Article

2026-03-31 Economy

Iran blows hole in US aluminum supply chain with strikes on Gulf smelters

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Posted by trailing wife 2026-03-31 2026-03-31 04:57|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [1856 views ] Top
File under: Govt of Iran

1 Appears we've not hit them hard enough.

Posted by Besoeker 2026-03-31 05:47|| 2026-03-31 05:47|| Front Page Top

2 Recycle those beer cans!

Posted by Bobby 2026-03-31 08:36|| 2026-03-31 08:36|| Front Page Top

3 "Drink faster, boys! America needs aluminium."

Posted by SteveS 2026-03-31 08:39|| 2026-03-31 08:39|| Front Page Top

4 Guess maybe the super-duper AI should be put to task identifying and scoring US target risks in the region.

I wonder who might have suggested targeting aluminum smelters.

Russian aluminum

**Russian aluminum** is primarily produced by **Rusal (United Company RUSAL)**, the world's second-largest aluminum company by primary production output, with headquarters in **Moscow, Russia**, and operations in 13 countries.

* **Market Impact & Sanctions**: In **March 2023**, the **U.S. imposed a 200% tariff** on Russian aluminum and all products containing Russian aluminum, followed by a ban on imports of Russian-origin aluminum produced on or after **April 13, 2024**, which slashed U.S. imports by over 90%.
* **Recent Developments**: As of **2025**, Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed supplying up to **2 million metric tons** of aluminum annually to the U.S. market and suggested joint hydropower and aluminum production projects, though current trade flows remain heavily restricted.
* **Production Scale**: Rusal accounts for approximately **9% of the world's primary aluminum output** and **6.5% of alumina production**, with 2025 financials showing revenue of **$14.8 billion** and 64,000 employees.
* **Key Assets**: The company operates **eight aluminum smelters** and **four alumina refineries** in Russia, including the **Krasnoyarsk** and **Boguchansky** facilities, and is expanding into rare earth metals like **scandium**.

Posted by Skidmark 2026-03-31 09:31|| 2026-03-31 09:31|| Front Page Top

5 In 2025, Jamaica accounted for approximately 89.6% of the total bauxite imports to the United States.

Posted by Procopius2k 2026-03-31 09:33|| 2026-03-31 09:33|| Front Page Top

6 Aluminum products? or Bauxite? The UAE is the second largest aluminum products exporter to the US, but it's like 300k tons versus 3.5M tons of product from Canada. And domestic production from recycled aluminum almost exactly matched that 3.5M tons from Canada. As for Bauxite, that's almost exclusively Jamaica and Brazil, with almost all of it from Jamaica. It's a Western Hemisphere supply chain. Bauxite imports have been dropping year over year due to all that recycling, and sooner or later domestic production of aluminum from bauxite (which is 100% imported material) will be negligible, right now it's about 500k tons. I'm pretty sure this story is just BS PR from a financial analyst looking for war profits.

Posted by Lost My Cookies 2026-03-31 12:08|| 2026-03-31 12:08|| Front Page Top

7 I've finally been called up for the duty I was made for! I won't disappoint you guys!

Posted by chris 2026-03-31 12:20|| 2026-03-31 12:20|| Front Page Top

8 America can manufacture everything we need.
If we dont make it, there's probably a law or regulation that gives the competitive advantage to a foreign power or foreign transnational corporation.

We have a major 500,000-ton-per-year alumina refinery in Burnside, LA, has been sitting idle since August 2020.

Posted by mossomo 2026-03-31 12:21|| 2026-03-31 12:21|| Front Page Top

9 #7 - Help us ~~Obi Wan~~ Chris! You're our only hope!

Posted by Frank G 2026-03-31 12:32|| 2026-03-31 12:32|| Front Page Top

10 Much-missed Rantburg moderator Sherry grew up in the small, former mining town of Bauxite, so we can definitely produce the stuff from native materials…

Posted by trailing wife 2026-03-31 14:23|| 2026-03-31 14:23|| Front Page Top

11 It is pretty abundant stuff and we can get it from Canada, Mexico, South America, Australia, etc.

Also we can refine it here, especially in Texas as it requires a lot of cheap energy and Texas has that from the natural gas from fracking with new gas power plants coming online.

Posted by DarthVader 2026-03-31 14:33|| 2026-03-31 14:33|| Front Page Top

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