Storvik has won a contract to operate and maintain the automated anode rod repair system at Alcoa's Mosjøen aluminium smelter in Norway. The agreement extends a partnership that began in 2016, when the company introduced its In-Line Rod Repair (ILRR) system at the plant. Storvik Mosjøen, a subsidiary of Storvik group will now handle the operation of the robotic repair line and maintenance of the anode yokes processed through it. Storvik Engineering built the system, with both companies working together on its installation and commissioning. Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our report: " Global Bauxite & Alumina Market Forecast to 2036: Supply–Demand, Trade Flows & Price Outlook " Anode rod assemblies are essential to primary aluminium...
Rio Tinto has secured a five-year operating arrangement for its Bell Bay aluminium smelter in northern Tasmania, backed by a government support package worth USD 200 million. The agreement includes a commitment to maintain a minimum level of employment at the 71-year-old facility until at least 2031, easing concerns over its future amid uncertainty about electricity costs. Rio Tinto's aluminium chief executive Jérôme Pécresse confirmed the employment commitment but did not disclose the number of jobs covered. The guarantee is understood to cover around 500 positions. Bell Bay currently employs about 550 people and supports a further 1,200 jobs, with its future previously uncertain as the company sought a new power agreement. Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of...
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The US dollar extended its losses on Monday after US President Donald Trump decided to extend a March 1 deadline for additional tariffs on Chinese goods, suggesting progressive trade negotiations between the two countries. LME base metals traded mixed on Monday and aluminium fell 0.6%. Most SHFE base metals pulled back overnight and aluminium closed flat. LME aluminium contract fell slightly to US$ 1886 per tonne on day’s closing yesterday. The three-month LME aluminium fell from a high of US$1,925 per tonne, which was also the highest in the previous trading day, to end Monday 0.6% lower at US$1,903 per tonne, paring gains in the prior day. Weak fundamentals weighed on LME aluminium, despite losses in the US dollar and gains across metals. The contract is expected to hover in wide range...
A00 aluminium ingot price continued its upward trend and stood at RMB 13610 per tonne as of Tuesday, February 26. Aluminium ingot price increased 0.15 per cent or RMB20 per tonne today. The average price is expected to range between RMB13590 per tonne and RMB13630 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB90-50 per tonne. Aluminium ingot prices in East (Wuxi) and East (Hangzhou) up by RMB15 per tonne and RMB25 per tonne to stand at RMB13600 per tonne and RMB13605 per tonne. Their average prices are expected to range between RMB 13590 - 13610 per tonne and RMB 13600 - 13610 per tonne. Aluminium ingot prices in South and North stood at RMB13650 per tonne and RMB13590 per tonne. Their average prices are expected to range between RMB 13630 - 13670 per tonne and RMB 13580 – 13600 per...
Shanghai Metals Market found improved spot aluminium buying interest among downstream consumers in south China yesterday, February 26, compared with the previous week. With this, spot aluminium deals among traders accounted for the majority of trading activities in the southern markets. The front-month SHFE March contract rose from last Friday, after the US President Donald Trump announced a postponement of a March 1 decline for additional tariffs on Chinese goods. In Shanghai and Wuxi, spot deals mostly occurred at RMB 13,580 per tonne to RMB 13,590 per tonne while that in Hangzhou at RMB 13,570 per tonne to RMB 13,590 per tonne, SMM research found. Spot discounts in Shanghai stood at RMB 80 per tonne to RMB 70 per tonne against the SHFE 1903 contract, barely changed from Friday morning....
India’s timeline of March 2 for imposing retaliatory duties on US items in response to U.S. duties on its steel and aluminium is likely to be postponed by a few days and an India-US trade deal is expected to be wrapped up soon. A government official told media that the Commerce Ministry and the US Trade Representative's (USTR) office may soon announce a trade deal to address the issue of import duties on steel and aluminium from India imposed by the U.S. In March 2018, the US imposed stiff tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium imported from India and a number of its trade allies citing national security. The deal will also cover better trade opportunities for certain agriculture and dairy products in both countries brought about by removing non-tariff barriers,...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) is reiterating its commitment towards a sustainable aluminium future by joining the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) in February 2019. The soon to be largest single site smelter has been working towards becoming a sustainable aluminium producer by strictly adhering to safety and environment rules. The press release from the company says that Alba has become a Production and Transformation member of the ASI due to its the latest ISO certification, its implementation of International Finance Corporation requirements and also for maintaining a high performance Safety and Health records. The company has also been demonstrating its initiatives to protect the environment. The company says that this membership has brought them closer to achieving...
National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) aims to raise its net profit to more than INR 2,000 crore by 2020 and INR2,500 crore in next three years, said Tapan Kumar Chand, CMD NALCO, while inaugurating the 2 day long 5th National management conference (NamCon-2019) on “Weatherproof organization: Challenging the Challenge” here at Asian School of Business Management. “With the business model in place, the company doubled its net profit from INR669 crore in FY 2016-17 to INR1342 crore in FY 2017-18. Now the company is all set to scale higher on financial front and envisages achieving a net profit of more than INR 2000 crore by 2020 and INR2500 crore in the next three years” “Besides, to retain business excellence, the company has consistently been working on with focus on sustainability...
Kaiser Aluminum Corporation announced results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2018. For the fourth quarter of 2018 , Kaiser reported net sales of $389 million, from $353 million last year, reflecting 4% higher shipments and a 6% increase in average selling price. Value added revenue increased 8% year-over-year to $210 million. Adjusted consolidated EBITDA stood at $55 million, up $7 million YoY. Net income was $24 million, compared to net loss of $15 million. Adjusted net income was $30 million. For the full year of 2018, net sales were $1.6 billion, up approximately 13% from $1.4 billion in the prior year period, reflecting 4% higher shipments and a 9% increase in average selling price. Value added revenue increased 5% to $828 million. Value added revenue for the...
The United Arab of Emirates, world’s fifth largest aluminium producer and one of the top aluminium exporters to the world exported about 2.68 million tonnes of aluminium and aluminium alloys in 2018. The biggest aluminium exporter in the UAE, EGA exports the major portion of its aluminium and ships the rest domestically. {newsStudioGallery} When we compare it year on year, we observe, UAE exported about 2.61 million tonnes of aluminium and aluminium alloys in 2017. This records a growth of about 2.7% over last year. Data shows, UAE earned export revenues of about US$ 4 billion in 2017 and it increased to US$ 4.1 billion in 2018. This shows that the aluminium tariffs imposed by the US have no significant impact on UAE’s overall aluminium export. When we look at UAE’s aluminium export to...
Social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, increased 45,000 tonnes from Thursday February 21, Shanghai Metals Market data showed. As of Monday February 25, social stocks of primary aluminium stood at 1.72 million tonnes. The chart below indicates the current status of the primary aluminium inventories across China: Inventories in Wuxi, Jiangsu and Nanhai, Guangdong increased 6,000 tonnes and 22,000 tonnes from Thursday February 21 to 636,000 tonnes and 340,000 tonnes respectively. Stocks in Gongyi, Henan stood at 157,000 tonnes as of Monday February 25, up 19,000 tonnes from Thursday February 21. Inventories in Shanghai and Hangzhou, Zhejiang dropped 2,000 tonnes to 312,000 tonnes and 149,000 tonnes respectively. The reason...
According to a news release on the Henan people’s government on Saturday February 23, Luoyang government of Henan province has signed a contract with aluminium extrusion producer Liaoning Zhongwang Group last week to construct an aluminium alloy processing plant in Yichuan country of Luoyang. China’s Zhongwang group is the World’s second largest and Asia’s largest industrial aluminium extruded products developer and manufacturer. After more than 20 years of dedicated development, the Group currently has over 90 aluminium extrusion production lines with an aggregate annual production capacity of close to 2 million tonnes. The alloy processing unit will have an annualised capacity of 1 million tonnes and the project will receive an investment of 21 billion yuan from Zhongwang Group. The...
As on February 25 2019, as reported by Shanghai Metals Market; average Bauxite (6.5≤Al/Si＜7.5) price in Guangxi dropped RMB 30 per tonne to RMB 270 per tonne. The average price is expected to stay within a range of RMB 220-RMB 320 per tonne. The average Bauxite (5.5≤Al/Si＜6.5) price also declined RMB 25 per tonne to RMB 200 per tonne. The average price is expected to stay within a range of RMB 180-RMB 220 per tonne. Price of bauxite remains unchanged in all the three major China markets (Shanxi, Henan and Guizhou). In another update from SMM, A00 aluminium ingot price again witnessed a growth of RMB80 per tonne or 0.59 per cent on Monday February 25. Aluminium ingot price stood at RMB13590 per tonne. The average price today is expected to range between RMB 13570 per tonne and RMB 13610...
The US dollar index fell on Friday as investors took on riskier assets on hopes for a trade deal between the US and China. LME base metals traded higher on Friday and aluminium advanced 0.4%. SHFE base metals also ticked up across the board on Friday night and aluminium advanced 0.8% and tin inched up 0.1%. LME aluminium has been showing some upward movement since last week and the contract closed the day’s trading at US$ 1890.50 per tonne on Friday. After a lower open, the three-month LME aluminium climbed into positive territory to end at US$1,918 per tonne on Friday night. It is expected to trade at US$1,900-1,920 per tonne today. As on February 22, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1890 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1890.50 per tonne; 3-months bid...
Italian shipyard CRN is reportedly ready to launch its new custom megayacht M/Y 135 made of fully steel and aluminium. Since the 79-metre yacht was positioned on the slipway during the pre-launch, its sleek shape elegantly delineated by the smooth lines of the hull did awestruck the spectators. It was positioned with the help of motorised hydraulic lift trucks. The press release said handling the 1,400-tonnes yacht was a complex and spectacular operation, but the total dedication and specialist expertise of the CRN workers did make it possible. The design of the yacht is done by the CRN Technical Office in partnership with the Zuccon International Project design studio. The latter has looked after the exterior design, while Laura Sessa architecture studio has developed the interiors....
Salamander Bay Recycling in the past one year collected aluminium hair foils from hairdressers across Port Stephens and the wider Hunter region, and this week it had the first load ready for transportation to Liberty OneSteel Recycling at Hexham. Salamander Bay Recycling general manager Gerard McClafferty said he was both excited and surprised by the project’s success. "We are delighted to have diverted in excess of 20 cubic metres of material away from landfill. That’s a lot of hairdos and chitchat," said McClafferty in particular. Further adding to it he said, "But we couldn’t have done it without the magnificent involvement of so many Port salons, along with the support of hairdressers in places like Newcastle, Umina and Singleton. Our special thanks go to Port Stephens Packaging &...
The Aluminum Association has added four new member companies – Brunswick Corporation, Consolidated Engineering Company, Shapiro Metals and Vesuvius USA. Brunswick Corporation joins the association as a producer member – a firm that makes or fabricates aluminium products. The three companies join as associate members – organizations that supply goods and services to the aluminium industry. Michelle O’Neill, Senior Vice President, Global Government Affairs & Sustainability at Alcoa and Chair of the Aluminum Association said: “This is a dynamic time for the aluminium industry in the United States, with both opportunities and challenges for the full value chain.” “We are pleased to welcome these new members and their unique perspectives to the conversation as we continue to represent the full...
Century Aluminum Company announced fourth quarter and full year 2018 results. The company reported net loss of $65.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Adjusted net loss was 40.7 million compared to adjusted net income of $2.3 million for Q3 2018. Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 2018 was $(18.1) million driven by the historically high alumina price relative to the metal price. Cash position at quarter end was $38.9 million and revolver availability was $156.9 million. Shipments of primary aluminium were 199,466 tonnes compared with 182,926 tonnes shipped in Q3 2018, reflecting the impact of the Hawesville and Sebree restarts. Net sales were $486.9 million compared with $481.8 million for Q3 2018. For the full year 2018, Century reported a net loss of $66.2 million. The adjusted net loss for...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, spot aluminium trades across east-China remained positive on this morning, February 22, as downstream consumers stockpiled for the weekend. In Shanghai and Wuxi, spot deals were mostly heard at RMB 13,490 per tonne to RMB 13,510 per tonne and that in Hangzhou at RMB 13,500 per tonne to RMB 13,510 per tonne, SMM research found. Traded prices were up more than RMB 70 per tonne from the previous morning. The front-month aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange also rose on the day. Spot discounts in Shanghai were seen at RMB 90 per tonne to RMB 70 per tonne against the SHFE March contract, slightly wider than RMB 60 per tonne to RMB 50 per tonne on Thursday morning. The state-owned aluminium giant the Aluminium Corporation China (Chalco)...
In a positive development, Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. David MacNaughton told reporters on Thursday that the steel and aluminium tariffs imposed on Canada by U.S. President Donald Trump should be lifted “in the next few weeks,”. He expressed his confidence that the end of the trade war is approaching. "It is obviously difficult to predict accurately exactly what is going to happen here — there are many moving parts, there are other distractions — but I'm confident that we're going to get there in the next few weeks," MacNaughton said. Trump imposed 25 per cent tariff on steel and the 10 per cent tariff on aluminium imported from all countries in March 2018, which started a trade war between the U.S. and its closed allies and prompted counter-tariffs on a wide range of goods from the...
