Scatec has begun construction of the first phase of a major solar power project that will supply renewable electricity to the Aluminium Company of Egypt (Egyptalum), advancing the Egyptian producer's efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of its aluminium operations. The first phase of the Dandara Solar Power project comprises a 569 MW solar plant supported by a 100-MWh battery energy storage system. The Norwegian renewable energy company has also signed loan agreements to finance the development, which was first announced in 2025. Under a 25-year power purchase agreement, the facility will supply clean electricity to Egyptalum. Once operational, the first phase is expected to generate approximately 1.4 TWh of renewable power annually and avoid more than 550,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide...
NTPC Green Energy Limited (NGEL) plans to expand its renewable energy capacity from around 12 gigawatts (GW) to 60 GW by 2032, marking a major step in its clean-energy expansion strategy. The target forms part of parent company NTPC Limited’s broader ambition to reach 149 GW of installed power capacity, supported by renewable energy, thermal expansion and a proposed entry into nuclear generation. The roadmap was outlined by P. Rahul, Deputy General Manager, Business Development – Green Hydrogen at NGEL, during the Bharat Renewable Energy Summit and Expo 2026. Alongside renewable capacity additions, the company is advancing green hydrogen, energy storage and green chemicals projects. To learn about the market potential of aluminium dross, explore "ALuminium Dross Processing: Generation,...
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Spar, in collaboration with Tomra has installed trail Reverse Vending Machines (RVM) at the CJ Lang, and Son Ltd backed outlet at East Ayrshire, Scotland, named Spar Crosshouse. This vending machine will accept glass and plastic bottles along with aluminium beverage cans or aluminium aerosol bottles. The Spar store was recently renovated, and the entire 3,216 sq. ft store required 13 weeks to be fully optimised with modern technological appliances like state-of-the-art freezers and refrigerators. The latest instalments also include LED lights with floor and ceiling restoration. To move toward sustainability, the store has also installed the latest energy-smart refrigeration systems aligned with Spar Scotland’s green strategy, focusing on the growth of the Spar Scotland chilled and...
In Ireland, businesses in County Kerry's northern part will have to bear a 50 million euro increase in electricity rates. This winter, 22 large energy firms are expected to absorb the 50 million euro cost of increased electricity prices, including Rusal's Aughinish Alumina refinery in North Kerry. As per our report, large businesses, including Aughinish Alumina, the largest alumina refinery in Europe, may be impacted by increased electricity tariffs from 1st October 2022. It is estimated that the tariffs will generate 100 million euros in revenue. This is one of the proposals the Commission for Regulation of Utilities put forward. In the industry, Rusal Aughinish has always been at the forefront of technology. It consistently implements world-class technologies to remain among the top...
On Friday, August 26, Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) announced that Iberfoil Aragón SLU's rolling and laminating facilities in Sabiánigo, Spain, were accredited with the ASI Performance Standard V2 (2017) Certification. Laminated foil and coil are the two commercial divisions of the company. The capacity of the company's foil and coil manufacturing activities is 20,000 tonnes per year and 40,000 tonnes per year, respectively. The goods are intended for usage in various downstream industries, including packaging for pharmaceutical, food, and beverage items, signs, HVAC systems for buildings, and automobiles. The Iberfoil Aragón operation was the subject of an impartial, third-party audit by DNV Business Assurance Services UK Ltd. “We are very proud to be part of ASI, a global...
According to the International Aluminium Institute, primary aluminium production in North America during July 2022 continued to decline month-on-month by 6,000 tonnes or 1.92 per cent standing at 306,000 tonnes. The output in June plunged by 13,000 tonnes from 325,000 tonnes in May to 312,000 tonnes. On a year-on-year calculation, North America’s primary aluminium production in July’22 stood down significantly by 8.10 per cent from 333,000 tonnes. In the first seven months of the year (January-July), aluminium output in North America totalled 2.195 million tonnes, after being slipped by 5.10 per cent from 2.313 million tonnes during the same period last year. IAI data also showed a 4.81 per cent monthly drop in the daily average production of primary aluminium in North America from 10,400...
LME aluminium opened at US$2,430 per tonne last Friday and closed at US$2,490 per tonne, an increase of US$54.5 per tonne or 2.24 per cent. Rising energy prices are affecting the aluminium industry more than ever. As a result, aluminium smelter production costs are also on the rise, which in turn affects aluminium prices. As per the data, both LME aluminium cash bid price and LME aluminium official settlement price had augmented by US$51.5 per tonne or 2.10 per cent and US$52.5 per tonne or 2.14 per cent on Friday, August 26. The former closed at US$2,493 per tonne, while the latter settled at US$2,495 per tonne. 3-month bid price and 3-month offer price surged by US$58 per tonne to record at US$2,484.50 per tonne and US$2,485.50 per tonne. On the same day, December 23 bid price and...
The end user aluminium sector had ample good news this week with MIT and Peking University scientists researching an aluminium-sulfur battery with molten-salt electrolyte that could prove to be more efficient and cost-effective than the traditional lithium-ion battery in an electric vehicle. On August 23, Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla declared in the 63rd Annual General Meeting of Hindalco Industries that the company has constituted India’s first all-aluminium railway wagon. Ball Corporation, in collaboration with Re:Water, is ready to launch its aluminium cups in the UK alongside signing a long-term supply and purchase deal with Wildpack Beverage, a Canadian brewery plus packaging company. A global team of researchers managed by Quanguan Pang at the Peking University and Donald Sadoway at MIT...
Downstream products merge to form various end-user utility items or structures, maintaining a steady rush in the sector. Nissan announced the closure of its Wearside cylinder head-making plant, which will disrupt employee statuses around the company, directly affecting 250 jobs. From 2024, the production line of cylinder heads made of cast iron or cast aluminium will be discontinued at the Sunderland facility due to the lapse of an agreement with the French car maker Renault. The forging industry in Tamil Nadu, India's most industrialised state, had been struggling as the cost of raw materials like aluminium, steel, and fuel rose. Despite a rise in demand, the industry still has to contend with higher prices and a lack of raw materials. China's total amount of aluminium billet stockpiles...
The country in the South Pacific, Fiji, has reported that its bauxite exports to China have been halted for about three years. Jone Usamate, Fiji's Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, stated, "There have not been any shipments to China since 2019, and there are no shipments scheduled any time soon. Bauxite export depends on the world market price; if the price goes down, it affects the whole chain." "We had COVID-19 in China. That means the things you do, such as manufacturing, slow down a bit, and so when all that happens, it impacts whether it economically makes sense to send because transportation from here to China is quite expensive. When that happens, the bauxite payment is also affected", he added. Arum Exploration (Fiji) Limited is the company that holds the bauxite mining...
The curious part about the bauxite sector has always been what happens to a site when its mineral potential is lost. This week we had a chance to get answers to that question. Spread over 6 hectares of Hindalco’s Samri bauxite mine was transformed into a tea garden, bio-diversity park and grove. West Africa LNG Group (WALNG) has developed an LNG import terminal and distribution network in Guinea, enabling them to run for equity financing after getting a feasibility test funded by the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). An environmental NGO, A Rocha Ghana, urged the Ghana government and the Ghana Integrated Aluminum Development Corporation (GIADEC) to repeal the decision to mine bauxite in the Atewa forest. To know more:...
In July 2022, world alumina production totalled 12.152 million tonnes, registering a month-on-month rise of 3.56 per cent, found the International Aluminium Institute. The output in June stood at 11.734 million tonnes, down by 2.69 per cent from 12.058 million tonnes in May. On a year-on-year basis, world alumina production edged 3.52 per cent higher than 11.739 million tonnes. However, world total alumina production in the first seven months of the year reflected a Y-o-Y downfall of 0.86 per cent from 81.132 million tonnes to 80.438 million tonnes, showed IAI data. Daily average production in July 2022 was 392,000 tonnes compared to 391,100 tonnes in June 2022 and 378,700 tonnes in July 2021. China produced 7.05 million tonnes of alumina in July 2022, 3.07 per cent more than 6.84 million...
This week the global primary aluminium segment witnessed a lot of essential changes. European aluminium smelters have once more increased their output cutbacks. According to Citi analysts, the 4.5 million tonnes of total aluminium production capacity in Europe have decreased by 1 million tonnes since 2021, and another 500,000 tonnes are in jeopardy. Next in line is the European aluminium rolling company Speira, planning to lower the output of its German aluminium smelter to 50 per cent of its maximum capacity by September. Not only this, Talum, a prominent Slovenian firm that specializes in alumina and aluminium products, has lowered its primary aluminium output by 20 per cent of its smelting capacity. However, on a positive note, on Wednesday, August 24, Norsk Hydro announced that the...
Hindalco Industries Limited has added on INR 2,000 per tonne to its aluminium ingot and aluminium products prices, with effect from Friday, August 26. This brings the company’s aluminium wire rod price to INR 238,350 per tonne, compared with INR 236,350 per tonne on August 25. Hindalco’s aluminium wire rod price on August 25 was deducted by INR 1,750 per tonne. Hindalco’s aluminium billets price has come in at INR 241,350 per tonne, with effect from August 26, versus INR 239,350 per tonne on August 25. Aluminium ingot price has amounted to INR 227,250 per tonne as against INR 225,250 per tonne on the previous day. Hindalco Industries links its aluminium ingot and aluminium products prices to the three-month futures of aluminium on the London Metal Exchange, which rose by US$53 per tonne...
The USA has been under severe aluminium can shortage since the spring of 2020, and this recurring problem has resulted in the closure of many bars and outlets serving alcoholic beverages. Breweries were also largely affected by inflated operational costs. Right Brain Brewery, located in Traverse City, Michigan, was also not spared from the consequences, as internal reports claimed the prices were up by two cents per can. The owner, Russell Springsteen, casually remarked that they had to outsource the supply from Asia at times to meet the community's demand because regional availability was becoming extremely scarce. Russell Springsteen of Right Brain Brewery denoted: “Because we’re a smaller supplier, we were actually choked out of can supply when 2020 came around, and we lost a lot of...
The global mining and metal giant Rio Tinto announced the construction of a new aluminium recycling facility at its Arvida plant in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, Quebec. This new investment will cost around C$35 million (US$29 million), with an initial capacity of 30,000 tonnes per year. This investment will make the Anglo-Australian multinational company the first producer of primary aluminium in North America that use recycled post-consumer aluminium into alloys. Rio Tinto's goal to increase low-carbon aluminium production, notably through recycling, and to integrate the circular economy into its value chain will be furthered by this. The aluminium recycling facility at Arvida is expected to be operational by the second quarter of 2024. It will help Rio Tinto increase the range of low-carbon...
As Adani Group charts an entry into the alumina refining sector and existing players seek to expand capacity, the following auction for bauxite blocks in Odisha may see strong interest. Hemant Sharma, the Principal Secretary of the Odisha Industries Department, said three bauxite blocks had been scheduled for auctions this year. Adani Group will be establishing a 4-MTPA alumina refinery and may enter aluminium production; hence it is anticipated to bid for mines. However, raw material linkages will be available to Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC). Raw material security may be necessary due to the scale of the proposed project. Jayanta Roy, the Senior Vice-President at ICRA, said, "Securing bauxite supply will be a key success factor for the alumina project since almost 3 tonnes of bauxite...
The LME aluminium benchmark price has reflected an upswing movement through the week by US$107.50 per tonne, with only an intermittent downfall. Both LME aluminium cash bid price and LME aluminium official settlement price started the week with a rise of US$11.50 per tonne or 0.48 per cent to settle at US$2,387 per tonne and US$2,387.50 per tonne. The prices grew on Tuesday by 2.14 per tonne to US$2,438 per tonne and US$2,438.50 per tonne but decreased the next day by US$16.50 per tonne to rest at US$2,421.50 per tonne and US$2,422 per tonne, respectively. On Thursday, August 25, LME aluminium cash bid price and LME aluminium official settlement price experienced a rise of US$20.50 per tonne or 0.85 per cent to settle at US$2,441.50 per tonne and US$2,442.50 per tonne. On Friday, August...
According to the Shanghai Metals Market, primary aluminium inventories in China witnessed a decrease of 1,000 tonnes week-on-week across eight major consumption areas, including SHFE warrants. Therefore, on Thursday, August 25, the inventories totalled 679,000 tonnes, which in comparison with the month’s third Monday, August 15, shrunk by 19,000 tonnes. As of now, the inventories in August dropped by 75,000 tonnes as recorded in the same period last year, while adding 9,000 tonnes in comparison with July’s end. The inventory has witnessed stagnancy on a week-on-week basis showing only minor changes along the border of activity. Some of the sources were carried on to Sichuan and Chongqing, following rigid production cuts in these areas. The inventories in Wuxi and Shanghai refrained from...
National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has increased its aluminium ingot and aluminium products prices for the first time this month on August 26, following two consecutive cuts on August 1 and August 18. NALCO has raised its aluminium ingot price by INR 4,100 per tonne or 1.8 per cent to INR 226,050-229,550 per tonne. On August 18, the price stood at INR 221,950- 225,450 per tonne, down by INR 4,700 per tonne from the previous day. NALCO’s aluminium wire rod price has also seen a hike of INR 4,100 per tonne over a week, reaching INR 229,550-233,900 per tonne on August 26 versus INR 225,450- 229,800 per tonne on August 18. Aluminium billets price has come in at INR 230,500-233,150 per tonne, accumulating the same amount over a week from INR 226,400- 229,050 per tonne. NALCO has...
