Aluminum casthouses are facing a growing operational challenge of increasing the use of recycled metal without compromising melt quality, recovery rates or production efficiency. As manufacturers look to incorporate more post-consumer recycled (PCR) aluminum, processing lightweight scrap, machining chips and other low-density materials has become increasingly important. Such materials are difficult to introduce into conventional melting furnaces, making efficient scrap feeding and submergence essential to improving recycling performance. The challenge extends beyond scrap preparation. Maintaining consistent temperature and chemical composition throughout the molten metal bath is critical to producing specification-compliant aluminum. Equipment used for circulation and stirring must...
ClearFlow Metalworks plans to invest $28 million in a new aluminum manufacturing facility in Russellville, Kentucky, marking an expansion of secondary aluminum production in the United States. The project is expected to create 50 full-time jobs, with its first phase designed to deliver an estimated annual production capacity of approximately 100,000 tons. The company, which focuses on sustainable aluminum recycling and production, will develop the facility in phases. Phase I will feature a secondary aluminum billet casting operation, processing recycled aluminum materials into billets for extrusion and other downstream manufacturing applications. The project will establish ClearFlow's manufacturing presence in the U.S. and support domestic demand for aluminum products while expanding...
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The well-known Reynaers Aluminum in Duffel, Belgium, restricts its CO2 footprint. The architectural window, door and facade systems company will henceforth purchase more aluminium produced from green energy sources. Erik Rasker, CTO, Reynaers said: “The aluminium currently used in Europe accounts for an average footprint of 8.6 kg CO2 per kg aluminium. Most of this CO2 is caused by the energy source. By purchasing low-carbon primary aluminium, our company is reducing related CO2 emissions by more than a quarter.” He also pointed out that the production of aluminium is becoming increasingly energy-efficient and that the metal can be recycled endlessly without loss of quality. Reynaers Aluminium is a European developer of aluminium products for the building sector. The company also provides...
RUSAL opened a new multifunctional medical center for the treatment of infectious diseases in Guinea. The center, built within the Friguia bauxite-alumina complex, has an isolated infectious diseases department, a sanitary checkpoint for medical staff, an observatory, and an intensive care unit. Yakov Itskov, Director of RUSAL's alumina business, said: "RUSAL strives not only to meet the highest standards in bauxite mining and alumina production in the country, but also to follow best practices to protect our employees, their families and residents of the region from epidemics and pandemics. In 2015, the Company did everything possible to help Guinea fight Ebola and the opening of the new Center is an important part of our contribution to strengthening the country's health system." To...
In a spectacular development, China has lost a dispute to the European Union at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for a market economy status, as the former allowed the dispute to lapse. The development occurs after four years of battle for the market-economy status by China. The designation would have put the country in a stronger position in respect of its commercial and trade partners. The WTO Secretariat said China allowed the dispute to lapse. “At the request of China, the panel suspended its work on 14 th June 2019 (WT/DS516/13). Since the panel has not been requested to resume its work, according to Article 12.12 of the DSU, the authority for the establishment of the panel lapsed as of 15 th June 2020.” As per the European Union, China subsidises its industries to a great extent,...
Hydro’s production at Paragominas bauxite mine is at a temporary halt due to power supply cut as three power transmission towers overturned on Saturday, June 20. Repair work has started and regular power supply to Paragominas is expected to resume within the next two to three weeks. The Paragominas mine delivers bauxite to Alunorte alumina refinery in Barcarena via a 244-kilometre-long-pipeline. So, the temporary production halt at Paragominas mine has resulted in a 50-70 per cent production cut at Alunorte for this period to balance the bauxite inventories. No injuries to people or damage to the environment or other production assets have been reported as a result of this incident. Hydro also does not expect significant customer impact from the power outage. Hydro is taking necessary...
Hydro has planned to shut down its loss-making precision tubing Pune plant with immediate effect as of June 20, 2020. The company announced that its business area Extruded Solutions has decided to close the Hydro Precision Tubing Pune plant in India. The basis for continued operation is not present. The facility, which employs 61 people, has made losses last year. The unit is expected to make a loss also in 2020 due to negative outlook for this plant. “The long-term market outlook is negative for PT Pune, as most products are used for the combustion engine market where demand for Pune products is declining,” the company said. Hydro Precision Tubing remains committed to the precision tubing markets globally. It will continue to have a strong footprint in Europe, Asia and North- and South...
The economy of Poland is the sixth-largest in the European Union and the largest among the former Eastern Bloc members of the EU. The biggest industries in Poland are agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and tourism. Poland’s aluminium alloy import during 2017-19 has been recorded with a volume of 1.34 million tonnes and the revenue expended stood at $2.432 billion. The aluminium alloy import projection for 2020 has remained at 498,202 tonnes and the expenditure stood at $0.853 billion. However, when the analysed import volume and expenditure being added with the previous three years it reflects $3.295 billion. The major exporting nations for Poland’s import of Aluminium alloy are Austria, Bulgaria, Bahrain, India, Hungary, Netherlands, China, etc. In 2017 the aluminium alloy importation...
Former Indian union energy secretary EAS Sarma has appealed for an independent investigation by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) into the alleged illegal mining of bauxite in East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts. In a letter addressed to the principal secretary of Karikal Valiven on Sunday, June 21, EAS Sarma wrote that he had been trying to bring into the notice of the State Government that private individuals and companies were extracting bauxite in the guise of laterite. He said private miners in collusion with the local mining officials had been producing false analysis certificates to show that the bauxite they were extracting and exporting to alumina refineries were indeed laterite, in order to circumvent the restriction of bauxite mining only...
As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, continued to trend lower over the weekend on brisk demand. Inventories decreased 17,000 tonnes from last Thursday June 18 to 737,000 tonnes as of Monday June 22. The chart below shows the current status of the primary aluminium inventories across China in more details: Primary aluminium stocks in Wuxi, Nanhai and Hangzhou decreased by 13,000 tonnes, 10,000 tonnes and 2,000 tonnes to stand at 253,000 tonnes, 154,000 tonnes and 102,000 tonnes on June 22. Inventories of aluminium in Tianjin and Linyi remained unchanged at 59,000 tonnes, and 10,000 tonnes. Stocks in Chongqing stood at 5,000 tonnes on Monday, 22 June 2020, down 2,000 tonnes from June...
Middle-East’s largest downstream facilities, a Bahrain based international aluminium rolling mill, Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill, GARMCO, has commenced on a transformative role in shaping the climate agenda through the GARMCO Green Initiative that sets the stage in steering the company’s vision for a sustainable future in a tangible direction. The GARMCO Green Initiative is the culmination of years of best practice in eco-friendly processes and provides the template for the company’s new strategic direction of being a champion of environmental causes. As an outcome of it, GARMCO has been in the leader-space of developing some of the most high-quality products from recycled aluminium, and also ensuring that energy efficiency is at the heart of the way production processes are conducted....
A00 aluminium ingot price registered an increase of RMB 50 per tonne from Friday’s price of RMB 13910 per tonne. The price now stood at RMB 13960 per tonne on Monday, 22 June 2020 and is expected to move within a range of RMB 13940-13980 per tonne. In Foshan and Wuxi, the price rose by RMB 40 per tonne and RMB 70 per tonne to stand at RMB 14040 per tonne and 13980 per tonne. Their average prices are expected to range within RMB 14020-14060 per tonne and RMB 13970-13990 per tonne. Aluminium prices in Hangzhou and Chongqing came in at RMB 13990 per tonne and 13930 per tonne, up RMB 70 per tonne and RMB 60 per tonne. Aluminium ingot prices in Shenyang, Tianjin, Linyi, and Gongyi increased to stand at RMB 13910 per tonne, RMB 13950 per tonne, RMB 13960 per tonne, and RMB 13915 per tonne. The...
The US dollar rose for the fourth consecutive day last Friday and posted its best weekly gain in a month, as fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections boosted demand for safe-haven assets. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.2% at 97.622, notching a four-day winning streak. Three-month LME aluminium finished lower at US$ 1,586 per tonne last Friday as it came off after climbed to a session high of US$ 1,605.50 per tonne, with investors covering their bullish positions. Open interest lost 2,775 lots to 831,000 lots. On Friday, June 19, both LME aluminium cash (bid) price and LME official settlement price stood at US$ 1578 per tonne after inching down from 1586.50 per tonne on Thursday, June 18. 3-months bid price and 3-months offer price...
On 18 th June’20, The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi initiated the auction of 41 coal blocks for commercial mining video-conference. The allocation of the mines has been adopted with a two-stage e-auction. The decision was part of the announcements made by the Government of India under the “Self-Reliant India” scheme. The Prime Minister said: “India would overcome COVID-19 and turn the crisis caused by the pandemic into an opportunity.” He also said: “The country’s economic activity was fast returning to normal, with consumption and demand attaining the pre-pandemic levels. The rural economy had also started looking up, with the area under pre-rain sowing crops and wheat procurement increasing this year. These were signs that the economy was ready to bounce back and march ahead.”...
Thailand’s imports of aluminium scrap from the US stood at 5,880 tonnes in March, an increase of 569.7% from 878 tonnes in March 2019. On a month-on-month basis, imports registered a rise of 11.36% from 5,280 tonnes in February, as updated by the US Census Bureau. In the first quarter of 2020, Thailand imported 16,200 tonnes of aluminium scrap, from 2,340 tonnes imported in the first quarter of 2019. This marked an increase of 592.31% year-on-year. Thailand’s imports of total aluminium (semi-finished products, crude metals and alloy and scrap) from the US stood at 5,980 tonnes in March 2020, a rise of 448.62% from 1,090 tonnes in March 2019. Imports increased by 10.33% from February’s imports of 5,420 tonnes. In Q1 2020, total imports came in at 16,500 tonnes, an increase of 455.56% from...
Aluminium demand is likely to rebound in the second half of 2020 as China’s economy has begun to revive leading to the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. But the overcapacity may continue to pose challenges to the industry, pointed out Alcoa CFO William F. (Bill) Oplinger in early June. Oplinger, while participating during a virtual presentation for the Deutsche Bank Global Industrials & Materials Summit, said: “China is leading the recovery, and we are seeing some sectors in China reporting growth higher than 2019 levels in areas like industrial production, vehicle production, commercial starts and food and drink sales.” He added, “On top of that was the recently announced Chinese stimulus plan that makes provisions for investments in traditional and new infrastructure areas, so...
South African Aluminium supplier and exporter Hulamin, whose customers include Tesla, has sent warning signal on 19 th June’20 that it has entered into a loss in its year to end-December. The company had already stated earlier that declining sales took a chunk out of its profits of a business classified by fixed costs. The group announced that it expected to report a headline loss per share of between 70c and 80c, and up to 187.9% decline from the prior comparative period. Hulamin declared previously: “They experienced unusually challenging conditions in 2019, amid weak market conditions both locally and internationally.” This resulted in Hulamin Rolled Products sales volumes declining 10% to 204,000 tonnes. The group said in a trading update in March. “Due to the high fixed manufacturing...
On 19 th June’20, The London Metal Exchange (LME) stated that it had penalized warehouse operator ISTIM 30,000 pounds ($37,000) for violating aluminium warrant rules. The LME stated in a notice to members: “Between 12 th September’19 and 9 th December’19, ISTIM erroneously instructed its London Agent to issue primary aluminium warrants containing incorrect brand names and/or shapes on five separate occasions.” It has been declared that ISTIM had also stored metal for 1,107 warrants in a warehouse that was not the one listed on the LME’s system. However, it has been brought to notice that both issues appeared to be the result of human error.
The US has shown a desire to restore the duty benefits to Indian exporters under its Generalised System of Preferences if it receives a competent counter-offer from the Government of India. The officials of the Ministry of Commerce were closed-lipped on the kind of quid-pro-quo concession India Government would offer. However, they said the removal of the GSP benefits had a marginal impact on Indian exporters. The US-India relationship will stand stronger than before as the restoration of the benefits will be an added value. Robert Lighthizer, US Trade Representative, communicated to the US Senate Finance Committee: “We are in negotiations with India, we took away their GSP, and we’re in the process of restoring it if we can get an adequate counterbalancing proposal from them.” Lighthizer...
The latest data released by the US Geological Survey shows a significant surge in the United Arab Emirates’ aluminium crude metal and alloys exports to the United States in March 2020, following a dip in February. According to the data, the aluminium crude metal and alloys exports from the UAE to the US soared from 10,300 tonnes in February to 20,400 tonnes in March, an increase of 10,300 tonnes or 102 per cent month-on-month. But when compared to the same period last year, the UAE’s exports to the US plunged by 99.96 per cent from 53,200 tonnes. In January 2020, the export amount was 31,000 tonnes, meaning the United States’ imports from the UAE declined 67.42 per cent month-on-month in February 2020. In January also, the UAE’s aluminium crude metal and alloys exports to the US stood...
