The global aluminium industry is entering a new phase of competition, with access to raw materials, affordable energy and production capacity increasingly shaping the position of major producers. China is preparing a large overseas smelting expansion, Ghana is attracting investment in its bauxite reserves, and India and Vietnam are advancing new aluminium projects. However, the expansion drive comes against a complicated market backdrop. Alumina prices have fallen sharply, energy and logistics costs remain significant, and trade policies are reshaping the economics of production and exports. Together, these developments point to a market in which securing resources is only part of the challenge; converting them into competitive aluminium will matter just as much. Africa’s bauxite...
Bell Bay Aluminium (BBA), Australia's oldest aluminium smelter, is reviewing its workforce and offering redundancies for a small number of positions, just over a month after receiving an AUD 200 million (USD 137.52 million) government support package aimed at securing the facility's future until at least 2031. Up to 10 roles are understood to have been affected by the review, although the smelter is expected to retain its existing workforce of approximately 550 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. Some redeployment opportunities will also be available, while the positions identified are not understood to involve frontline services. The changes reportedly include some former participants in Bell Bay Aluminium's graduate programme. Rio Tinto, which operates the smelter near George Town in...
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On Thursday, March 31, China’s aluminium billet inventory had plunged by 7,900 tonnes or 4.67 per cent W-o-W across five major regions to total at 157,500 tonnes, found the Shanghai Metals Market. Under the effect of the pandemic, trades in the spot aluminium billet market were slow. The inventory of aluminium billets may stop declining next week, depending on the severity and long-term viability of pandemic control efforts. The chart below indicates the current status of aluminium billet inventories across China in more detail: In Foshan, the inventory had stood unchanged at 76,200 tonnes. On the same day in Wuxi, the price had declined by 11,100 tonnes to total at 39,400 tonnes. In Changzhou, the price had gone down by 3,100 to record at 22,200 tonnes. Buyers picked up cargoes from...
Orazio Zoccolan is presently serving Assomet, the Italian non-ferrous metals industries association, as a General Manager. He was born in Milan in 1960, and graduated in Political Science at the University of Milan. He started his career working for the Italian recycling aluminium association in 1989. He joined Assomet as an environmental manager in 1997 became a General Manager in 2020, after being a Secretary General of Centroal (aluminium group within Assomet) in 2012. Besides, he is a member of the Board of Directors of IGQ – certification body, Qualital Servizi – aluminium surface treatment certification body, and Gas Intensive Consortium. We are delighted to have him with us and know his views and opinions on the current European aluminium industry. To know in details, please...
The last few months has been tumultuous and yet interesting for the European Aluminium industry. The shortage of aluminium in the European market has propelled the regional prices to spike and then navigated to a fluctuating mode, which in turn has created opportunities for commodity traders to book profits while shipping the metal from warehouses thousands of miles away. In the last few months, large trading houses have loaded aluminium into break-bulk vessels destined for Europe from a Southeast Asian country. The trade would usually be unprofitable, but European buyers are willing to pay higher prices to get metal, offsetting the cost of the trade. Since the start of 2022, the price of European aluminium has increased by about 15%, surpassing its previous high of October 2021. It has...
The revised ASI Performance and Chain of Custody Standards are available for Certification and became available on May 19 th , 2022. The 2022 versions are the outcome of ASI’s first major revision since the launch of its Standards and Certification program in 2017. Cameron Jones, ASI Director of Assurance at the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Multiple rounds of review and public consultation, overseen by ASI’s multi-stakeholder Standards Committee, have resulted in more than 1000 improvement items being actioned, building on implementation experience, stakeholder feedback and evolving expectations. Initial work for the revision process kicked off in mid-2019 and has received valuable input along the way from the Indigenous Peoples Advisory Forum (IPAF), and Working Groups on...
2021 was a year of recovery for the global aluminium industry from unpleasant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Right from the demand and usage to production, the aluminium industry underwent a revamp across all its value chain throughout the year 2021. Though the aggregate demand rose impressively through the year, many end-use sectors were yet to witness a full recovery from the 2020 set-back. While the packaging industry performed extremely well driven by beverage cans and pharma packaging, automobile production was far from reaching the pre-covid levels. The worldwide aluminium usage increased from 86.9 million tonnes in 2020 to 93.5 million tonnes in 2021, underpinned by 7.6% of demand growth in the same year. Production also expanded by 2.6% to 67 million tonnes but remained much...
Starting as a 120,000 tonnes per annum smelter in 1971, Alba, today, is the world’s largest aluminium smelter ex-China with a production of more than 1.561 million metric tonnes per annum (2021). In addition to molten metal, Alba produces a diverse range of superior Value-Added Products (VAP) -- Foundry grade re-melt products (T-Ingots, 10 Kg Standard Ingots, 22.5 Kg Standard Ingots, and 9.7 Kg Properzi Bars), Rolling Ingots (Slabs), Extrusion Ingots (Billets), Unalloyed P1020 remelt products (T-Ingots, 10 Kg Standard Ingots, 22.5 Kg Standard Ingots, and Sows). Our output – including liquid metal, customised alloys and a variety of surface finishes – goes to the local downstream industries as well as more than 240 global customers through Alba’s sales offices in Bahrain, Europe (Zurich),...
One of the most important targets for our business in 2022 and for the forthcoming years is to better support the aluminium casthouses that deal with aluminium recycling . Tomorrow Technology has always had a particular focus on this “green” sector, and we believe it is appropriate to invest in new ideas and technology. But not everyone knows what it means to recycle aluminium. Recycling aluminium goes far beyond the consideration we usually have for “paper recycling”. The classic Italian espresso coffee moka pots are almost always produced with recycled aluminium, just like frying pans and many other daily utensils that we use in our kitchens, bicycle gears, park benches, streetlamps and radiators that heat our homes. Each recycled kilogram of aluminium saves 95% of energy compared to...
Aluminum Industry, like many other industries, is facing new challenges. The lack of available manpower has experimented with in many countries. This issue will increase in the next few years. Even more, attractiveness for some tasks is lower for a new generation of workers. Some plants will be facing risk for operational continuity. Also, the situation in terms of global climate and greenhouse emissions represents a big challenge for our modern society – which requires real actions and new solutions. More and more groups and companies participate in this worldwide effort to bring new opportunities. Aluminium recycling is one piece of the puzzle to achieve the goal of ensuring a greener economy. Meanwhile, responsible companies integrate aluminium recycling into their marketing strategy....
Assan Alüminyum, a subsidiary of Kibar Holding and one of the 2 largest aluminium foil producers in Europe, expands further through a series of sustainable investments worth almost 100 million US dollars. The company strives to become more sustainable in environmental, social and governance (ESG) terms, while adopting the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) global sustainability guidelines as business principles. In the first part of 2022, Assan Alüminyum successfully completed its on-site ASI Performance Standard audit, which was postponed due to travel restrictions posed by the pandemic, enabling the company’s flat-rolled aluminium production and recycling activities to be certified against global sustainability principles. ASI Performance Standards reflect a comprehensive...
Over the next 5 years, Kumar Mangalam Birla owned Hindalco Industries Ltd. is aiming to invest up to US$7.2 billion in expanding its aluminium industry following the whooping increase in the price of aluminium due to the global supply bottlenecks and strong demand expectations. Hindalco Industries Limited, an Indian aluminium and copper manufacturing company, is a subsidiary of the Aditya Birla Group. With its headquarters in Mumbai, the company has an annual sale of US$15 billion and employs around 20,000 people. The company will be using the funds to expand its operations in India and North America. In an investor presentation, it stated that it had set aside $2.4 billion for its Indian aluminium operations over the next five years, with consumption expected to boost up in the next...
On 31 st March 2022, the first aluminium smelter in the Middle East region which commenced its commercial operations in 1971, Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the leader in global aluminium production, as well as one of the largest companies in the UAE to explore opportunities for further increase its production. Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa, the Chairman of the Board at Alba and His Excellency Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, the Vice Chairman of EGA witnessed the signing formalities of the agreement at Expo 2020 Dubai in the presence of EGA Board member Musabbeh Al Kaabi, Alba’s Chief Executive Officer Ali Al Baqali, EGA Chief Executive Officer Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Alba’s Chief Supply Officer...
Ball Asia Pacific (Yangon) Metal Container Limited, a Ball Corporation subsidiary, has bagged dual certification from the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, becoming the first Ball facility in Myanmar to achieve ASI credentials. The news came after ASI announced that it successfully certified the Ball facility against the Performance Standard with Provision Status and Chain of Custody Standard for the manufacture and supply of aluminium can bodies and procurement and supply of can ends. Thus, Ball Corporation’s all wholly-owned 67 beverage packaging manufacturing facilities become dual certified by ASI. The ASI Performance Standard defines environmental, social and governance principles and criteria, aiming at addressing sustainability issues in the aluminium value chain. The Chain of...
Hulamin’s operational profit for the year ending December 31, 2021, reflected an increment of 760 percent to close at R538 million from R81 million in 2020. The company's headline earnings increased to R560 million from a loss of R220 million the previous year. The company also said that headline profits per share heightened by 187 percent to 182 cents from a loss of 94 cents in 2020. Hulamin is a Pietermaritzburg-based South African firm that specialises in rolled aluminium products for precision and high-tech applications. The firm manufactures a large percentage of the world's ultra-high-end aluminium goods. The sales volume also climbed by 34 percent to 222,000 tonnes, revenue had gone up by 52 percent to R13 billion, free cash flow from operations expanded by 166 percent to R239...
Hindalco Industries Limited has reduced its aluminium ingot and aluminium products prices back-to-back on two consecutive days as LME aluminium benchmark price has been shedding off since March 29. With effect from Thursday, March 31, Hindalco’s aluminium ingot price has been slashed by INR 7,000 per tonne to stand at INR 303,000 per tonne. On the previous day (March 30), the price stood at INR 310,000 per tonne after being cut by INR 3,000 per tonne from INR 313,000 per tonne. Hindalco’s aluminium wire rod price has also been trimmed by INR 7,000 per tonne on March 31 from INR 321,100 per tonne to INR 314,100 per tonne. With effect from March 31, the company’s aluminium billets price has come in at INR 317,100 per tonne, also down by INR 7,000 per tonne from the previous day. Hindalco...
The economy of Cambodia is projected to grow at around 5.6% in 2022 and significantly gain prospective growth in the medium term, supported by global demand and a gradual comeback in investor confidence. Aluminium bar rods and profiles are extensively used in the transportation, construction and aviation sector entitled to their excellent strength to weight ratio. The Southeast Asian nation, Cambodia imported 22,215 tonnes of aluminium bar rods and profiles during 2019-21, which accounted for an expenditure of around $69.41 million from the import. In 2019, Cambodia’s import demand witnessed an import of 6217 tonnes of aluminium bar rods and profiles, attracting foreign revenue expenditure of $16.22 million, whereas, in 2020 the import exhibited growth by 20.05%, as the import volume...
The world’s leading aluminium dross processing company, Taha International Corporation has praised Bahrain’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2060. Patrick Pollmann, the Group CEO of Taha International Corporation commented while speaking at the ‘Industrial Sector's Role in Achieving Net-Zero Carbon’ forum, organized by the Environment Committee of the Alwane Bahrain Society said, “It is evident how serious the Kingdom is in its endeavour to achieve net-zero carbon by 2060, as announced by the government.” He also pointed out that the strategies of Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) in this field are at par with international standards and serve as a role model for major industrial companies around the world. The forum was patronized by the Minister of Industry, Commerce and...
LME aluminium cash bid price and LME aluminium official settlement price continued to decrease for the second day in a row by US$75 per tonne or 2.09 per cent to stand at US$3,506 per tonne and US$3,508 per tonne, respectively. The downfall in LME aluminium prices followed the ease of supply concerns as Russia promised to scale down its military operations around Kyiv and in northern Ukraine. Signs of a lull in the conflict calmed the aluminium and other metal prices. On Wednesday, March 30, 3-month bid price and 3-month offer price nosedived by US$80 per tonne and US$81 per tonne to rest at US$3,526 per tonne and US$3,527 per tonne. Dec-23 bid price and Dec-23 offer price came in at US$3,373 per tonne and US$3,378 per tonne, down by US$67 per tonne from US$3,440 per tonne and US$3,445...
A committee of India’s parliament has recently noted that India is still far behind from exploring 80 per cent of its bauxite reserves, pointing out land acquisition issues, environment clearance and forest clearance as some of the prime constraints in the development of new bauxite mines. Therefore, the committee has asked the Indian government’s ministry of mines to conduct timely environment and forest clearances, land acquisition and consent to avoid hindrance in developing mines. While talking about the challenges faced by domestic bauxite production companies, the committee has indicated that India’s most of the available resources have not been converted to proven reserves. The report presented by the committee reveals that only 17 per cent or 656 million tonnes of the total 3,896...
