Aluminum

The lightweight workhorse metal, smelted from alumina with electricity as the dominant cost.

Overview

Around 70 million tonnes of primary metal are produced yearly, with China smelting near 60 percent and India, Russia, and the Gulf growing. Alumina, refined from bauxite near mines in Australia, Brazil, and Guinea, prices separately, as its 2024 squeeze showed. Electricity is a third or more of smelting cost, so hydro rich regions such as Quebec, Norway, and Iceland host capacity, and European smelters curtailed when the 2022 power crisis hit. LME contracts price 25 tonne lots, and US Midwest premiums track delivery economics after tariffs reshaped flows. Demand centers transport, construction, packaging, and cable, with recycled metal meeting about a third of supply.