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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Endurance Technologies Limited announced the unaudited financial results for the half year ended 30th September, 2018. The company’s consolidated total income including other income (excluding Excise Duty) grew by 23.3% to INR 38,093 million in H1 FY 2018-19, from INR 30,896 million in H1 FY 2017-18. Endurance said 72% of consolidated total income including other income came from Indian operations and balance 28% came from European operations. Consolidated PAT (before minority interest and OCI) stood at to INR 2,498 million, up 27.3% from INR 1,962 million. Consolidated EBITDA Margin improved to 14.8% in H1 FY 2018-19 from 14.7% in H1 FY 2017-18. Aftermarket sales from Indian operations grew from INR 983 million in H1 FY 2018-19 to INR 1,218 million in H1 FY 2018-19. Exports from India...
According to data released by the General Administration of Customs on Monday, 26 November 2018, Iceland was the top recipient of China’s alumina exports in October 2018. The Nordic country, where companies including Alcoa and Rio Tinto have aluminium smelters, imported 102,100 tonnes of alumina last month. Other major alumina importers from China were Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and India, reports Reuters. Malaysia imported a major chunk of alumina totalling 88,784 tonnes. The United Arab Emirates and India imported 86,951 tonnes and 36,758 tonnes of alumina respectively. Other countries that imported alumina from China were Canada, Russia, France and the Netherlands. China’s October alumina exports exceeded 460,000 tonnes and reached the highest since at least October 2014. The...
According to an update by Shanghai Metals Market, Guinea-based bauxite producer Societe Miniere de Boke (SMB) plans to spend US$ 1.2 billion to build a railway track that will link its bauxite mining business with Dapilon port. The news came after the Guinea’s government spokesman Aboubacar Sylla announced that in an e-mail. Societe Miniere de Boke (SMB) is a joint venture of three companies like Shandong Weiqiao Aluminium in China, Winning Shipping in Singapore, and UMS International in Guinea. The railway track will be 135 kilometres long and expected to start operating with the next 18 months. Mr. Sylla also mentioned in an emailed statement that this initiative would expand SMB’s bauxite mine as well, building facilities to process bauxite into alumina and to purchase rail vehicles....
Reynaers Aluminium, a leading European specialist in the development and marketing of innovative and sustainable aluminium solutions for windows, doors and curtain walls, is undertaking renovation and extension of its Enniscorthy premises and production facility in order to increase storage capacity by 50 per cent and sympathetically bringing this historic building up to ‘the highest modern standards of safety and comfort’. After a successful period of growth in the Irish market, the company has made the decision to expand its Enniscorthy base further.The plant manufactures high-end aluminium doors and windows for the construction industry. Pat Bevan, Managing Director of Reynaers Ireland commented: 'This significant investment in Enniscorthy is a real vote of confidence from the Reynaers...
Having limited resources of bauxite from which alumina is extracted and converted to aluminium, Mexico has no alumina refineries in the country, and for the same reason, its aluminium industry is highly dependent on imports and recycling of aluminium products. Mexico’s aluminium industry has been reportedly growing steadily at a 13 percent annual rate since 2011 and producing 1.6% of the world’s global production. Moreover, it contributes to the country’s own economy by contributing about US$7 billion to GDP. According to the global export-import data, Mexico’s aluminium plates, sheets, and strips import is likely to grow in 2018 after a slight plunge in the previous year. In 2017, the country’s estimated import volume was at 260,669 tonnes. This year, it may grow 44 per cent to stand at...
Shenzhen-based Qianhai Mercantile Exchange (QME), controlled by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, which started spot trading of alumina in October, has received tepid response from market participants. The trading launch was long awaited for HKEX and its chairman Charles Li, who bought the London Metal Exchange (LME) in 2012 for access to the world’s biggest metals consumer. The QME started it spot trading with alumina, considering the fact that alumina prices have soared this year amid U.S. sanctions on Rusal, outages at Norsk Hydro’s Alunorte alumina refinery and a strike at Alcoa’s operations in Western Australia. The exchange published a statement saying its first spot transaction was of about 3,000 tonnes of alumina between Chalco Trade, a unit of state-run Aluminum Corp of China,...
The prices of prebaked anode in December are expected to fall on suspension of high cost downstream aluminium smelters and lower impact of 2018/2019 winter production cuts in the primary sector, SMM expects. Some 1.96 million tonnes of capacity was cut for this winter in major prebaked anode producing provinces of Shandong and Henan, compared with around 6 million tonnes last year. Actual impact of the cutbacks is likely to fall short of the expected 1.96 million tonnes, as low prices of prebaked anode kept producers below full production over the year, SMM learned. In Shandong, where prebaked anode capacity accounted for 30.8% of overall capacity in China, only 530,000 tonnes of capacity was required to suspend during the winter. In Henan, a total of 14 prebaked anode plants received...
The US dollar index increased on hopes the US and China might renegotiate a trade deal at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, and this grew safe-haven gains for the greenback. Base metals, expect for SHFE nickel fell across the board. LME aluminium recovered some losses last week, but plunged heavily during Friday’s trading to close at US$ 1922.50per tonne on rising greenback. The contract traded upward at night. However, lower prices of oil and weaker macro sentiment pushed LME aluminium contract 0.33% to US$1,942 per tonne. It is likely to hover around the five- and 10-day moving averages, and test support at the 10-day moving average today. As on November 23, Friday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1922 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1922.50per tonne;...
Bauxite mining workers in Raipur have reportedly refused to work as a form of protest demanding full wages and alleging that the contractor appointed by Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC) was treating them unfairly and giving insufficient money. The protesting miners from the surrounding villages even shut down the weighbridge so that the bauxite laden trucks could not be weighed before dispatched. Violence erupted when the contractor tried to forcibly load the bauxite. At Narmadapur, Mainpat, around 400 villagers were working as labourers in the bauxite mines of government-run CMDC. The contractor promised to pay Rs. 350 for mining a tonne of bauxite but paid Rs. 102 instead. The labourers reportedly lodged a complaint to CMDC senior officials but no action taken till...
Atlas Copco has developed a fully hollow self-pierce rivet called the Henrob T-rivet in order to join up to four layers of high-strength, low-deformability 6,000 series aluminium alloys. According to Atlas Copco IAS, the T-rivets are suitable for the automotive industry in mechanical joining processes for new lightweight constructions and multi-material design. Aluminium alloys put up a challenge for the joining process due to its low ductility (formability). As more and more aluminium is being used in body-in-white applications, new joining techniques have become a must for better performance of aluminium alloys. The new joining element has a completely tubular structure and is better suitable for joining several layers of high-strength aluminium. This in turn avoids cracks in the lowest...
According to data from China's General Administration of Customs, China’s October aluminium scrap imports fell to their lowest since February 2016. China's aluminium scrap imports declined 10 per cent month on month in October 2018. Aluminium scrap imports stood at 90,000 tonnes last month. China’s imports of aluminium scrap continued to decline after the government imposed import tariffs from the USA earlier this year. China had imported 100,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap in September, down nearly 47 per cent from August 2018. Reuters reported that China’s October scrap metals imports stood at 330,000 tonnes, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Friday, curbed by China’s tightening regulations on waste imports. China imported a total of 4.39 million tonnes of waste...
The Luxembourg-based glass and metal products producer Ardagh group has reportedly provided new 235ml triangular shaped aluminium can to Spain’s cured ham brand Coren. The can features an advanced shape with wider at the top or otherwise called as shoulder, and a special easy release lacquer that makes the content simpler and quicker to serve in one piece. The product also includes easy open lid, enabling consumers to apply less force to open it. Ardagh, producing the can at own facility in Schweighouse of France, has designed it with a slightly conical angle for facilitating easy stacking, while the striking red colour ensures better shelf appeal. In October this year, Ardagh unveiled new Willian Grant whiskey bottle, which had been redesigned for the worldwide relaunch of its whiskey...
According to the data released by the General Administration of Customs on Friday, November 23, China’s October alumina exports exceeded 460,000 tonnes and reached the highest since at least October 2014. The reason because Chinese producers of the aluminium raw material continued to cash in as much as possible on the global shortage. The customs data also shows that China so far in 2018 has exported just under 1 million tonnes of alumina. China’s alumina exports in October alone surpassed the volume shipped across the last three calendar years 2015, 2016, and 2017 in total. Shortages in the global markets were due to an outage at Norsk Hydro’s Alunorte refinery in Brazil and then a strike at Alcoa’s alumina operations in Western Australia amidst the US sanctions against the UC Rusal. The...
Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco), the Shanghai-listed arm of China Aluminum Group, has announced on November 21 that it would join the bidding to buy 50% stake in Shanxi Huaxing Aluminum Co. The company intends to buy back the shares from the state-owned Baotou Transportation Investment Group, who is withdrawing its shares from the bauxite miner and alumina refinery. Shanxi Huaxing, an alumina producer located in Lvliang in North China’s Shanxi province, has an alumina capacity of 3 million tpy and an operating bauxite mine with 1.32 million tpy capacity. Chalco used to hold 60% stake in Shanxi Huaxing Aluminum and the remaining 40% was owned by its wholly-owned subsidiary Chalco Hong Kong. Then, the company sold of 50% stake in Shanxi Huaxing Aluminium Co. via a public...
Government-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Adani Ports and Veritas India along with asset reconstruction company UV ARC have put in bids for the bankrupt Dighi Port, which was developed by IL&FS and Balaji Infra Projects. They submitted the bid to the committee of creditors in Mumbai on Thursday November 23. The port was handling cargo such as Bauxite, Coal and Steel on a regular basis. The port successfully handled Post Panamax and Capesize vessels having a DWT of up to 1,55,000 MTs. The port has been operating at low utilisation levels due to lack of rail and road connectivity combined with the general disruption in global trade. The port promoters were seeking strategic investors. Dighi Port was declared bankrupt and overtaken by National Company Law Tribunal in April after...
Shanghai Metals Market research found spot aluminium discounts across Shanghai market remained unchanged on Friday from the previous day at RMB 40 per tonne to RMB 30 per tonne against the SHFE 1812 contract. In the morning trade, the SHFE 1812 contract increased but in a tight range. Most transactions in Shanghai and Wuxi were heard at RMB 13,810 per tonne to RMB 13,830 per tonne while that in Hangzhou at RMB 13,840 per tonne to RMB 13,860 per tonne. Sellers across the eastern markets were keen to offload cargoes, given the recent rebounds in aluminium prices and cash flow issues by month-end. The narrow spread between the December and January contracts left little arbitrage opportunities to traders and pushed them to sidelines while gains in aluminium prices eroded purchasing enthusiasm...
Romania’s bauxite import reduced 4% year on year in 2017. The country purchased 1.32 million tonnes of bauxite from the global market, from 1.38 purchased in 2016.Sierra Leone’s bauxite export to Romania in 2017 declined by 4% year on year. The export volume for 2017 was estimated at 1.31 million tonnes. According to the global export-import data, Romania imported 541798 tonnes of bauxite in the first quarter of 2018. The cost of import was estimated at US$ 16.8 million in the mentioned period. In the second quarter of 2018, the volume decreased by 25% from last quarter. The import volume was estimated at 405983 tonnes. The cost of import stood at US$ 12.7 million in Q2 2018. Romania’s imports of bauxite increased to 424126 tonnes in the third quarter of 2018. The cost of import was...
Alufer Mining of Guinea has delivered its first Capesize shipment of bauxite with a volume of 203,009 tonnes, to the Port of Qingdao, in China. Alufer is an independent mineral exploration and development company with significant bauxite assets in the Republic of Guinea. The bauxite will then be delivered to China’s largest alumina and primary aluminium producer, Chalco Shandong. The company said on Thursday that the operational ramp-up phase at Alufer’s Bel Air bauxite project in Guinea is on track and progressing as expected. The mining work is also on track to churn out 5.5 million tonnes of bauxite in 2019. Over 750,000 tonnes of bauxite have been loaded and are on route to other customers. Alufer had recently extended its offtake agreement with Chalco for bauxite supply. According to...
