【SMM Aluminum Flash News】Gulf Primary Aluminum Output Falls Nearly 40% from Pre-Conflict Levels in April

India’s National Aluminium Company (NALCO) has inaugurated a 50 kg/day fly ash processing pilot plant at its Research & Technology Centre in Bhubaneswar. Based on jointly patented technology developed by NALCO and CSIR-IMMT, the facility can recover alumina and iron hydroxide residue enriched with rare earth elements (REE), including scandium. NALCO also held a ground-breaking ceremony for a red mud valorisation pilot plant aimed at recovering ferro-titanium alloy, metallic iron and REEs, supporting greater resource recovery from aluminium industry residues.

Hydro Energi, a subsidiary of Norsk Hydro, has signed an 18-month hybrid PPA with Sweden’s Varberg Energi, covering 10 GWh of electricity in the SE3 bidding zone from July 2026. Power will be supplied from wind and solar generation combined with energy storage, aiming to reduce renewable-energy variability and provide a more stable supply for industrial consumption. The agreement will also serve as a pilot for potential wider deployment of similar hybrid power solutions.

RevoCast has launched its aluminum remelting facility in Langley, British Columbia, with the first billet successfully cast on August 1. The 120,000-ft² facility is designed to produce around 80,000 tonnes of recycled aluminum billets per year, primarily supplying 6xxx-series billets to extrusion markets across the US West Coast and Pacific Northwest. The plant uses high-efficiency burners, electromagnetic stirring and energy recovery technologies to reduce energy consumption during remelting.