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 may have to accept a cut-price deal to sell Pacific Aluminium
RIO Tinto may have to swallow a cut-price deal if it wants to get the sale of its aluminium division away. That’s the view of Deutsche Bank analysts who have slashed their valuation of Rio’s interests in six Australian and New Zealand aluminium assets to $US4.4 billion ($4.1 billion). The new...
Tiwai expects to shed 100 jobs in 5 years
About 100 jobs at the Tiwai aluminium smelter are expected to go during the next five years. However, the smelter manager says these will be through natural attrition and not redundancies. General manager Ryan Cavanagh confirmed yesterday the positions would go by natural attrition. The Tiwai site...
Rio Tinto Alcan to fully restart Quebec smelter hobbled by massive power outage
Rio Tinto Alcan plans to begin restarting its 70-year-old aluminum smelter in Shawinigan, Que. in a few days and have it operating at full capacity by the second quarter, the company announced Friday. A circuit breaker failure on Dec. 29 cut the smelter's annual production capacity in half to...
Aluminium record set in 2011
The smelter at Tiwai Point produced a record amount of aluminium last year. The smelter produced 354,030 saleable tonnes. The previous highest year was 352,976 tonnes in 2007. The smelter is New Zealand's largest single user of electricity and creates export sales in excess of $1 billion. The...
Rio Tinto Alcan's Kentucky smelter adding capacity to offset power costs
A $20 million project to boost electric amperage is under way at Rio Tinto Alcan's Sebree, Kentucky, aluminum smelter in an effort to increase the plant's aluminum-making capacity to help offset rising electricity rates. The project, expected to be completed later this year, "allows us to make more...
Aluminum Surplus May Plunge to Lowest in 5 Years, Sumitomo Says
A global aluminum surplus may shrink to the lowest level since 2007 as major producers cut output amid soaring energy costs and sluggish demand, said Japan’s third-largest trading house. Supply will exceed demand by 941,000 metric tons this year, down 42 percent from 1.61 million tons in 2011, said...
Heritage list call to block Cape York mines
In a letter to Environment Minister Tony Burke, the Wilderness Society says six proposed mines, including Rio Tinto's giant South of Embley bauxite expansion, threaten the "extraordinary natural values" of the region. Campaigner Gavan McFadzean said that if approved, the emergency listings would...
Bauxite plans spark fears for reef
Conservationists say a planned bauxite mine expansion on Cape York, in far north Queensland, could hurt the Great Barrier Reef. Rio Tinto Alcan is planning the $1.5 billion expansion near Weipa. Several conservation groups have lodged a submission with the Federal Government, requesting it change...
UPDATE 2-Rio Tinto moves to majority stake in Ivanhoe
Global miner Rio Tinto has raised its stake in Canada's Ivanhoe Mines, owner of Mongolia's massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project, to a majority holding but said on Tuesday it had no current plans to buy more shares. Rio, which has built its stake in Ivanhoe as it helped to fund construction of Oyu...
Lockout at Quebec Rio Tinto Aluminum Smelter Drags On
About 780 workers at an aluminum smelter run by the mining giant Rio Tinto in Quebec are heading into the fourth week of a lockout, with many still braving the frigid weather to picket though an injunction—in place until April—that bars them from blocking the smelter entrance. Their contract had...
Aluminium output growth's twin drivers
Global aluminium production grew by 7.4 percent to 43.4 million tonnes in 2011, according to figures released by the International Aluminium Institute (IAI). The twin drivers of that growth were China and the Gulf, where production grew by 10.3 percent and 27.5 percent, respectively. Last year's...
New alert over Rio Tinto threat to Great Barrier Reef
RIO Tinto's $1.4 billion bauxite mine expansion on Cape York has become the latest flash point over the threats caused by increased shipping in the Great Barrier Reef due to the mining boom. The federal government has been forced to reopen consideration of Rio Tinto's South of Embley project and...
Aluminum losses expected to curtail Rio Tinto profits from iron ore in 2011
Record iron ore production is expected to boost Rio Tinto's profits for 2011 even though the mining giant signalled Tuesday that its aluminum operations lost money in the second half of last year. The Anglo-Australian miner said it produced a record 65 million tonnes of iron ore in the fourth...
Aluminium unit weighs down on Rio Tinto
RIO Tinto continues to rack up quarterly production records at its flagship Australian iron ore operations but has declared it will log a second-half loss at its struggling aluminium unit. The billions of dollars Rio has been investing in expanding its iron ore mines, railways and ports in Western...
State cash should go to Hunter smelter workers: Opposition
MONEY from a struggling state government scheme meant to attract new residents to regional areas should be redirected to support workers and businesses affected by job losses at Hunter aluminium smelters, the state opposition says. The Hydro-owned Kurri Kurri smelter and the Rio Tinto-owned Tomago...
Rio more exposed to aluminium
The weakening trend in aluminium, which lost nearly a fifth of its value in 2011, holds broader implications for Rio than BHP. Rio became the world's no. 1 supplier of the lightweight metal after buying Alcan in 2007. "Rio is staring down the barrel of a weakening market for aluminium," said a...
China idles aluminum capacity as prices plunge
Chinese aluminum smelters plan to idle roughly one-third of their capacity - the most since 2009 - as energy costs rise and aluminum prices slump, Bloomberg reported. The country is expected to produce nearly 20 million metric tons of aluminum and reach a production capacity of 30 million tons by...
Rival Sours Rio’s Aluminum Sale Hopes
Rio Tinto’s hopes of selling its aluminum assets, possibly via an initial public offering or to a trade buyer, have taken a knock after a rival cast a spotlight on the headwinds facing the sector. Burdened by a strong Australian dollar and a soft macroeconomic environment, Norsk Hydro said...
