SHFE aluminum continues to rise, Guangdong-Shanghai price spread significantly attracts cargo transfers [SMM Spot Aluminum Midday Review]

Listed enterprise Greenland Mines announced that it has fully exercised its option to acquire an additional 9.9% stake in Canadian anorthosite producer AnorTech, increasing its shareholding to 19.9%. AnorTech owns the Gronne Bjerg project in Greenland and holds a proprietary, patent-pending process that can produce sustainable smelter-grade alumina and high-purity alumina from anorthosite without generating bauxite residue tailings; the process also yields multiple saleable by-products, including amorphous silica, calcium silicate, CO2-free refractory cement, 3D-printable cement, and alumina-based catalysts. Greenland believes the Gronne Bjerg project has the potential to become a raw material source for US smelter-grade alumina and high-purity alumina production, while US net imports in 2025 are estimated to have met approximately 71% of its alumina consumption. Greenland President Bo Møller Stensgaard stated that the company aims to establish a supply chain from Greenland to the US that can operate independently of Chinese refining, enabling more processing, manufacturing, and value creation in the US. This increased stake further expands its "North Atlantic Critical Metals Corridor" footprint, providing a potential alternative source for the US alumina supply chain and supporting US industrial self-sufficiency goals.

Recently, the high-tech battery materials project with an annual capacity of 50,000 mt, invested by Sichuan Jiuda Aluminum Co., Ltd. and constructed by Gongyi Xingrui Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., officially broke ground in the Yuanjiaba Aluminum Industrial Park of Guangyuan Economic and Technological Development Zone. The project has a total investment of 400 million yuan and is being built on the enterprise's own industrial land, covering an area of 25,073.89 m² (including 7,873.89 m² of the original No. 1 plant and 17,200 m² of newly applied land). The construction scope includes: building production facilities in the planned No. 1 plant on the west side (Class E, 1F, H=15m) and the new plant area, installing five high-precision battery aluminum foil production lines (each with an annual capacity of 10,000 mt of high-precision battery aluminum foil), while also forming an annual capacity of 6,000 mt of aluminum-copper composite plates and 2,400 mt of aluminum-copper composite foil, along with supporting auxiliary production facilities such as slitting, precision cutting, and annealing, as well as utility facilities including quality inspection, circulating water systems, and air compressor stations. The project is planned to be completed and put into operation in October 2026. Once reaching full production, it is expected to achieve an annual output value of 1.3 billion yuan, contribute 90.328 million yuan in taxes, and create employment for over 90 people. After completion and commissioning, the project will further improve the layout of the lithium battery new materials industry chain, enhance regional new energy industry capacity, and support the high-quality development of local green industries.