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 injunction limiting lockout pickets extended
Locked-out workers at Rio Tinto Alcan's smelter in Quebec will have to continue to limit their numbers on the picket line until at least early April. Rio Tinto Alcan was able to renew its injunction in Quebec Superior Court on Tuesday limiting the number of picketing workers allowed near the...
Tough times for Rio Tinto's Bell Bay plant
A PROTRACTED union battle and soft aluminium prices could pose a tough year for Rio Tinto's Bell Bay operation. The company wouldn't say whether the aluminium smelter was profitable but said there were no plans to downsize the 550-person workforce or cut production. Plans to offload the ageing...
Output still curbed at Rio Northumberland aluminium smelter
Rio Tinto Alcan's Lynemouth aluminium smelter in Northumberland is still running at a reduced rate following a power cut in December which knocked out more than half its capacity, a spokesman said on Thursday. "One production line (potline) is completely down and 25 percent of the other is also...
Economical preheating furnace improves safety
Most smelters add cold aluminium metal to the charge of molten aluminium in the casthouse furnaces. This metal may be in the form of sows, pure offcuts, or other scrap arisings. Such metal is frequently stored outdoors and can be wet. Charging of damp aluminium to hot furnaces results in the...
Rio Tinto declares force majeure on aluminum orders
Rio Tinto Alcan said on Wednesday that it has declared force majeure on aluminum output from two of its smelters in Canada due to separate operational and labour issues that have curtailed production at the sites. The company, a unit of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Group...
Rio Tinto Alcan initiates lockout at Alma smelter to protect the safety and integrity of aluminium operations
Rio Tinto Alcan has initiated a lockout at its 438,000 tonne Alma smelter in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec after the Syndicat des travailleurs de l'aluminium d'Alma (Alma aluminium workers' union) rejected the company's final proposal for an agreement. Every effort has been made to reach an...
Armtec Awarded Contract to Supply Precast Components to Rio Tinto Alcan's Kitimat Modernization Project
Armtec Infrastructure Inc. ("Armtec") (TSX: ARF)(TSX: ARF.DB) today announced it has been awarded a contract, valued at approximately $32 million, with Bechtel Canada Co., who is acting as the agent for Rio Tinto Alcan, to supply precast components for the Kitimat Modernization...
Hundreds backing campaign to save Alcan plant
SUPPORT is growing for the campaign to save Lynemouth’s Rio Tinto Alcan aluminium plant from closure. Further meetings have taken place between the General, Municipal, Boilermakers (GMB) union and MPs, and more than 770 people have so far signed petitions calling on the government to intervene....
Recession economics returns to metals
Northumberland, a county in northern England, does not usually feature on the radar screen for metals investors. Yet Lynemouth, the site of an aluminium smelter owned by Rio Tinto, is the latest flashpoint for a debate that was last heard in the depths of the 2008 financial crisis. The miner...
CSR to rethink stake in Tomago aluminium plant
CSR has revealed it will use Rio Tinto's planned sale of its $US5 billion ($5.01bn) aluminium asset portfolio to review its 25 per cent interest in the Tomago aluminium smelter in NSW, which could result in the building materials group quitting the stake. In his first public comments on the issue...
Power loss damages Rio UK aluminium smelter
A power cut this week at Rio Tinto Alcan's Lynemouth aluminium smelter in northeastern England has knocked out one of the plant's production lines and partially curtailed the other, a company spokesman said on Thursday. Loss of power in the energy-intensive aluminium smelting process becomes...
Power cut hits Lynemouth Alcan plant
Production at part of an aluminium plant in Northumberland has been halted after a large power cut. The Rio Tinto Alcan plant at Lynemouth lost power in the early hours. Management launched full emergency procedures but say no-one was hurt. The firm says it is too early to tell what caused the...
ECL secures Kitimat contract
French group ECL has secured a contract with Rio Tnto Alcan’s Kitimat smelter, British Columbia, Canada. ECL will supply eight pot tending machines, two furnace tending assembly’s, a rodding shop, an anode handling system, two anode beam raising frames, a transfer gantry, simulator and two anode...
Rio Tinto not receiving recognition for copper and aluminum - Investec
According to broker Investec, diversified FTSE100 miner Rio Tinto is not receiving recognition for its copper and aluminum divisions. Mr Mark Heyhoe analyst said that "With the market focused on short term earnings, we do not believe Rio is receiving recognition for its copper and aluminum...
GMB launches campaign to save Alcan smelter
Last week the GMB accused Rio Tinto bosses of not doing enough to keep the smelter open, claiming they had rejected one offer because they felt it was not financially viable, while interest from other parties had failed to progress even to talks. The union wants the company to provide the names of...
Rio Tinto's Aussie Smelters Under the Hammer
Rio Tinto's RIO proposed streamlining of aluminum assets is positive, though we make no allowance for it yet in our forecasts. We'll wait for any confirmation on asset pricing before making adjustments. The earmarked assets, largely Australian, might eventually be sold outright, floated on the...
Rio Tinto subsidiary fined $160,000 over spill
A SUBSIDIARY of mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd has been fined $160,000 after admitting to a large fuel spill in the Northern Territory last year. Alcan Gove Pty Ltd pleaded guilty in the Darwin Magistrates Court today to causing serious environmental harm and was fined $160,000 by magistrate Michael...
Alumina refinery expansion on track
Rio Tinto Alcan says global economic volatility will not affect the completion of its alumina refinery expansion near Gladstone in central Queensland. The Yarwun 2 site will produce more than 3 million tonnes of alumina a year when it is fully operational. General manager Dave Yeoman says it is due...
