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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According to the latest update from Shanghai Metals Market, China exported some 11,154 tonnes of anhydrous aluminium fluoride, a raw material in aluminium smelting, in October 2018, an increase of 237 per cent from October 2017. On month on month, the export volume dropped 19 per cent from September 2018. Russia remained the top importer of anhydrous aluminium fluoride from China. China’s exports to Russia increased 102 per cent MoM to 3,384 tonnes, showed data from China Customs on Thursday November 29. Exports to Australia stood at 1,224 tonnes in October, an increase of 4 per cent from September 2018. This made Australia the second largest export destination for anhydrous aluminium fluoride, the data showed.
Headquartered in Beijing, Aluminium Corp of China Ltd., also known as Chalco, is reportedly reducing output on some of its aluminium production lines in northern China because of Chinese aluminium price plunge to a two-year low, announced the company itself on Friday, November 30. Shanghai aluminium prices today, on November 30, ended down 0.8 per cent at RMB 13,555 per tonne, the lowest close since September 30, 2016. Chalco said to the Shanghai Stock Exchange that it would shut around 470,000 tonnes of annual aluminium production at units in Shanxi Huasheng and Shandong Huayu, subject to flexible output arrangements. According to the company’s annual report, this 470,000 tonnes figure accounts for nearly 12 per cent of Chalco’s 3.93 million tonnes of primary aluminium capacity at the...
Flair Windows, leading fabricators of UPVC windows, doors, roofs and sealed units, is now producing aluminium range following the expansion of its current facility. The company is manufacturing Smarts Visofold 1000 Bi-Folding doors and Alitherm 300 Window Range. “With our recent extension of our current factory to 50,000 sq ft we are now capable of producing our Aluminium range alongside our UPVC without lead times being effected. Combine this with the appointment of Factory Manager, Ben Fewtrell, and the addition of more staff to our manufacturing team the aluminium cogs at Flair are moving smoother than ever!,” according to the company’s website. “Even though these aluminium products are just breaking there way into the market the feedback we are getting is outstanding with customers...
The leading aluminium event in the Middle East, the annual ARABAL conference, hosted by Kuwait Industries, took place in Kuwait from 11 to 13 November. The event was officially inaugurated by H.E. Khaled AlRoudan, Minister of Commerce and Industry. ARABAL 2018 conference highlighted the success of the Middle East Aluminium industry in last three decades and sought to find innovations for a sustainable aluminium industry in future. Commenting on the event and the industry, ARABAL Chairman Mr Mohammed Al Naki said, “The GCC has been looking for ways to diversify its industry and income and aluminium is now a key sector for the region. When we started ARABAL 35 years ago there were only three smelters and production was extremely low. Now we have 6 smelters and aluminium production has...
A Hawke’s Bay drinks company Parkers Beverage Company Ltd. reportedly becomes the first in New Zealand to scrap plastic water bottles and adopt recyclable cans instead to hold still water products. Parkers Beverage Company manufactures and distributes brands such as Parkers water, Ō Pure Artesian Water, Deco City Beer, DeVine Wine, and 1835 Coffee. According to Parkers managing director Doug Speedy, there are a few reasons why the company has made this move to implement a complex approach to canning still water. He feels a low-cost business can succeed in producing huge volumes, and Parkers was not comfortable producing huge amounts of single-use plastic bottles. Plastic bottles in New Zealand go to landfill while aluminium cans can be recycled and repurposed. So, even from an...
According to a Platts report, freight rates to carry 59,000 million tonnes of bauxite cargo from Kamsar port in Guinea to San Ciprian in Spain on a Panamax-size vessel have dropped to a 21-week low of US$10 per tonne amid over-tonnage in the West African region. The freight rate hit an all-time high of US$13 per tonne on October 16. After that rates have dropped US$3 per tonne or 23%. "On top of bunker sliding, Kamsar is seeing low rates because of tonnage oversupply," a dry bulk ship operator said. According to market participants, ships from South Africa are finding it tough to find cargoes if they want to ship them to South America due to the current oversupply of tonnage on the Brazilian coast. So ship owners turned to the West African ports for loading the bauxite. This has led to...
Greek-based industrial conglomerate Mytilineos chairman said on Thursday, November 29 that the company anticipated its sales to top 2.2 billion euros in 2019 from 1.5 billion euros this year. Special mention he made about Mytilineos’ growing alumina business and new projects in Libya and Ghana because of which the company expected the imminent growth. Besides those two projects, Mytilineos, the operator of the biggest alumina refinery in Greece, is expecting to finalise a US$400 million investment in its home country to build a new alumina plant, but no decision is made yet. “We want very much to see it materializing,” Mytilineos said, telling investors to be patient and that the group would take its final investment decision after an ongoing engineering study was concluded. The group has...
According to the latest Mineral Industry Survey report from US Geological Survey, exports of aluminium semi-finished products (plates, sheets, bars, etc.) by the U.S. stood at 76,200 tonnes in September 2018, down 8.4 % from September 2017 volume of 83,200 tonnes. On a month on month comparison, the volume dropped 15% from the August export volume of 89,200 tonnes. The U.S. exported 796,000 tonnes of aluminium semi-finished products in the first nine months of 2018, up 1% from 786,000 tonnes in the first nine months of 2017. The U.S. exports to Canada reduced 16% MoM to 28,100 tonnes in September2018. The export volume was 33,500 tonnes in August 2018. Canada imported 301,000 tonnes during January-September 2018. The U.S. exports of aluminium plates, sheets, bars, etc. to Mexico stood at...
As forecasted by Sinomach Automobile Co., China’s largest dealer of imported cars and light trucks, China’s light-vehicle imports are likely to drop by more than 5 per cent in 2019. This decline is attributed to an economy that is steadily losing steam and China’s continued trade disputes with the United States. If the situations do not improve, the dealer said at a forum organized in Beijing, the import will plunge next year. According to Sinomach, in the first three quarters of 2018, China’s light-vehicle imports dropped 4.2 per cent to about 847,000 vehicles in comparison with the same period of 2017. Roughly 622,000 imported vehicles were delivered to customers during the period while the rest were stockpiled at dealerships. This is in stark contrast to the 1.2 million vehicle imports...
European automakers shares reportedly dropped on Thursday, November 29 followed by a warning of fresh US imported auto tariffs application before the end of the year. The warning came from one of the key European lawmakers. According to a report by Germany's Wirtschaftwoche, a business and economics focused newspaper, European Union Budget Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said he expected the new tariffs before Christmas. By this, he only meant his concern about the tariffs application and did not indicate that anything had been decided in Washington, the Commission clarified. New tariffs if imposed would mark a stark reversal to a July agreement between President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker to freeze auto levies. Juncker that time had even praised...
The US dollar recovered but remained under 97 as concerns before the G20 meeting prompted investors to buy back the currency. At the G20 summit in Buenos Aires on Friday and Saturday, the US President Donald Trump and China President Xi Jinping are scheduled to discuss trade issues after months of tension between the world's two biggest economies. After falling to a new low, LME aluminium recovered some losses and closed Thursday’s trading at US$ 1933 per tonne. However, the contract failed to stand firm above the 10-day moving average at night with resistance at the 20-day moving average. The contract is likely to trade at US$1,920-1,940 per tonne today. As on November 29, Thursday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1931per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, the A00 aluminium ingot price has extended a plunge even today, on November 30, by RMB 80 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,500 per tonne. This marks the fifth consecutive fall throughout the week since November 26. The average prices today are expected to range between RMB 13,480 per tonne and RMB 13,520 per tonne, with spot discounts remaining the same at RMB 70 per tonne to RMB 30 per tonne. The ingot price in the east-China (Wuxi and Hangzhou) has come in at RMB 13,505 per tonne from RMB 13,565 as of November 30, marking a drop by RMB 60 per tonne. In the south and north, the prices today are standing at RMB 13,570 per tonne and RMB 13,500 per tonne after a drop by RMB 80 per tonne and RMB 70 per tonne from yesterday. The reasons behind the incessant...
TOMRA said a deposit return scheme (DRS) that only included small beverage containers would majorly stifle the potential of the initiative. TOMRA supported the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) that urged the Government to include drink cans and bottles in DRS. CPRE data showed that volunteers in the Green Clean collected a total of 11,212 cans and bottles of all shapes, sizes and materials. Of these, 35% were plastic, 50% were aluminium, 14% glass and 1% Tetra Pak. Image Source:www.mrw.co.uk Managing director Tomra Collection Solutions UK & Ireland Truls Haug said: “CPRE predicts that the introduction of a DRS will spark a recycling revolution and based on our global experience we agree it has this potential – but we have found that the wider the scope of products included in the...
Aluminium products manufacturer Constellium has opened new Automotive Structures facility in Zilina, Slovakia for the production of aluminium Crash Management Systems and Body Structure components to the Eastern European market. The Zilina plant features advanced technologies for forming, machining, welding and heat-treating aluminium automotive components, along with a state-of-the-art quality lab to ensure products meet customer specifications. Aluminium continues to be a material of choice in the automotive industry to reduce vehicle weight, improve fuel economy and lower emissions, and increase safety. Constellium is dedicated to developing and testing advanced aluminium automotive components to help automakers achieve their goals across the globe. Lionel Chapis, Managing Director of...
Japan's largest aluminium rolled product manufacturer UACJ Corporation is looking at the Southeast Asian market to compensate for the slow growth in the domestic market. The company wants to revive a struggling Thai unit under this plan, which President Miyuki Ishihara expects to turn profitable despite the threat from Chinese supply. "The investment is temporarily weighing on the unit's earnings," he said, while also pointing to "high transport and energy costs." Ishihara said in an interview. However, he pinned his hope on the plant considering greater-than-expected demand. "But the turnover rate of local employees is declining, and we expect to turn a profit by the end of 2019." UACJ plans to invest about 90 billion yen (US$796) million to boost aluminium capacity in Thailand. A 37...
According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), in September 2018, China's export of aluminium alloy auto wheels grew 18.3 per cent from a year ago to 89,300 tonnes. The value of export rose 18.8 per cent YoY to US$417 million last month. Export prices averaged US$4.67/kg. China exported 817,000 tonnest of aluminium alloy auto wheels during the first ten months of this year, up 7 per cent from last year. The value of exports increased up 11.6 per cent YoY to US$3,935 million. Export prices averaged $4.82/kg, according to CAAM data These products were supplied to16c ountries, with the top 40 countries accounting for 97.8 per cent of the overall value of exports during January-September. In another update from SMM, Anhui Meixin Aluminium started construction of...
Hydro will present its overall strategic direction and performance, including an update on the situation at the Alunorte alumina refinery and details on the market outlook for 2019 and the longer term at the Capital Markets Day 2018. Hydro said in the short-term it is working hard to resume full operations at Alunorte, following nine months of running at 50 percent production. “We are aiming to establish a common platform with authorities and the court system to have an aligned way forward towards full production, utilizing the best available technology. We have what it takes: the right people, the right technology and the right spirit,” President and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg said. Hydro expects global demand for primary aluminium to grow by 2-3% in 2019, with a continued deficit in...
In a press release, European Aluminium has welcomed the European Commission’s new plans to secure a long-term decarbonised economy by 2050. The Association also added that New 2050 climate strategy can take aluminium value chains as a role model to achieve its carbon economy targets. European Aluminium said that there is an urgent need to embrace strong sustainability programmes and redefine business models. “Our industry is working for many years to put efficiencies, incremental and breakthrough innovation in action. There is no choice but to enhance the potential of our strategic material and its unique low carbon applications by decarbonising all our processes from primary production to recycling,” said Gerd Götz, European Aluminium’s Director General. European Aluminium is working...
