Canada and China have extended a bilateral trade arrangement that links Chinese market access for Canadian agricultural products with Canada's access for Chinese steel and aluminum. The decision provides greater certainty for exporters on both sides as Ottawa seeks to expand its trade relationships beyond the United States. The extension, announced on November 4, 2026, will keep the existing arrangement in place until the end of 2028. It comes amid renewed efforts by the two countries to strengthen economic ties and address outstanding trade issues. For the aluminum industry, the agreement offers a clearer timeline for market access, while its agricultural provisions provide Canadian producers with greater predictability in one of their key export markets. Canada-China trade agreement...
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...
Grow with
AL Circle
A falling US dollar index and China’s November aluminium output data lifted LME aluminium prices above the US$2,000 per tonne mark on Thursday, December 14. Despite higher inventory level, the light metal contract rose from US$1,997 per tonne on Wednesday, December 13, to close at US$2,017 after night trading yesterday. Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) analysis suggests LME aluminium will continue to be range-bound at the 10-day moving average at US$2,028-2,065 per tonne on Friday, December 15. As on December 14, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,015 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,017 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,033 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,033.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,078 per tonne, and Dec1...
STAS INC, the global leader in the supply of refining technologies for aluminium casthouses and crucibles and siphons, has entered into a new commercialization partnership with the Netherlands based HENCON. From now, the Canadian equipment supplier will promote and sell HENCON’s entire range of products for the light metal industry in Canada. STAS, known for its expertise in providing innovative technology solutions to the primary aluminium smelters, is the right entity to enhance HENCON’s market presence in Canada. The company will ensure a 24/7 service to all of HENCON’s customers. Leveraging on the combined customer base of HENCON and STAS is also a key objective of this new partnership. Outside Canada, the two companies will act as partners in a complementary way to their own global...
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s primary aluminium production dropped for a fifth consecutive month in November. Total primary aluminium production stood at 2.35 million tonnes, down 7.8 per cent from 2.55 million tonnes in October and down 16.8 percent year on year. During January- November, China churned out 29.54 million tonnes of aluminium, up 1.7 per cent from the same period last year. The statistics bureau said that the country’s non-ferrous metals production stood at 4.32 million tonnes in November, down 6.9 per cent from the same month last year. During January- November, overall nonferrous production stood at 49.34 million tonnes, up 2.5 per cent from a year ago. In 2016, China’s nonferrous production was 52.8 million tonnes.
Norsk Hydro today announced that it will reopen and upgrade the second production line at Hydro Husnes, Norway. The company will introduce new technology elements that will give better results. The production line is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2020. Hydro will make total investment of NOK 1.3 billion (in 2017 terms). Final build decision is expected in Q3 2018. Hydro Husnes today produces about 95,000 tonnes of primary aluminium per year. With the re-start, the plant will produce around 190,000 tonnes of aluminium annually. Hilde Merete Aasheim, Head of Primary Aluminium in Hydro, said: "We have great faith in continued aluminium production in Norway. We are making use of new technology elements in this re-start, and building up a robust and future-oriented plant at...
Liberty House, an industrial and metals company controlled by Sanjeev Gupta, is looking at making a bid for Rio Tinto’s aluminium smelter in northern France. Three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that the aluminium smelter, which valued at around 200 million euros ($234.44 million), would add to the Gupta Family Group (GFG) conglomerate. The Dunkirk aluminium smelter is currently Europe’s number one producer of aluminium in particular aluminium slab. The smelter has an annual capacity of 270,000 tonnes and is powered by nuclear energy supplied by EDF. Earlier reports suggested that Rio was considering the sale of its Dunkirk aluminium smelter. The company was planning to sell its aluminium smelting operations that are “not powered by hydroelectricity” to stay...
Primary ingot prices in China are hovering at a level close to RMB 14000 after falling drastically by the end of the first week of December. Average A00 ingot price has increased to stand at RMB 13,980/t today from RMB 13,920/t yesterday. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, the primary ingot prices registered some increase in the domestic markets too. The price is expected to range within RMB 13960 – 14000 per tonne. The positive movement in A00 Aluminum prices have continued in all other individual markets in China. Average price of A00 ingot is trending the highest in the South China market at RMB 14,040/t. The below table shows the price increase in the other major Chinese markets: The increasing aluminium stock in China as well in the LME warehouses despite production cut remains a...
In absence of inventory support, which has been increasing of late and rising aluminium exports from China, LME aluminium failed to stay above the US2,000 per tonne mark. After rising to US$2,004 per tonne on Tuesday, December 12, the light metal contract again dropped to US$1,997 per tonne on Wednesday, December 13. Technical trend analysis suggests that the downward pressure will persist on LME aluminium in the medium term, and the contract will trade range-bound within US$2,000-2,025 per tonne on Thursday, December 14. As on December 13, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$1,996.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$1,997 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,015 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,015.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid...
European Aluminium, the voice of the entire aluminium value chain, has welcomed the decision made by European Union, Japan and the United States to tackle excess production capacity in key sectors. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer yesterday agreed to strengthen trilateral cooperation in the WTO and other forums to battle unfair trade. Gerd Götz, Director General of European Aluminium, said: “The issue of severe excess capacity in key sectors exacerbated by government support was highlighted by important trade authorities. This recognition is great news for our industry as aluminium is one of the sectors affected by government-supported capacity expansion and unfair competitive conditions caused...
Alufluoride, one of the few manufacturers of specialty chemical aluminium fluoride in India, a raw material for aluminium is leveraging on the uptrend in its end market – aluminium, as the raw material industry is experiencing supply tightness and improved pricing. After struggling due to low aluminium and raw material prices weak pricing environment for the last few years, Alufluoride has witnessed a good traction in its earnings supported by a healthy balance sheet, along with a niche production. Aluminum fluoride is used in electrolytic processing of aluminium from alumina as it lowers the consumption of electricity required in the smelting process and thereby helps in the reduction of production costs of aluminium. A few players like – Tanfac Industries, Alufluoride, SPIC (Southern...
Nonferrous metals trading on the SHFE was supported by bullish news yesterday and the upward momentum in the morning continued in the afternoon. After constantly falling since the winter cut started in November, A00 ingot prices in China started showing some upward movements in the first few days of December to fall again by the end of the first week. Average A00 ingot price remains unchanged today at RMB 13,920/t. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, the primary ingot prices registered some increase in the domestic markets. The price is expected to range within RMB 13910 – 13950 per tonne. The positive movement in A00 Aluminum prices have continued in all other individual markets in China. The below table shows the price increase in major Chinese markets: The existing surplus market...
LME aluminium is resisting the downward trend trying to settle over USD 2000. After trending downwards for the last week, the light metal finally crossed USD 2000 level and closed at USD 2004 per tonne on Tuesday December 13. According to SMM, LME aluminium is expected to stay volatile at a low level between $2,000-2,300/t today. Technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may break the five-day moving average and trade in the range of US$2,015-2,045 per tonne. As on December 12, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$ 2003per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$ 2004 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,026 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,026.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,073 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,078 per...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), the Bahrain-based aluminium smelter, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with International Bechtel Co. (Bechtel) to explore further opportunities of growth with Line 6 Expansion Project, which will result in Alba becoming the world’s largest single-site aluminium smelter. His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister attended the MoU signing ceremony between Alba and Bechtel, which was held during the reception organised by the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) in collaboration with American Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-Bahrain Business Council on 30 November 2017 in Washington DC. Other cross-sector trade agreements were also signed between Bahrain and...
LME aluminium has stopped declining. After trending downwards for the last four consecutive days, the light metal finally rose 0.5 per cent to touch US2,002 per tonne on Monday, December 11. However, after night trading, the contract dropped slightly to close at US$1,991.5 per tonne. Technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may break the five-day moving average on Tuesday, December 12, to trade in the range of US$2,015-2,045 per tonne. As on December 11, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$1,990.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$1,991.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,005 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,006 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,055 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,060 per tonne. LME...
Indonesia Asahan Aluminium, the country’s only aluminium producer, is undergoing a major transformation. The company aims to double its aluminium production capacity to 500,000 tonnes per annum by 2020, and to one million tonnes by 2025. It further intends to take control of its supply chain thereby reducing dependence on imports of alumina. The projects in pipeline may cost the around US$3.5 billion. Inalum, as the wholly-owned government sector company is known, has been keen on scaling its production as it is now capable of meeting only one third of domestic aluminium demand, estimated at 800,000 tonnes per year. The construction of a second smelter, with a projected production capacity of 200,000 tonnes, will cost US$700 million approximately. Inalum plans to erect a hydro power plant...
LME aluminium closed below US$2,000 per tonne mark last week indicating at an obvious stretch of short-term volatility. The light metal contract ended at US$1,992 per tonne on Friday, December 8, down from US$1,994 per tonne a day before. Shanghai Metals Market holds a slightly different outlook though. According to SMM, LME aluminium will stop dropping temporarily today and rise slightly. It is likely to trade in the range of US$2,000-2,030 per tonne on Monday, December 11. As on December 8, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$1,991.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$1,992 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,011.50 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,012 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,060 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is...
Tajikistan Aluminium Company (TALCO), the largest state-owned company in Tajikistan with the designed capacity of 500,000 tonnes of aluminium per year, produced 85,600 tonnes of aluminium in the first ten months of 2017. The company reduced its production by 23 per cent during that period. TALCO’s total aluminium production stood at 76,000 tonnes during January-September. The company recorded a downward trend in aluminium production this year. Earlier reports stated that the company had planned to increase the volume of aluminium production to 300,000 tonnes by 2020. TALCO official representative Igor Sattarov said the production will be brought to 168,800 tonnes in 2018, to 188,800 tonnes in 2019, and to 300,000 tonnes in 2020. In November, TALCO announced that China’s Yunnan...
A00 ingot prices in China are constantly falling after the winter cut started in November. Experiencing few significant drops since the last week of November, average A00 ingot price today stands at RMB 13,920/t. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, the primary ingot price registered a drop of about RMB 400/t in the first week of December. The price is expected to range within RMB 13,900 – 13,940 per tonne. The drop in aluminium A00 Aluminum prices have continued in all other individual markets in China. The below table shows the price drop in various markets: Liu Xiaolei, chief aluminium analyst of SMM discussed these downward trends in the domestic aluminium market during the Die-casting Industry Chain Supply-demand Communication Summit organized by SMM on Dec.8. The existing surplus...
It is quite apparent now that the global aluminium market ex-China is moving toward a surplus. The expectations of tighter supply because of smelter capacity cutbacks in China seem to have started fading now as the cuts have been less than expected. In China, on the other hand, primary aluminium output kept rising. All these factors have led LME aluminium prices to correct over the last weeks falling below US$2,000 per tonne mark. The light metal which closed at US$2,028.0 per tonne on Wednesday, December 6, dropped to US$1,994 per tonne on Thursday, December 7. The price is expected to fluctuate in the US$1,900-2,000 per tonne range in the short term. Source:www.lme.com As on December 7, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$1,993.50 per tonne, cash seller &...
