From the upstream to the terminal, the vertical impact of the COVID19 outbreak on the aluminum industry is already obvious. Global shutdowns have resulted in labor shortages, interrupted transportation, and reduced demand. Many smelters and semi-finished products processing plants have been forced to reduce production, and losses are occurring every day.

The following is a summary of the impact of the COVID19 outbreak on the aluminum industry in early April (1-10):

Argentina's aluminum giant Aluar Aluminio Argentino SAIC's Puerto Madryn plant in the southern region reduced production by another 25% in response to a slowdown in global light metal production.

Hydro ’s Husnes Aluminum Plant in Norway ’s 95,000-ton capacity to be restarted has been postponed until no later than the third quarter of 2020 (original plan for the first half of 2020), while freezing 25% of the remaining capital expenditure in 2020, and proposed a mandatory Vacations and temporary layoffs.

If the aluminum price falls below the company's cash cost, Chalco may close some aluminum production.

China Water Resources and Hydropower Construction Co., Ltd.'s investment in the US $ 2 billion bauxite project in Ghana may be further delayed. The Ghana Democratic Development Center (CDD-Ghana) said: "The rampant COVID-19 is currently hitting the Ghanaian economy, and there are signs that some aspects of the project will be delayed."

Is expected to further decline in China's aluminum exports. Vietnam, one of China's major aluminum buyers, announced in the first week of April that it would conduct a 15-day "closure of the country." In the first two months of 2020, China's unwrought aluminum and aluminum products fell by 25.2% year-on-year. The national epidemic prevention has caused aluminum processing companies to postpone the post-holiday recovery plan.

Arconic is implementing mitigation measures that are effective immediately and is expected to reduce operating costs by $ 150 million.

Rio Tinto is considering suspending production at the Straumsvík aluminum smelter in Iceland for a period of two years to reduce the losses caused by the recession caused by the COVID19 outbreak.

Airbus has announced that it will significantly reduce the production of its best-selling A320 aircraft from 60 a month to 40 a month. Reduce the production of the A330 to 2 aircraft per month and the production of the A350 to 6 aircraft per month.

Liberty British Aluminum Plant, the only remaining aluminum smelter in the UK, is producing metal for NHS oxygen cylinders. Metalex employees are currently working overtime to produce orders for aluminum plates and bars for medical devices at factories in Poole, Horsham, Birmingham, Chepstow, and Milton Keynes.

India NALCO released its financial report on April 1st, stating that the company's various data (bauxite, alumina, utilization rate, etc.) have reached the best record ever. However, Crisil estimates that the Indian automotive industry (including parts) is unlikely to recover from the impact of the COVID19 outbreak, or it will need to be in fiscal year 2021.

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