SMM, July 3: In early June, according to public information, the Kazakh Prime Minister met with the Vice Chairman of Xinfa Group. Xinfa expected that, based on its entire industry chain industrial park construction plan, the project will create a highly integrated production system, achieving full chain production from raw materials to high value-added aluminum products by deeply processing bauxite. After the project is put into operation, the annual alumina capacity is expected to reach 4.8 million mt and the aluminum capacity 2.4 million mt. With the announcement of this project, according to SMM's tally, total planned aluminum capacity outside China for 2026 and beyond reaches 20.72 million mt. (including a small amount of capacity that came online in 2025) Of this, in 2026, total planned aluminum capacity to be commissioned outside China is about 2.3 million mt, of which about 700,000 mt has been commissioned, and the remaining 1.6 million mt is expected to be commissioned in H2 2026. In 2027, 3.555 million mt of new capacity is planned to be commissioned, with Indonesia accounting for about 67.5%. The cumulative planned new capacity from 2026 to 2027 is about 5.855 million mt, accounting for 28.3% of the total planned capacity for 2026 and beyond.

[SMM Aluminum Express News] Constellium has commissioned Hertwich Engineering to supply a new reverberatory melting furnace at its recycling plant in Neuf-Brisach, France. The furnace will increase recycling capacity by 25,000 tpy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 10,000 tones of CO₂ annually, supporting Constellium’s decarbonization strategy and growing demand for low-carbon, recycled aluminum products in Europe.

In 2026, China's aluminum ingot inventory has continuously pulled back from a high of 1.465 million mt in early May, and by end-June cumulative destocking of 300,000 mt brought it down to 1.165 million mt, with the destocking pace steepening markedly. Last week, warehouse withdrawals surged to 170,000 mt, hitting a new single-week high in nearly four years. Driven by three factors—the supply-side proportion of liquid aluminum rising more than expected, supportive export demand, and...

SMM, June 30: According to SMM statistics, total production of metallurgical-grade alumina outside China in June 2026 fell about 6.0% YoY and about 5.5% MoM. In June, supply-side disruptions in the alumina market outside China became more pronounced compared with May. On one hand, due to the situation in the Middle East, production and shipment paces at some enterprises had not yet fully recovered; on the other hand, weather and natural gas supply disruptions in Australia persisted, weighing on local alumina production and shipments. By enterprise and region, Alcoa said that, due to the impact of the earlier Cyclone Narelle in Australia, the LNG supply to its Pinjarra alumina refinery in Western Australia was temporarily disrupted. It expected Q2 alumina shipments to be about 120,000 mt lower than in Q1, and the related disruption was expected to push up Q2 production costs by approximately $30 million. In addition, due to the Middle East situation, fuel costs at the company's São Luís alumina refinery in Brazil also rose. Currently, Alcoa's Western Australian alumina operations are still facing multiple pressures, including weak alumina prices, declining bauxite grades, and rising energy costs, and its overall operations are clearly under pressure. In Europe, geopolitical risks continued to escalate. In June, during discussions on a new round of EU sanctions against Russia, the issue of alumina exports from Aughinish Alumina in Ireland to Russia continued to attract attention. Public reports indicated that the latest EU sanctions package did not yet include alumina exports within its restrictions, but if sanctions are further tightened later, it could affect alumina trade flows and the regional supply landscape in Europe. Since June, with the arrival of some Malaysian bauxite, raw material supply at some local alumina refineries has improved, leaving some room for production recovery, but issues related to bauxite export quotas in Indonesia and logistics stability still require close monitoring. Additionally, in June, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan explored cooperation on alumina supply and aluminum product trade, under which Azerbaijan plans to supply alumina to Tajikistan and Tajikistan would export aluminum products to Azerbaijan. This cooperation will have limited impact on alumina production outside China in the near term, but it reflects that regional aluminum industry chain coordination and trade flow adjustments are still advancing. Looking ahead to July, metallurgical-grade alumina supply outside China is expected to see a recovery-driven increase, with production rebounding about 4.5% MoM. On one hand, with the arrival of bauxite at ports, raw material constraints at some Indonesian alumina refineries have eased, and output is expected to gradually recover; on the other hand, weather and natural gas supply disruptions in Australia are easing marginally, and earlier affected production and shipment paces may recover. However, geopolitical risks in the Middle East, uncertainty over EU sanctions against Russia, cost pressure from energy in Australia, and Indonesia's bauxite quota issues may still disrupt the supply recovery outside China. Overall, alumina production outside China is expected to rebound slightly in July, but supply-side uncertainty remains high. (The above information is derived from market data collection and a comprehensive evaluation by the SMM research team. The information provided in this article is for reference only. This article does not constitute direct advice for investment research decisions. Clients should make decisions cautiously and should not use this to replace their own independent judgment. Any decisions made by clients are not related to SMM.) Data source: SMM

Guangdong is a core hub of China’s wire and cable industry cluster, with a well-established industry chain, distinct locational advantages, and market reach extending across South China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia. The sector currently faces both opportunities and challenges: new energy and infrastructure markets outside China are expanding the space for going global, yet fluctuations in copper and aluminum raw materials, capacity homogenization, and low-price involution are squeezing corporate profits. Digital and intelligent upgrading has thus become the key to breaking through. will be held from July 14 to 15, 2026 at the Wyndham Hotel in the Guangzhou Design Capital, Guangdong . SMM , in partnership with Luoyang Sanwu Cable Group Co., Ltd. , invites you to attend. Leveraging entire industry chain data and in and outside China resources, the summit will focus on market analysis, transformation and upgrading, supply-demand matchmaking, and empowerment for going global, helping local enterprises enhance quality and expand markets while driving high-quality, internationalized development in the regional wire and cable industry. Click to . We look forward to meeting you at the summit. Sanwu Cables Reach Across the Seas Conductors and Wires Connect the Continents Luoyang Sanwu Cable Group Co., Ltd. (“Sanwu Group” for short, formerly Luoyang Sanwu Cable Co., Ltd.) was established in 2016 and now has over 600 employees. It is a mixed-ownership group enterprise integrating science, industry, and trade, headquartered in the Guobao Building in Luoyang, with three manufacturing entities and one trading company under its umbrella. Its production site is in the East Park of the Yichuan Advanced Manufacturing Development Zone, covering over 300 mu of land, with workshop space exceeding 150,000 m² and total annual capacity of more than 700 kt. Sanwu Group pursues a diversified development strategy rooted in specialization. Its main products include electrical round aluminum rod series, overhead conductor series, cable series, and deoxidized aluminum products series. These four product lines are mutually reinforcing, forming a solid business ecosystem. Sanwu products are widely used in electric power, transportation, new energy, metallurgy, petrochemicals, national defense, and urban construction. Its domestic clients include over 30 state-owned enterprises, central state-owned enterprises, and publicly listed firms, while its export markets have expanded to 37 countries and regions, 15 of which—including the Philippines, Singapore, Australia, Chile, and Kazakhstan—lie along the Belt and Road route. Sanwu Group’s subsidiaries have successively passed the “three-system” certification. All product series comply with IEC, ASTM, BS, and other international electrotechnical standards and authoritative detection requirements. The group has been recognized as a National High-Tech Enterprise, a Green Factory, a technology-based small and medium-sized enterprise, a provincial-level specialized and sophisticated small and medium-sized enterprise, and a Gazelle Enterprise. Its detection center collaborates deeply with Longmen Laboratory and has been accredited as a provincial engineering technology center and enterprise technology center. The group currently holds 10 inventions, 39 utility model patents, and 12 software copyrights, has contributed to the formulation of national standards, and has received a scientific and technological achievement evaluation report rating as domestically leading. It serves as the honorary chair organization of the Henan Electrical Industry Association and is an industry-academia-research base for Henan University of Science and Technology, Henan Institute of Technology, and Luoyang Institute of Science and Technology. Since 2023, it has been consistently listed among the top 100 enterprises in Luoyang, and in 2025, it was listed among the top 100 enterprises in Henan. Contact Information SMM Conference Contact Chen Bo 183 7089 1981 chenbo@smm.cn

In Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, Governor Uali Berik of Abay Region, Kazakhstan, and Chinese enterprise Inner Mongolia Wanjiang Invest signed a memorandum of cooperation. According to the memorandum, the two sides will jointly advance two major investment projects in Abay Region, with a total investment of $1.5 billion. The specific plans include building an aluminum products plant with an annual capacity of 300kt and a wind power project with a total installed capacity of 1 GW. Once completed, the projects will significantly enhance the industrial development level of Abay Region, accelerate the development of renewable energy, create a large number of job opportunities, and inject new impetus into the sustained and steady growth of the regional economy. Uali Berik emphasized that these projects hold profound strategic value for Abay Region, and the state government will, as always, create a favorable cooperation environment for investors.