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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Optimism about aluminium fades as economies falter
As Rio Tinto and Meridian Energy haggle over the price of power for the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter, optimism about the metal's future has faded in line with modest expectations for world growth, Deutsche Bank says in its quarterly commodities report. The bank said the "considerable" optimism with...
Rio Tinto Alcan aluminium production up 14 percent in the first quarter of 2013
Rio Tinto has reported that its production from Rio Tinto Alcan refinery has increased by 14 percent to 594000 tonnes in Q1 13 from Q1 12. The rise was on account of resolution of lockout at Alma and power outage at Shawinigan. When compared to fourth quarter ending previous year the production was...
Tiwai Point Smelter's crunch talks resume today
Crucial face-to-face talks between the owners of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter and its electricity supplier, Meridian Energy, resume in Wellington today, with both sides blocking out the rest of the week, if necessary, to try and nut out a new electricity contract. Representatives of the...
Rio Tinto waits for green light on $1.3b Weipa mine expansion
Rio Tinto Alcan expects construction of its $1.3 billion bauxite mine expansion near Weipa to start this year. The company has delivered its final environment impact statement to the Federal Government and is hopeful of approval of South of Embley for a construction start before the wet season...
Tiwai Pt sale to be a risky move for Rio Tinto
All the cards do not rest with Rio Tinto in the stalled negotiations over electricity contracts with the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter, accounting firm WHK New Zealand's chief executive Phil Mulvey says. "Rio Tinto has hived off its smelter assets into Pacific Aluminium ... If it shuts the plant, it...
Pressure mounts on Rio Tinto to conclude deal with Trimet
Things are hotting up in France over Rio Tinto’s plans to either sell it’s Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne smelter or sell it to German aluminium producer, Trimet. Since the socialists took power in France last year, the French Government’s Industrial Renewal Minister, Arnaud Montebourg has been pretty...
New Zealand Aluminium Smelters optimistic about power supply talks
New Zealand Aluminium Smelters, which curtailed aluminum production mid-March, is optimistic about reaching a feasible electricity supply agreement, a spokesman for Pacific Aluminium said on Tuesday. NZAS is 79.36% owned by Rio Tinto subsidiary Pacific Aluminium, and 20.64% by Japan's Sumitomo...
French minister warns Rio Tinto against plant closure
"Rio Tinto has a responsibility that negotiations are fulfilled as the French government will not accept the other solution, a closure, that Rio Tinto is still keeping on the table," the minister said after a visit to the plant. Rio Tinto Alcan, the aluminium division of the mining giant, is in...
Federal Government confirms assistance to Gove Alumina refinery
The Minister Martin Ferguson confirmed today that the Commonwealth Government through its Export Finance and Insurance Corporation is now undertaking due diligence for the provision of a loan guarantee to support the financing of a gas pipeline from Katherine to the Gove alumina refinery in the...
Trimet in talks to buy two French Rio aluminum plants
Trimet Aluminium AG, Germany’s biggest producer of the lightweight metal, said it’s in discussions with Rio Tinto Group to buy two smelters in France. “We are in talks,” Martin Iffert, chief executive officer of Trimet, said by phone, declining to give further details. An official for Rio in London...
Constellium, whose owners include Apollo, Rio Tinto plans IPO
Apollo Global Management backed company Constellium, which makes aluminum products for the aerospace and transportation industry, is starting to interview banks for an initial public offering, according to two sources familiar with the situation. The company, based in Paris, is 51 percent owned by...
Rio appoints Chris Lynch as new CFO
Mining giant Rio Tinto has appointed the former boss of toll road owner Transurban, Chris Lynch, as its new chief financial officer. Mr Lynch will replace Guy Elliot on April 18. Rio said Mr Lynch will remain on the board and become an executive director and member of the executive committee as...
Talks on Tiwai Point aluminium smelter making slow progress
State-owned Meridian Energy says it is making some "slow progress" in its talks with New Zealand's biggest single electricity user, the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, but the outcome is still unclear. "We are currently still in negotiations with Tiwai, with Rio Tinto, and they are being conducted...
Alumina price expected to remain high in the near term
Rio Tinto recently announced that it would not shut down its 2.75 million tonne (MT) Gove alumina refinery. The company clarified that it will be receiving energy assistance from the government of the country. The move could lead to a slowdown in the recent increase in alumina prices. However,...
Anglesey Aluminium site vital to boost island's economy
The leader of Anglesey Council will make representations to the Anglesey Aluminium Metals (AAM Ltd) Board, emphasising the importance of the site to the Island's economic plight. The former Anglesey Aluminium site in Holyhead still has the potential to provide a huge catalyst for new jobs and...
Rio Tinto’s pain is packaging giant Amcor’s gain
The results of packing giant Amcor and global miner Rio Tinto indicate fortune does indeed favour the prepared. Rio Tinto, the world’s second-biggest mining group, reported its first ever annual loss last week, following more than US$20 billion (HK$155.1 billion) in write-downs since its...
Rio Tinto still under pressure due to its fateful acquisition of Alcan
What is often dubbed the metal of the future for its impressive demand growth profile has been an albatross for the resources giant ever since it made that fateful 38-billion acquisition of Alcan back in 2007. Five years on and 29 billion of write-downs later and aluminum is still a highly...
Rio Tinto reports 47 percent plunge in half-year underlying profit
World no.3 miner Rio Tinto reported a 47 percent plunge in half-year underlying profit on Thursday, its worst since 2009 due to sharp falls in commodity prices, although its new chief pointed to a pick-up in China as a positive sign. Chief Executive Sam Walsh was anointed last month when his...
