Les stocks d'aluminium au LME reculent de 0,72 % à 344 000 tonnes le 15 mai, en baisse de 12,64 % sur le mois écoulé

Aluminium hydroxide, a key raw material used across industries ranging from water treatment and aluminium refining to defence manufacturing and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production, should remain exempt from US tariffs to safeguard domestic manufacturing, according to industry representatives. The US currently has only one aluminium hydroxide production plant and no domestic bauxite mining, making imported material essential to meet demand. Around 40 per cent of the aluminium hydroxide used in the country is supplied by Hydro's Alunorte refinery in Brazil, while the refinery itself sources approximately USD 300 million worth of LNG annually from Louisiana and Texas and imports around 600,000 metric tonnes of US-produced caustic soda for its refining operations. Industry groups argue that these trade links underline the integrated nature of the supply chain between the two countries.

Australasian Metals has returned encouraging results from bulk sampling at its May Queen South Bauxite Project in central Queensland, with composite samples confirming strong aluminium oxide grades ahead of the next phase of metallurgical testing.The company collected three bulk samples, each weighing more than 50 kilograms, from bauxite outcrops along a 20-metre strike. Each bulk sample consisted of 10 individual samples weighing between 5 kg and 6 kg. Analysis returned composite aluminium oxide grades of 39.5 per cent, 42.0 per cent and 43.8 per cent, while individual samples recorded grades of up to 58.7 per cent aluminium oxide. Australasian Metals said the latest results are consistent with bulk sampling undertaken at the project in 2015, providing additional confidence in the deposit's grade profile.

On Friday, July 24, Norsk Hydro, a major European aluminum producer, said that the global aluminum market supply gap would deepen if shipping restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz continued. In an interview, Hydro CEO Eivind Kallevik stated that shipping conditions in this key waterway have deteriorated since the resumption of hostilities between the US and Iran, hindering the import of raw materials and the export of metals from the Persian Gulf region. Kallevik said the conflict in Iran has forced smelters in the Middle East, which account for nearly one-tenth of global aluminum production, to seek alternative logistics routes, while producers in other regions are increasing output. However, he indicated that if the conflict prolongs, the market supply gap will exceed the company's current estimate of 900,000 tons. "The situation is clearly deteriorating rapidly, and the longer the situation in the Gulf region continues, the more naturally the global market supply tension will intensify," Kallevik said.