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...
Grow with
AL Circle
The US dollar fell broadly at the start of the week, as currencies battered by trade tensions between the US and China staged a comeback after leaders from the two countries declared a temporary truce on tariffs. LME base metals ended in the black across the board. Aluminium rose 1.2%. SHFE base metals, however, ended in mixed territory. After closing Monday’s trading at US$ 1982.50 per tonne, LME aluminium started strengthening further at night. Finally the contract slipped to close at US$1,974 per tonne overnight, below the 40-day moving average, after it climbed to a high of US$1,996 per tonne in European trades. We expect it to trade at US$1,950-1,980 per tonne today. As on December 3, Monday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1982 per tonne, LME official settlement price...
Looking at the surge in imports, metals and mining conglomerate Vedanta Ltd has strategized a plan to raise its downstream products output by 25 per cent in the October-March period. As U.S. has restricted import of aluminium and aluminium products from China, the country has redirected its exports to other markets. India also has witnessed a flood of imports of an array of aluminium products. While scrap aluminium imports from US have increased 144 per cent, overall imports have risen 32 per cent in July-September period, creating a concern for the domestic aluminium producers. Imports of fake semis from China and wire rods from South East Asia region have also created issues for the Indian aluminium makers. The share of imports in domestic aluminium consumption has reached 60 per cent...
China's social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas including SHFE warrants amounted to 1.367 million tonnes as of Monday December 3. This is down from 1.386 million tonnes recorded on Thursday November 29, SMM data showed. Social warehouses saw fewer shipments arrive over the weekend as producers cut their production. This mainly accounted for the decline in inventories of primary aluminium. The current inventory status in the major Chinese cities is as follows: In another update from SMM, the A00 aluminium ingot price registered a drop from RMB 13680 per tonne to RMB 13660 per tonnes on Tuesday, December 4.The average prices are expected to range between RMB 13,640 per tonne to RMB 13,680 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 80 per tonne to RMB 40...
According to news published by Reuters, Indonesian state miner PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) is aiming to export 2.8 million tonnes of bauxite in 2019, more than triple the estimated 850,000 tonnes in shipments for 2018, Chief Executive Arie Prabowo Ariotedjo told reporters. Ariotedjo said the compay will construct new smelters with Aluminium Corporation of China (Chalco), which will give the company additional export quota for unprocessed metals. The government grants mineral ore export permits to companies which are building smelters. In April, Antam obtained a new permit recommendation from Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry for bauxite and nickel exports. This would support their plans to boost production and sales of bauxite and nickel. “Antam's exports of nickel and bauxite ore...
Mainboard-listed Nico Steel Holdings Limited has received new orders of approximately 22 tonnes per month of aluminium alloy materials from for an existing customer and a new customer. The company will supply 20 tonnes per month of aluminium alloy to a major global brand of tablets. The material will be used for the fabrication of the LED back panel of tablets. The other order of 1.8 tonne per month of aluminium alloy is for a new customer – one of the top printer solutions manufacturers in the world. The customer intends to enhance the aesthetic aspects of its printers by incorporating metal into its plastic design. Danny Tan, Executive Chairman and President of Nico Steel said, “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with globally renowned brand owners on their evolving...
The leaders of the world's two largest economies, President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, met face-to-face on December 1 Saturday in Argentina, which was expected to temporarily halt an escalating tit-for-tat trade war. They agreed to a temporary trade cease-fire to allow time for more negotiations. This indicated that U.S. tariffs on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods will not rise to 25 per cent from current 10 per cent on Jan1. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that adhering to the deal, China would buy "a very substantial amount of agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries." London and Shanghai industrial metals also jumped on Monday after...
Rio Tinto has loaded first shipment of bauxite from its US$1.9 billion Amrun project in Queensland, six weeks ahead of schedule. More than 80,000 tonnes of bauxite are expected to arrive at Rio Tinto’s Yarwun alumina refinery in Gladstone next week. Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive Alf Barrios said “Bringing Amrun online further strengthens our position as a leading supplier in the seaborne market. We have the largest bauxite resources in the industry and are geographically well positioned to supply China’s significant future import needs, as well as supporting our refinery and smelting operations in Australia and New Zealand. “The Amrun mine will ensure generational jobs for Queenslanders and build significantly on our 55-year history on the Western Cape.” Amrun mine will replace...
The United Arab Emirates, one of the top aluminium exporters to the US, accounted for 10% of all aluminium imports by the US during the first nine months of 2018. The UAE exported 460,000 tonnes of crude metal and alloys, aluminium semi-finished products and scrap to the US during January-September 2018, down 14% from 534,000 tonnes during January-September 2017. {newsStudioGallery} Total aluminium exports by the UAE stood at 43,700 tonnes in September 2018, down 3% from 45,200 tonnes in September 2017, according to the latest Mineral Industry Survey report from US Geological Survey. Exports of crude metal and alloys stood at 456,000 tonnes during January-September 2018, down 75000 tonnes from January-September 2017 volume of 531,000 tonnes. In September 2018, the volume stood at 43,000...
Qatar Petroleum's Qatar Aluminium Manufacturing Company or Qamco shares will start trading on QSE from December 10. According to the discussions that took place in Qamco’s first general assembly meeting on December 2, the shares of Qamco are expected to begin trading on the Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) from December 10, 2018. In October, Qamco, the Qatari public joint stock company announced its plans to sell 49 per cent of its shares in a public offering. The AGM was held after the successful completion of the initial public offering (IPO) process recently, which was oversubscribed. The board also received an approval for the Memorandum of Association and Articles of Association to constitute the Company. The meeting, presided over by Abdulrahman Ahmad Al Shaibi, Chairman of Qamco, also...
According to a media update, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) will provide geological reports of 18 mineral blocks to the government in December and 13 more mine blocks by the end of 2019. This is confirmed by an official from GSI. The government has plans to auction more than 100 mineral blocks during the current fiscal year and GSI studies have been conducted based on this requirement. According to the official the list of 18 mine blocks includes one bauxite block in Kerala, seven copper blocks in Rajasthan and Haryana, three iron ore blocks in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, two gold blocks in Karnataka, two manganese blocks in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, three limestone blocks in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. Earlier 2018, GSI said that it was working on 34 projects in the country's...
According to Shanghai Metal Market, Weiqiao Group lowered its prebaked anode purchasing prices by RMB 50 per tonne after it kept the prices flat on the month in November. For December, the prices are hovering at RMB3,590 per tonne in cash and RMB 3,625 per tonne on acceptance. On the other hand, prebaked anode prices in Central, South-west and North-west remained unchanged at RMB 3660 per tonne, RMB 4000 per tonne, and RMB 4100 per tonne respectively. A00 aluminium ingot prices registered a jump today, December 3, 2018. Ingot price gained RMB 180 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,680 per tonne. The average prices today are expected to range between RMB 13,660 per tonne and RMB 13,700 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 90 per tonne to RMB 50 per tonne. A00 aluminium ingot prices...
The dollar strengthened on Friday night, as markets awaited the outcome of talks between the leaders of the world's two biggest economies at the G-20 summit. Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump agreed to a temporarily pause an escalating trade war. A White House statement about the leaders' dinner said that Xi and Trump agreed to hold off on additional tariffs on each other's after January 1, as talks continued between both countries. LME base metals ended in mixed territory and aluminium rose 0.85%. SHFE base metals, however, traded higher across the board on Friday night. After closing Friday’s trading at US$ 1935 per tonne, LME aluminium started strengthening at night on anticipation of positive outcome from G-20 summit. The contract ended at US$1950 per tonne on...
The Aluminum Association joined global aluminium association leaders from Brazil, Canada, the EU, Japan and Mexico and signed a letter to leaders of the G20 calling for renewed commitment “to tackling the issue of market-distorting aluminium overcapacity.” The association leaders, in the letter urged to tackle the overcapacity issue which is distorting the international market and putting aluminium producers across the entire value chain at risk. They insisted that this has been happening due to state subsidy. They insisted that free trade can be an engine of prosperity, social mobility and peace only when businesses are able to operate on a level playing field. The leaders expressed their concern about the persistent growth in overcapacity in both the upstream and mid- and downstream...
According to a report, a city college professor named Bhagyanathan in Coimbatore has found a method to recycle aluminium scrap which will help small plants to produce graded quality aluminium ingots with enhanced mechanical and metallurgical properties. Small plants use electric induction furnaces, LPG furnace or coal furnace. According to the professor, adopting this newly invented method will help small plants to produce high-quality ingots with existing infrastructure. Presently, ingots are mostly produced by large plants and some by some other firms that produce aluminium products and like to use self-produced ingots. Besides quality, this method will also reduce the production cost, said Bhagyanathan. He further apprised that two firms already came forward to adopt the technology....
Canada, the U.S. and Mexico signed the new North American trade agreement on Friday, November 30, on the sidelines of the Group OF G20 summit in Buenos Aires. The new agreement, officially known as the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), still needs to be ratified by legislators in all three countries before it can formally take effect. The three agreed on a deal in principle to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which governs more than $1.2 trillion of mutual trade, after acrimonious negotiations concluded on September 30. “This new agreement will ensure a future of prosperity and innovation for Mexico, Canada, and the United States,” Donald Trump said. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the new deal “lifts the risk of serious economic uncertainty that...
The Schüco Group’s FireStop aluminium fire and smoke protection range of doors and window system has received the prestigious German Design Award 2019 out of the total, 5400 entries. The Schüco Group develops and sells system solutions for windows, doors, façades, sliding systems, security technology and sun shading. German Design Award aims to discover, present, and honour unique trends in design, both in product as well as in communication. Commenting on the fenestration product, German Design Award 2019 jury said: "This system is notable for its outstanding versatility, even while in use. The fact that the technical elements are invisibly integrated into the frame endows the door with a spiffy look. A superb product, which, with consummate artistry, combines functionality, safety and...
An Ilkeston-based company Dales Fabrications has reportedly installed a polyester powder coating equipment that will apply attractive hard-wearing finishes to the aluminium products it manufactures at own factory in Compton Road. The equipment got unveiled on Friday, November 30, by some industry specialists and Erewash MP Maggie Throup, a British Conservative Party politician. Dales designs and manufactures an extensive range of standard and bespoke aluminium building products including fascia and soffit systems and brise soleil. Karl Prosser, managing director of Dales, said the equipment worth £170,000 will help the company to ramp up its output capacity and at the same time speed up the production process. Out of £170,000, around £42,500 was funded by a Government fund managed by the...
The US dollar traded robustly last week. After a slight fall in the mid-week dollar recovered but remained under 97 as concerns before the G20 meeting prompted investors to buy back the currency. LME aluminium continued to trade weakly over the weak but recovered some losses towards the end of the week. The contract saw a trading range of US$1912.50-1,935 per tonne, lower than the last week. The LME aluminium contract started the week at US$1920 per tonne and continued its downward trend with the US dollar holding steady against a currency basket and in absence of strong market fundamentals. The contract plunged to US$1912.50 per tonne mid-week and regained slowly at the end of the week when the dollar consolidated and in anticipation of a resolving of the U.S. China trade war during G20...
