US imported 11.5x more primary aluminium from Canada than it exported in semi-fabricated form in H1 2026 - know why
At the US-Canada border, aluminium is constantly on the move, but the direction of trade is far from balanced. In the first six months of 2026, the US imported 907,581.44 tonnes of primary aluminium from Canada, while exporting only 78,886.12 tonnes of semi-fabricated aluminium products such as...
Australian bauxite forecast at $39/t vs Guinea at $34-46/t: How ore quality, freight and oversupply are shaping prices
What happens when the world’s biggest bauxite supplier produces too much of the one commodity it dominates? Guinea’s bauxite market is offering a striking answer. Record exports have strengthened its position in global trade, but the surge in supply has also pushed prices lower. Australia,...
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Rio Tinto invests in French aluminum plant to cut power costs
Rio Tinto has invested nearly 80 million euros in its Dunkirk aluminum plant in the past 18 months and plans to invest at least that much again over the next five years on energy saving and efficiency improvements. The largest aluminum plant in the European Union with 2012 production of 286,600...
Rio Tinto writes off $592 million aluminium smelter
Rio Tinto Ltd. has written $592.1 million off its Tiwai Point aluminium smelter in New Zealand, slashing its value to just $14.8 million. The smelter's future is under cloud as Rio seeks to sell it as part of a clutch of ageing Australasian aluminium production assets, packaged for sale as Pacific...
AV Birla, Coal India eye Rio Tinto assets
Coal India and Aditya Birla group are among a host of global companies that have shown interest in the assets put on the block by Rio Tinto in Australia. The Anglo-Australian mining giant is selling a 29% stake in its subsidiary Coal & Allied in the New South Wales province and its majority stake...
Rio Tinto’s exit from aluminium business looms amid asset sale
As June 30 looms, so does the first of a string of asset sales by Rio Tinto’s new chief executive, Sam Walsh, as he sets out to rid the company of more than $US13 billion ($13.7bn) in underperforming and non-strategic assets. But the scale of the clean-out could be doubled to $US26 billion if...
Century Aluminum buys Sebree Kentucky aluminum smelter from Rio Tinto
Century Aluminum Co. announced Monday that it had completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of the nearly 500-employee plant from Rio Tinto Alcan. With this acquisition the Sebree, Ky., aluminum smelter now has the fifth owner in its 40-year history. “We are really happy to...
Rio Tinto seeks premium from Japan on aluminium shipments
Rio Tinto Alcan has written to Japanese buyers asking for a premium of $254 per tonne over the LME cash price for July-September primary aluminium shipments, a source involved in quarterly pricing talks said on Tuesday. That compares with average premiums of $248 to $250 a tonne in the previous...
Constellium NV's shares down in their debut on NY Stock Exchange
Dutch aluminum products maker Constellium NV's shares opened 10 percent below their IPO price in their debut on the New York Stock Exchange, valuing the company at $1.36 billion. Constellium, whose shareholders include Apollo Global Management LLC, miner Rio Tinto and French investment firm FSI,...
Pacific Aluminium releases plans for gas pipeline project in Australia
Pacific Aluminium has released the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for its proposed 603 km Katherine to Gove Gas Pipeline (KGGP), to be located in the Northern Territory, Australia. Pacific Aluminium, a business unit of Rio Tinto, owns and operates a bauxite mine and alumina refinery at...
Change to the scope of the production upgrade project of Rio Tinto Alcan in Iceland
Rio Tinto Alcan in Iceland has informed Landsvirkjun of a change to the scope of the ISAL Production Upgrade project for the company‘s aluminium plant in Straumsvik, Iceland. The initial plan anticipated that the annual production capacity of the aluminium plant would increase by 20% from 190...
Rio rejects bauxite mine shipping claims
Rio Tinto Alcan has responded to claims a new bauxite mine on Queensland's Cape York would result in an additional 900 shipping movements. The mining company says the claims from the Australian Marine Conservation Society are wrong and the South of Embley project would only have an extra 60 bauxite...
Rio Tinto wins go-ahead for South of Embley bauxite project
Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke has finally given Rio Tinto the go-ahead for the $1.4 billion South of Embley bauxite expansion near Weipa on Cape York Peninsula, more than a year after the miner was sent back to the approvals drawing board to deal with Great Barrier Reef shipping concerns....
Australia approves Rio Tinto's $1 bln bauxite mine
Australia approved on Wednesday miner Rio Tinto's $1 billion-plus South of Embley bauxite mine and port project in Queensland after a year's delay due to concerns about ships harming the Great Barrier Reef. Environment Minister Tony Burke said the project on the Cape York Peninsula could go ahead,...
Tiwai Point smelter 'losing millions' every month
The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is "losing millions of dollars every month" and can ill-afford to give shift workers a 50% increase in leave without increasing hours worked, the company says. The smelter owner, New Zealand Aluminium Smelters, says it will appeal an Employment Relations Authority...
Aluminium business dragged Rio Tinto profits down in 2012
The aluminium market deteriorated further in 2012, while the strong Australian and Canadian dollars did nothing to relieve cost pressures in the business, Rio Tinto chairman Jan du Plessis told the company's annual general meeting this morning. Mr du Plessis said these factors, coupled with high...
Rio Tinto flags more job cuts
Rio Tinto Ltd boss Sam Walsh says more jobs will be shed in Australia as the global miner continues to make $US5 billion in savings by the end of 2014. Three months after the company announced its first full-year net loss of almost $US3 billion; Mr Walsh confirmed more local job cuts were on the...
Alcan suspends anode output at Alma aluminum smelter
Rio Tinto Alcan has suspended anode production at its 424,000-tonne-per-year Alma aluminum smelter in northern Quebec while it investigates the cause of a fatal accident overnight. The anode operations at the site will remain shut until further notice after an employee died following an accident at...
VHE completes fabrication and installation of a preheating furnace
VHE has completed the fabrication and installation of a preheating furnace for the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter at Straumsvík in Iceland. The furnace, which is semi-automatic, is able to heat 15 tonnes of scrap to 200°C within 2 hours. At this temperature all water and many low-boiling point organics...
Declining aluminium price prompts Rio Tinto to negotiate a better deal from Meridian
Forecasts for global aluminium prices bode ill for negotiations between Tiwai Point's owner, Rio Tinto, and state-owned enterprise Meridian Energy. The declining aluminium price prompted Rio Tinto to try to negotiate a better deal from Meridian for the smelter's power, which is sourced from Lake...
