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Rio Tinto Q3 2026: 10% alumina growth offsets 4% bauxite dip; aluminium output stays firm
14 OCT 20265MINS

Rio Tinto Q3 2026: 10% alumina growth offsets 4% bauxite dip; aluminium output stays firm

Rio Tinto’s third-quarter (Q3) 2026 production results report contrasting trends across its aluminium value chain, with bauxite production declining 4 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), alumina output amounting to 6.11 million tonnes and primary aluminium stood at 2.52 million tonnes. The company maintained its full-year 2026 production guidance for all three commodities, while highlighting operational improvements, upcoming refinery constraints and progress on Pacific aluminium smelter repowering. Rio Tinto Chief Executive Simon Trott stated, “We delivered strong operational performance in the third quarter.” He further highlighted progress on decarbonisation, noting that the company’s “Pacific Aluminium smelter repowering arrangements” were “now well progressed.” Explore the production,...

12 OCT 20262MINS

Nikon Advanced Manufacturing joins $5.5m aluminum alloy project

Nikon Advanced Manufacturing has joined the GOTHAAM project to develop a high-strength aluminum alloy for additive manufacturing. The $5.5 million project is funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of War’s Manufacturing Technology Office (OSW ManTech). America Makes, based in Youngstown, Ohio, and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM), headquartered in Blairsville, Pennsylvania, selected Nikon AM as a project partner. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems was named the group leader in August. GOTHAAM stands for Generation of Technical-data for High-strength Aluminum Alloy Material. The project aims to develop material data for a corrosion-resistant aluminum alloy equivalent to 7075-T73. The data will cover Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) additive...


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Aluminum to replace diesel? Canada grants $2.81m for AlumaPower’s energy-generation tech
Recycled AL

Aluminum to replace diesel? Canada grants $2.81m for AlumaPower’s energy-generation tech

AlumaPower, Canada’s Sarnia-based manufacturer of aluminum-powered generators, has secured a C$4 million ($2.81 million) federal grant to advance its technology towards commercial launch. The funding, provided through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) under the Regional Defence Investment Initiative (RDII), would be reinforcing the company’s expansion into defense and telecommunications markets. Moving away from the traditional power-generating feedstock of diesel, the development also sends a signal to securing a greener future with aluminum recycling. Recycled aluminum technology moves towards market AlumaPower’s generator system uses recycled aluminum to produce electricity and has been under development with the Canadian military for the...

US aluminum maker Shapes Unlimited faces up to $5m in extra costs as tariffs and Iran conflict bite
Downstream

US aluminum maker Shapes Unlimited faces up to $5m in extra costs as tariffs and Iran conflict bite

US aluminum product manufacturer Shapes Unlimited faces up to $5 million in additional costs this year as President Donald Trump’s tariffs and rising freight charges linked to the conflict involving Iran add pressure to American manufacturers. The Ohio-based company is among businesses grappling with higher input and transportation costs, while uncertainty over US trade policy and deteriorating relations with Canada complicate planning and expansion. Although some American manufacturers have benefited from higher barriers facing foreign competitors, others are struggling to absorb additional expenses and maintain growth. Doug Rende, chief executive of Shapes Unlimited, told AFP that the combined pressures had become increasingly difficult to manage. “Frustrating would be one word,” Rende...

AL Circle analysis: Germany’s aluminium trade surplus, Novelis’ US expansion, Asia’s EV demand & India’s underutilised downstream capacity
Downstream

AL Circle analysis: Germany’s aluminium trade surplus, Novelis’ US expansion, Asia’s EV demand & India’s underutilised downstream capacity

Aluminium’s next growth phase is increasingly being shaped by downstream processing, supply-chain resilience and demand from specialised applications. Germany continues to generate a substantial trade surplus in flat-rolled products despite a shrinking primary aluminium base, while North America is investing in recycling and rolling. Across Asia, new manufacturing capabilities and growing demand from electric vehicles, railways and batteries are creating further opportunities. However, declining exports, underutilised capacity and uneven profitability show that investment alone does not guarantee success. For industry leaders, the challenge is to identify where demand is shifting, develop products that meet customer requirements and ensure that new investments translate into sustainable...

AL Circle Analysis: From Guinea to Gulf, how bauxite, tariffs and logistics redraw aluminium map
Bauxite

AL Circle Analysis: From Guinea to Gulf, how bauxite, tariffs and logistics redraw aluminium map

Aluminium markets in late 2026 are being shaped by more than the headline LME aluminium price. Bauxite security, alumina availability, geopolitical disruptions, tariff negotiations, logistics diversification and regional premiums are increasingly determining where metal moves and what buyers pay. From RUSAL reassessing Caribbean assets and Vedanta securing Odisha bauxite to Brazil extending mine life and EGA rebuilding its Guinea supply chain, producers are strengthening control over critical raw materials. At the same time, the US remains heavily dependent on imported bauxite and alumina, while Europe and Asia are experiencing sharply different premium dynamics. These developments point to a market where physical availability is becoming a regional factor even as aluminium itself remains...

$1.5b Quebec AP60 expansion puts Rio Tinto at heart of low-carbon aluminum race
Sustainability

$1.5b Quebec AP60 expansion puts Rio Tinto at heart of low-carbon aluminum race

The low-carbon aluminum market has stepped into a more competitive phase as producers invest in cleaner smelting technologies, renewable power and new downstream applications. Rio Tinto’s $1.5 billion AP60 smelter expansion in Quebec is the latest major development, adding around 160,000 metric tons per annum (MPTA) of primary aluminum capacity when fully operational by the end of 2026. The project will lift total AP60 production at Complexe Arvida to about 220,000 MPTA while supplying lower-carbon aluminum to transportation, construction, electrical and consumer-goods customers. The Quebec expansion is expected to cut emissions by approximately 290,000 MPTA compared with the older Arvida technology, strengthening the case for energy-efficient, hydropower-based primary aluminum...

US alumina imports reach 712kt in H1 2026, up 2.7% despite Q2 decline
Alumina

US alumina imports reach 712kt in H1 2026, up 2.7% despite Q2 decline

Alumina imports in the United States increased in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, although imports fell sharply in the second quarter. Total imports reached 712,000 tonnes in H1 2026, up 2.7 per cent from 693,000 tonnes in H1 2025. The H1 2024 total was 495,000 tonnes. Imports in Q1 2026 reached 446,000 tonnes, up 32 per cent from 337,000 tonnes in Q1 2025. However, imports dropped to 266,000 tonnes in Q2 (a 25 per cent decline) from 356,000 tonnes in the same quarter a year earlier. Brazil remains the largest supplier Brazil remained the largest exporter of alumina to the US during the period covered by the data. Its shipments reached 568,000 tonnes in H1 2026, around 5 per cent increase from 542,000 tonnes in H1 2025. In H1 2024, Brazil supplied 430,000...

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