LME Aluminum to Face Technical Corrections (2017-5-22)

Japan imported 35,794 tones of aluminum scrap in Q1 2026, including 3,613 tones from the European Union, up 89% year-on-year and accounting for 10.09% of total imports. Import value from the EU reached US$3.26 million, up 45.5% YoY. The EU ranked as Japan's third-largest aluminum scrap supplier, behind the United States (15,907 tones) and Taiwan (8,187 tones). EU aluminum scrap exports to Japan also increased to 9,346 tones in 2025 from 5,815 tones in 2024, highlighting growing trade flows between the two markets.

The Aluminum Extrusion Manufacturers Association of India (ALEMAI) has launched “Aluminum Bharat 2026”, a national initiative to strengthen India's midstream and downstream aluminum industry. ALEMAI said high raw material, energy and financing costs continue to weigh on domestic manufacturers, while downstream aluminum products from ASEAN countries and the UAE enter India at zero or near-zero duty under FTAs. The association noted that India's aluminium extrusion industry has an installed capacity of 3 million tonnes per year but currently produces only 1.2–1.3 million tones, with around 1.5 million tonnes of downstream aluminum products imported annually. It called for tariff reforms, lower production costs and stronger support for domestic value-added manufacturing.

Researchers at Purdue University have developed a new cobalt-aluminum (CoAl) intermetallic alloy that combines ultra-high strength with improved ductility. The material achieved a yield strength of 6 GPa, around 6–10 times stronger than high-strength structural steel, while sustaining 15% plastic strain under room-temperature compression. The breakthrough overcomes the brittleness traditionally associated with intermetallic compounds and could support next-generation aerospace, turbine, energy, and defence applications.