.5 per tonne, representing a 0.23 per cent...
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Japan’s aluminium industry is import based and it has stopped producing primary metal altogether shifting its focus towards value added applications and in secondary aluminium recovery. The country is Asia's top importer of aluminium and the premiums for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the London Metal Exchange cash price set the benchmark for the Asia region. The two major aluminium product manufacturers in Japan are Kobe Steel and Aluminium and UACJ Corporation who make aluminium plates, pre coated sheets and various rolling products for value added applications. Most of end-users keep annual purchase volume of aluminium unchanged to secure stable supply to their production plants. The country imports a large volume of aluminium (alloyed and non-alloyed) to...

The US dollar recovered some ground on Monday, as market holidays in Britain and the US muted trades. Most SHFE base metals traded higher overnight but aluminium dipped close to 0.1%. LME remained closed yesterday. As on May 21, Friday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1761 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1761.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1793 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1795 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at US$ 1913 per tonne, and Dec 20 offer price stands at US$ 1918 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock stood at 1208900 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at 741575 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 467325 tonnes. LME aluminium 3-months Asian Reference Price is hovering at US$ 2072 per tonne. SME and SHFE Aluminium...

China’s manufacturing firm East Hope Group has reportedly entered into an agreement with Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) to explore the feasibility of setting up a project in that region by investing $10 billion. Samir Chaturvedi, CEO of KIZAD, and Meng Changjun, president of Investments, East Hope Group signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the presence of His Excellency Rashed Matar Alsiri Alqemzi, Consul General, United Arab Emirates Consulate General in Shanghai and Yongxing Liu, Chairman of East Hope Group. The potential project may take place in three phases over 15 years, occupying more than 7msqkm within KIZAD. In phase one, there could be the development of an aluminium facility, while in phase two and three, there could be a red mud research centre, a...

On May 27, Canada took the first step towards formalising a new North American Trade Agreement. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland presented what is known as a “ways and means motion” to the House of Commons, which leads the way to the formal presentation of a bill. However, the USMCA deal, which would replace the 25-year old North American Trade Agreement, is yet to be approved by legislatures of the three participating countries – Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The administration of US President negotiated the deal but some US Democratic lawmakers demanded stronger enforcement provisions for USMCA's new labour and environmental standards. The US on May 17 struck deals to exempt aluminium and steel imports tariffs from Canada and Mexico, removing a major obstacle to legislative...

A00 aluminium ingot price dropped after two consecutive increases and stood at RMB14300 per tonne on Tuesday, 28 May 2019. This was down RMB50 per tonne or 0.35 per cent from RMB14350 per tonne on Monday, May 27. The average price is expected to range at RMB14280-14320 per tonne Spot aluminium price is likely to be traded at a premium of RMB40 per tonne. Aluminium ingot price in Foshan came in at RMB 14410 per tonne, down RMB50 per tonne from RMB 14460 per tonne. The average price is expected to range at RMB14390-14430 per tonne today. Ingot price in Wuxi and Hangzhou declined RMB 50 per tonne and RMB 55 per tonne to stand at RMB 14280 per tonne and RMB 14320 per tonne. Aluminium ingot price in Chongqing, Shenyang, Tianjin, Linyi and Gongyi stood at RMB 14340 per tonne, RMB 14335 per...

Nearly 500 members of the local chapter of the United Steelworkers union at Massena cast their votes Friday night in support of a strike against Alcoa and Arconic as negotiations over new labour contracts with them broke off in mid-May. However, the leaders insisted that they are “not going in there wanting to strike” or “any kind of work stoppage” but “they want to negotiate”. "What [the vote] is supposed to tell people is, the union is unified and fighting for what they believe in," Mark Goodfellow, president of United Steelworkers Local 420 said. "They want a fair contract from Alcoa and Arconic." The workers according to him will continue to show up at the plants as usual under the last contract terms for now. In the U.S. more than 4,000 Alcoa and Arconic employees are represented by...

The US dollar index extended its declines on Friday as disappointing data of US durable goods orders grew worries that the trade conflict with China may have slowed the growth of the world’s largest economy. LME base metals traded higher on Friday. Aluminium rose 0.3%. SHFE aluminium advanced 0.5%. As the US dollar extended its declines, three-month LME aluminium fluctuated to close Friday 0.33% higher at US$1,802 per tonne. LME cash settlement price ended the week higher at US$1761.50 per tonne. As on May 21, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1761 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1761.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1793 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1795 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at US$ 1913 per tonne, and Dec 20 offer...

Social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, stood at 1.234 million tonnes as of Monday May 27. Inventories dropped 48,000 tonnes from 1.282 million tonnes on Thursday, May 23, Shanghai Metals Market data showed. Inventories of primary aluminium continued to decline over the weekend, due to limited arrivals and brisk demand. The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across all major China Markets. Primary aluminium stocks in Wuxi, Jiangsu, declined 18,000 tonnes from Thursday, May 23 to stand at 443,000 tonnes. Stocks in Shanghai and Nanhai, Guangdong dropped from 265,000 tonnes and 261,000 on May 23 to stand at 259,000 tonnes and 253,000 tonnes today. Social inventories of primary aluminium...

Indian steel and aluminium producers have asked the Commerce Ministry to exclude the two items from tariff reduction commitments in the on-going Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations. Senior officials from the 16 member- countries are to meet in Bangkok this week to give shape to the proposed pact. “Senior officials from all 16 countries will get together at the inter-sessional meeting this week and there will be pressure to keep the sensitive list of items, on which no reduction commitments will be taken, very short. Both steel and aluminium producers have petitioned to the government to keep several of their items out of the reduction commitments,” a government official said. Aluminium producers demanded exclusion from tariff reduction list on the ground that...

The US dollar declined from a two-year high as weaker domestic data and the threat of economic fallout from the trade war with China grew expectations for an interest-rate cut this year. Base metals ended mixed as LME aluminium jumped 0.84 and SHFE aluminium expanded 0.39%. Three months aluminium closed the day’s trading lower at US$ 1770.50 per tonne. A decline of 8,600 tonnes in stocks across LME-approved warehouses bolstered LME aluminium, to a high of US$1,798 per tonne overnight. It ended 0.84% higher on the day at US$1,796 per tonne. As on May 21, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1739 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1740 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1769.50 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1770.50 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price...

According to the latest report, Canyon Resources Limited has divided high-grade aluminium up to 50 per cent at its Minim Martap Bauxite Project in Cameroon, where drilling is continuing to identify profiles with an increased depth of mineralisation. In some locations, drilling is being carried out up to 100 per cent deeper than past drilling results. Drilling intersections include 6 metres at 58.19 per cent aluminium oxide and 0.92 per cent silicon oxide from surface. Canyon’s chief geologist Alexander Shaw said, “The remainder of the assays from the 250-metre by 250-metre grid drilled on the Beatrice plateau have continued the very high-grade assay results that were recorded in the first batch of assays.” He added, “We are also seeing significant increases in the depths of the...

A00 aluminium ingot price registers an increase after five days of fall. Ingot price on Friday, 24 May 2019 increased from RMB14160 per tonne to RMB14230 per tonne. This marks a growth of RMB70 per tonne or 0.49 per cent. The average price is expected to range at RMB14210-14250 per tonne today. Spot aluminium price is likely to be traded at a premium of RMB40 per tonne. Aluminium ingot price in Foshan stood at RMB 14320 per tonne, up RMB 70 per tonne from RMB 14250 per tonne. The average price is expected to range at RMB14300-14340 per tonne today. Ingot price in Wuxi and Hangzhou rose RMB 75 per tonne and RMB 70 per tonne to stand at RMB 14230 per tonne and RMB 14260 per tonne. Aluminium ingot price in Chongqing, Shenyang, Tianjin, Linyi and Gongyi stood at RMB 14260 per tonne, RMB 14240...

Social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, stood at 1.282 million tonnes as of as of Thursday May 23. Inventories dropped 64,000 tonnes from 1.346 million tonnes on Thursday, May 16, Shanghai Metals Market data showed. The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across all major China Markets. Stocks continued to decline this week, due to limited arrivals and brisk demand. Spot prices remained in a premium over prices of futures, which triggered outflows of warrants, and reduced primary aluminium stocks, SMM reported. Primary aluminium stocks in Wuxi, Jiangsu, declined 22,000 tonnes from Thursday, May 16 to stand at 461,000. In Shanghai, stocks dropped 5,000 tonnes to stand at 265,000 tonnes;...

Patrice L’Huillier, CEO of Aluminerie Alouette, located at about 550 km northeast of Quebec City said that American tariffs on Canadian aluminium cut into profits but didn’t affect production or employment. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the plant after the lifting of tariffs on Canadian aluminium. He also added that the trade dispute with the US actually helped them resist the influx of aluminium from China to Canada. “We will die from the overflow of Chinese aluminum,” said L’Huillier. “The tariff was not a good thing but to control the metal flow and to understand the source of the metal … is quite a good idea.” L’Huillier expressed his concern about how Chinese metals are illegally entering the international markets eating up their shares. While China produced 36 million tonnes...

The US dollar index firmed near a one-month peak, hovering around 98, after the May Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Base metals declined across the board. SHFE aluminium fell 0.49% and LME aluminium dropped 0.7%. Three months LME aluminium slipped to a low of US$1,776.5 per tonne and ended the trading day 0.7% lower at US$1,781 per tonne as most base metals decreased. Cash contract closed at US$ 1747 per tonne. Norsk Hydro’s Albras aluminium smelter will ramp up its output after restrictions were lifted, and this depressed confidence in longs. Today, Three months LME aluminium is expected to trade at US$1,780-1,800 per tonne. As on May 21, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1746 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1747 per tonne; 3-months bid...

A00 aluminium ingot price has further declined today, on May 23, to stand at RMB 14,160 per tonne, found Shanghai Metals Market. The ingot price yesterday was at RMB 14,220 per tonne, which means it has dropped by RMB 60 per tonne over a day. Since April 17 the ingot price has been decline and within almost a week it has dropped by RMB 180 per tonne. The average prices today are expected to range between RMB 14,140 per tonne and RMB 14,180 per tonne. Some of the major Chinese cities like Foshan, Wuxi, Chongqing, and Gongyi have witnessed a fall in ingot price today by RMB 60 per tonne, RMB 50 per tonne, and RMB 40 per tonne. Thus, the prices there are standing at RMB 14,250 per tonne, RMB 14,155 per tonne, RMB 14,190 per tonne, and RMB 14,075 per tonne. Other cities like Hangzhou,...

According to Shanghai Metals Market, the Qinghai-based aluminium producer Western Hydropower has plans to restart its primary aluminium capacity of 150,000 tonnes, which were closed earlier due to rising production cost and environmental restrictions. Of those 150,000 tonnes of capacity, the company intends to resume 50,000 tonnes by the end of May and the remaining 100,000 tonnes in the months ahead, a source told SMM on Wednesday, May 22. Shanghai Metals Market found the plant started enjoying a lower electricity price of RMB 0.3 per tonne from May. Shenhuo Group’s aluminium smelting project, with an annual capacity of 900,000 tonnes, is also underway in the southwestern province of Yunnan. The company announced the news itself in early May. The company also said that the project...

European Aluminium expects that Europe should be the next to be exempted from 10% tariff on aluminium products after the lifting of 232 tariffs on aluminium from Canada and Mexico, a press statement from the association says. Commenting on the matter European Aluminium Director General Gerd Götz said: “The EU is an important ally of the U.S. and a trusted and stable supply source for aluminium. European imports in no way represent a threat to the national security of the U.S. In this respect, we support the European Commission’s negotiation position to lift the Section 232 tariffs as a pre-requisite of any trade deal with the U.S.” Producers now have a global value chain and their operations are not limited to one country. Hence, the Association believes transatlantic trade flows are...