Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) has proposed an integrated bauxite mining and processing project worth VND 5.2 trillion (USD 208 million) in Lam Dong province, Vietnam. Currently under appraisal by provincial authorities, it is designed to produce around 3 million tonnes of refined bauxite ore annually, reinforcing raw material requirements at the Nhan Co Aluminium Plant and the planned expansion of its alumina operations. Located in the Nhan Co Cluster, the proposal spans over 6,666 hectares. Of this, approximately 5,269 hectares are earmarked for mining and around 50 hectares for the ore processing plant. The project also includes five post-processing sludge reservoirs covering about 1,120 hectares, alongside the 318-hectare Dak Buk So 8 water reservoir. A...
Aluminium production depends on high-temperature processes where furnace efficiency, thermal management and equipment durability are essential for maintaining operational performance. However, refractory materials used in melting, holding and casting operations face continuous exposure to extreme temperatures, thermal fluctuations, chemical corrosion and mechanical wear. These conditions can lead to premature furnace-lining failure, molten-metal penetration, corundum formation and heat loss, increasing maintenance requirements and operating costs. Addressing these challenges requires materials that can withstand demanding operating conditions while keeping equipment efficient and reliable. Alkegen, a supplier of high-temperature refractory and insulation materials, serves this requirement...
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NioCorp Developments Ltd. is developing North America’s only niobium, scandium, titanium plant near Elk Creek, Nebraska. The project, once complete, is claimed to be the largest prospective producer of scandium in the world. NioCorp is sitting on 250,000 tons of niobium pentoxide, 2,300 tons of scandium, and 891,000 tons of titanium dioxide, and likely to be the only producer of its kind in the USA. Scandium is a niche metal to be used in high end products such as the aerospace industry and sports equipment. However, it has great potential as an alloy because it has almost as low a density as aluminium with a much higher melting point. When scandium is added to aluminium, it creates a strong lightweight alloy with excellent resistance to corrosion and good weldability and melting point....
Showa Aluminum Can Corporation (SAC), a consolidated subsidiary of Showa Denko (SDK) and Carabao Group PCL (CBG), a leading beverage maker headquartered in Bangkok, jointly held a completion ceremony for new aluminium can plant owned and operated by Asia Can Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (ACM). As a result of the completion of the new aluminium plant, Showa Denko Group's capacity to manufacture aluminium cans in Southeast Asia has been expanded to 3 billion cans a year, including that of Hanacans Joint Stock Company of Vietnam, it said in its press release. ACM will supply high-quality aluminium cans manufactured by leading-edge technologies and quality management system built up by SAC over many years. ACM will support CBG’s overseas sales, centering on Southeast Asian countries, China and the...
The US dollar weakened against major peers on Thursday amid weakening economic data and heightened market volatility. Most LME and SHFE base metals ended in negative territory overnight. LME aluminium dropped 1.6%. SHFE aluminium slipped close to 0.9%. LME aluminium dropped further from last closing to close at US$ 1945 per tonne on Thursday December 6. After a negative open, LME aluminium extended its decline on Thursday and closed at US$1,941 per tonne at night. This forced it to relinquish most gains it had made since last Friday. We expect it to remain weak today with a trading range of US$1,920-1,960 per tonne. As on December 6, Thursday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1943 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1945 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands...
The A00 aluminium ingot price seems to have decided to be on the downside, according to Shanghai Metals Market. Even continued destocking in social inventories of primary aluminium over the past weeks and improved purchasing enthusiasm among downstream consumers for spot primary aluminium (like it was yesterday in the east China) are failing to pull the ingot price up, except in the interim periods. Today, on December 7, the ingot price has further extended its plunge by RMB 60 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,500 per tonne, Shanghai Metals Market found. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 13,480 per tonne and RMB 13,520 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 20 per tonne. This marks a fourth consecutive drop in A00 aluminium ingot price in China since the month...
The Andhra Pradesh Economic Development Board (APEDB) on Thursday, December 6, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Japan-based Daiki Aluminium Industry to set $30 million (INR 225 crore) aluminium alloy unit with a capacity of 84,000 tonnes per annum. The MoU was signed by APEDB Chief Executive Officer J Krishna Kishore and Daiki Aluminium Industry Group president Takaaki Yamamoto. J Krishna Kishore said: "Aluminium recycling is gaining importance as an economically valuable secondary raw material across the world. The state continues to fill existing gaps in the circular economy and is delighted to have India's biggest recycling aluminium alloy plant in Andhra Pradesh." "The plant will have a low-emission profile as 20-25 per cent of the investment will be spent on...
An European Aluminium Foil Association report says over 150 million Santa Clauses are produced annually for the holiday season in Europe. They are produced in Germany and also in other countries like Austria. Based on an average size of 0.025 square meters per figure, this is more than 3,750,000 square meters. Almost all of the chocolate hollow figures are wrapped in shiny and colourful aluminium foils to add the festive iconic look. According to EAFA, the aluminium foil offers complete protection to the chocolate Santas from the light and other external influences. “The deadfold effect of the aluminum foil allows the foil to be wrapped tightly around the chocolate product during packaging and remains so in the supermarket or other points of sale until it arrives at the consumer for the...
Alstom India is reportedly aiming to roll out trains made of aluminium, while at the same time, reading to double its metro coach building capacity at a plant in Sri City in Andhra Pradesh in a bid to meet Montreal Metro and Mumbai Metro orders for trains. The news came when Alain Spohr, Managing Director for India and South Asia, Alstom, told reporters today, December 6, "We will be doubling our capacity by setting up a new line that could manufacture 22 cars per month. We are also studying the feasibility for rolling out trains made of aluminium." Alain Spohr also intimidated reporters about receiving orders for 10 more metro trains from Chennai Metro. According to Spohr, the Montreal Metro and Mumbai Metro orders will be executed from 2019 onwards. Both the orders involved supplying...
According to a news release on the website of Gutian government, construction of a secondary aluminium processing project will commence in Dajia industrial park, Gutian country, of China’s southern province of Fujian by the end of 2018. The project has an annual production capacity of 100,000 tonnes. Shanghai Metals Market reported trial production is expected to start in the first half of 2019, and regular operation in the second half of the year, according to general secretary of Gutian county. Secondary aluminium processing project received RMB 210 million of investment from Fuzhou Meijia Environmental Development Co., Ltd. In another update from SMM, China’s imports of automobiles dropped 4.2 per cent year on year to 847,000 during January-September 2018. US-China trade disputes...
After cutting prices of aluminium ingots seven times in a row, Vedanta Ltd has raised rates of these products by nearly 3% with effect from December 4. After the increase, the price for Vedanta aluminium ingot stands at INR 157,000 (USD 2215) per tonne, up from INR 152,750 (USD 2155) per tonne on December 1. With today’s hike, rates of these products are at two-weeks high. Most aluminium producers in India have raised product prices following the rise in global aluminium price in London Metal Exchange after the G20 summit where USA signed a new trade agreement with Canada and Mexico and China and USA agreed upon a 90 days truce on trade war while further negotiations are on. Even after the price hike on December 4, rates of these products are down 5-6% for the quarter. The three-month...
Shanghai Metals Market research found purchasing enthusiasm among aluminium downstream consumers across east-China spot markets improved on Thursday, December 5, from a day earlier as aluminium prices fell. The SHFE December contract plunged on Thursday morning. In Shanghai, spot discounts were heard at RMB 30 per tonne to RMB 20 per tonne against the SHFE 1812 contract, narrower than RMB 50 per tonne to RMB 40 per tonne in the previous day. In Shanghai and Wuxi, spot transactions were mostly done at RMB 13,550 per tonne to RMB 13,570 per tonne while that in Hangzhou at RMB 13,600 per tonne to RMB 13,620 per tonne. The prices were over RMB 90 per tonne lower than the previous day. However, the losses in prices could not subdue the willingness of the sellers in eastern markets to let go...
Italy is the world’s largest user of aluminium after the USA, Japan, People’s Republic of China and Germany. The aluminium market is concentrated almost exclusively in the north of the country. The large part of aluminium is used by extrusion plants and foundries to supply to the automobile industry. Together with Germany and France, Italy is one of the largest producers of foundry products. According to the data gathered and processed by Assomet and Centroal, 2017 was a year marked by growth for the Italian aluminium industry. The overall consumption of light metal in all its forms was beyond 2.1 million tonnes. This trend of the use of aluminium in Italy confirms its second position in Europe behind Germany. So, given this increasingly strong demand of the industry, Italy imports a...
Parliament, on Wednesday, 5 December 2018 approved the US$2 billion bauxite barter deal between the government of Ghana and China’s Sinohydro Corporation Limited, according to news reported by Ghana Web. Under the deal Sinohydro would fund the infrastructure projects in Ghana, including roads, bridges, interchanges, hospitals, housing, rural electrification in exchange for refined bauxite. This means Ghana would leverage its bauxite reserve at Atewa forest for the amount from China. Kwame Agbodza, the Ranking Member of the Roads and Transport Committee, said a 2-layer road in 2016 cost the Ghanaian taxpayer just GHS1 million but the same length of road has been pegged at GHS 5 million under the contract. But Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu lauded the deal saying the agreement seeks...
The Australian explorer firm Pure Alumina Limited is planning to buy private Canadian high purity alumina (HPA) producer Polar Sapphire. Polar Sapphire makes some of the lowest cost HPA at its Toronto pilot plant available in the market at present. Pure Alumina, formerly called Hill End Gold told its investors that both companies were negotiating towards “agreeing to formal terms of a potential transaction” by January 31 2019. High Purity Alumina is used as a raw material for making lithium ion battery components, LED lights, smart phone screens, and surgical tools. Polar Sapphire’s Toronto pilot plant is producing HPA and generating cashflow in the process. Polar’s patented process produces 99.999 per cent purity HPA at one of the lowest production costs in the world and commands a...
According to a report, Rio Tinto’s Potline 4 at New Zealand Aluminium Smelter (NZAS), at Tiwai Point on the South Island, officially reopened by the country’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Rio Tinto, along with joint venture partner Sumitomo Chemical Company, invested around US$4.1 million this year to upgrade and restart the potline, adding 31,000 tonnes of production capacity. Rio owns 79.36 per cent of NZAS while Sumitomo owns the rest. Rio Tinto Aluminium chief operating officer Pacific Operations Kellie Parker said: “We are proud the Prime Minister has joined us to mark this important milestone for the team at Tiwai Point and the country’s manufacturing sector.” Per the company’s anticipation, the restarting of the potline will increase the smelter’s production capacity by almost 10...
Vigeo Eiris which rates global companies with the most advanced practice in sustainable development has listed UC RUSAL, one of the leading global aluminium producers, among the top 100 Best Emerging Markets performers. Vigeo Eiris is one of the largest international rating agencies that reviews organisations based on their sustainable developments. The companies are scored on the basis of the best practises in the areas of human rights, environmental protection, human capital, corporate governance, business ethics and contributions to social and economic development in the fields in which they operate. The agency analysed 855 companies from 35 industries while choosing the top 100 companies in the ranking. The top-100 companies are from 17 countries and belong to 22 different sectors. As...
As reported by Shanghai Metals Market,, 6063 aluminium billet inventories across five major consumption areas in China dipped some 3,100 tonnes over the weekend ended on Thursday, December 6, to stand at 117,900 tonnes. Deliveries from warehouses picked up after a decline, SMM learned. This came after slow downstream demand grew stocks by 3,400 tonnes on Thursday, November 29. In Foshan, Guangdong and Wuxi, Jiangsu, the inventories dropped by some 1,800 tonnes and 3,600 tonnes to stand at 67,400 tonnes and 13,900 tonnes respectively. Inventories in Huzhou, Zhejiang, on the other hand, rose by around 3,000 tonnes and stood at 6,500 tonnes. For more details, refer to the chart below: Aluminium alloys (ADC12) price remained unchanged at average RMB 15,200 per tonne. The average price is...
The US dollar index recovered to 97 on Wednesday as support from the stronger euro and yen faded. Both LME and SHFE base metals ended in mixed territory overnight. LME aluminium inched up 0.15% while SHFE aluminium fell 0.33%. LME aluminium dropped from the quick high of US$ 1985 per tonne to US$1966.50 per tonne yesterday. However, LME aluminium outperformed its SHFE counterpart overnight and traded marginally higher at US$1,973 per tonne. It is expected to trade at US$1,950-1,980 per tonne today. As on December 5, Wednesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1966 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1966.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1970 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1970.50 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2025 per tonne,...
The Bombay High Court on Thursday, December 5, granted an interim stay on an order to close Hindalco Industries Limited’s bauxite mine near Kolhapur in Maharashtra. “…we are inclined to grant ad-interim relief to the petitioner (Hindalco) as the petitioner’s unit at Dhangarwadi is directed to be closed with immediate effect,” the Chief Justice bench of the high court said in its order. On November 27, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board had ordered the closure and stopped water and electricity supply to the company’s mine. In petition, Hindalco had told the High Court that it, however, did not receive the show cause notice that was issued by the regulator on November 16. The pollution control authority’s lawyer sought time to file its reply. The High Court will hear the case next on...
