The US aluminum trihydrate market strengthened in September 2026 as downstream procurement, rising overseas production costs, and shipping bottlenecks supported prices. In contrast, Bosnia’s market faced a quarterly correction as European buyers drew on accumulated inventories and lower caustic soda costs eased manufacturing pressures, highlighting diverging regional price trends. US aluminum trihydrate market gains on demand and supply constraints US aluminum trihydrate prices increased 2.38% month over month in September, supported by purchases from wire and cable manufacturers, electrical infrastructure compounders, and electric vehicle (EV) component producers. Demand remained particularly resilient for applications involving low-smoke cable compounds and flame-retardant materials....
China-based China Aluminum International Engineering Co., Ltd. (CHALIECO) has won a bid for an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract valued at approximately USD 833 million for a proposed alumina project in Vietnam, adding to investment activity in the country’s mineral processing sector. The project, being developed by Binh Phuoc Ore Mining and Beneficiation Joint Stock Company, is designed to process 2.4 million tonnes of alumina annually. The proposed contract is valued at around CNY 5.595 billion (USD 839.04 million), with completion expected within 27 months of the contract’s effective date. CHALIECO to oversee turnkey refinery development Under the proposed turnkey arrangement, CHALIECO’s responsibilities will cover the full project delivery process, from...
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The price of alumina could hit another record high before the end of the year as supplies become increasingly tight with one after another happening disrupting the smooth supply of the key raw material. Spot alumina price saw some unprecedented highs in 2018 first half and doubled to about $700 per tonne as the market showed panic reaction to U.S. sanctions on Rusal in April. The supply scenario was disrupted by two major happenings. First, the fifty per cent capacity closure in Hydro’s Alunorte refinery in Brazil in March on the issue of bauxite residue pond leakage followed by US sanctions on Rusal. Graham Kerr, mining group South32’s chief executive, said the disruption showed no signs of easing as the market would face another supply scarcity when China will start the second year of...
Hillside Aluminium Smelter in South Africa uses alumina imported from Worsley Alumina operation in Australia to produce high-quality, primary aluminium. For more than 20 years Hillside aluminium has played a key role in South Africa’s aluminium industry. It produces 720 kilo tonnes a year, which makes it the largest producer of primary aluminium in the southern hemisphere. {newsStudioGallery} The global export-import data shows that South Africa has been seeing a year-on-year growth in alumina import since 2016. The data predicts that this year the country would import a total volume of 3004296 tonnes of alumina. In 2016 and 2017, South Africa imported 1392831 tonnes and 1393085 tonnes of alumina, respectively. This shows that the country this year is likely to see a growth by around 115...
Workers at Alcoa’s Western Australia have voted to reject a new workplace agreement and continue their strike, according to Reuters reports. The Australian Workers Union (AWU) today said 80 percent of workers had voted against company’s new workplace agreement as it offered zero job security. Around 1,500 of its 1,600 workers at three alumina refineries and two bauxite mines walked out on August 8 over a new workplace agreement. The company estimates the industrial action impacted alumina production by 15,000 tonnes. Alcoa said the company will continue to monitor the situation and welcome an alternative proposal from the Australian Workers Union (AWU). “This decisive vote should provide Alcoa management with the impetus to come back to the table with job security assurances,” said AWU...
Followed by the two deals pledging social and environmental action, Norsk Hydro is striving to convince Brazilian authorities to allow it to resume full production at Alunorte refinery, reported the company’s top executive. The deals, signed on September 5 in Brazil, were an important step but did not guarantee to allow full resumption of production at Alunorte, John Thuestad, Norsk Hydro’s executive vice-president for bauxite and alumina, told Reuters in a telephone interview on Thursday, September 6. The deals signed with federal and state prosecutors as well as the state government and environmental authorities included payments for food cards for nearby families, investments for the social development of local communities, and technical improvements but did not include a timeline for...
Norsk Hydro confirms on a press release that on September 5, Alunorte signed two agreements which are considered as milestones towards resuming normal operations at the alumina refinery in Pará, Brazil which was operating at 50% capacity since March. The agreements include a technical Term of Adjusted Conduct (TAC) signed between Alunorte - Alumina do Norte do Brasil S.A, Norsk Hydro do Brasil Ltda, the Ministério Público Federal (MPF), the Pará State Ministério Público (MPPA), the State Government of Pará, represented by the Secretariat of State of Environment and Sustainability (SEMAS). A social Term of Commitment (TC) has also been signed between Alunorte - Alumina do Norte do Brasil S.A and the State Government of Pará. The TAC regulates certain technical improvements, audits, studies...
According to a report, Tánaiste Simon Coveney is hopeful about the job security of more than 650 personnel at Aughinish Alumina refinery in Limerick, following crippling sanctions on its Russian owner by the United States. As per the source, The Minister for Foreign Affairs has accredited the US administration for being extremely helpful in regard to the preservation of so many livelihoods that are dependent on the plant near Askeaton. The plant has 450 staff and 220 contractors in total. The major share of Aughinish Alumina belongs to En+, a company controlled by the Russian aluminium giant Oleg Deripaska. In early August, the US Treasury had reportedly extended the deadline to investors to divest interests in the Rusal to October 23 and also ordered Mr. Deripaska to abdicate control...
Altech Chemicals Limited announces that a geotechnical ground drilling and survey program that commenced in mid-August 2018 at the site of its proposed high purity alumina (HPA) plant in Johor, Malaysia is well advanced and nearing completion. Highlights of the survey: Geotechnical ground survey program well advanced Site topography, soil stability and soil analysis required for final design confirmation Part of Stage 1 construction works The detailed geotechnical survey is part of HPA plant Stage 1 construction activities. The works include an assessment of soil types, soil stability and a detailed assessment of site topography; each being required to confirm the HPA final plant's civil engineering design. A full analysis of the site soil profile will be used to confirm the final...
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has received the first shipment of caustic soda for its under-construction Al Taweelah alumina refinery. Caustic soda and bauxite are the two most important raw materials in alumina refining. The refinery will require some 130,000 tonnes of caustic soda each year, which will initially be imported. Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “Whilst construction continues in many areas of Al Taweelah alumina refinery, we are steadily moving into commissioning completed equipment and sections. Importing the first of these raw materials is an important milestone in this immense effort to develop alumina refining as a new industrial activity in the UAE.” Once full ramp-up is achieved, Al Taweelah alumina refinery is expected to...
Ireland’s Limerick-based Aughinish Alumina has begun lobbying against a State-imposed energy levy from which it received millions of euro up until 2016, labelling it unfair and a threat to investment. The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) now plans to cut the Public Service Obligation (PSO) levied on all electricity bills by 56 per cent from October. This will bring down the levy to €209.19 million from previous €471.9 million. The charge was levied on all homes and businesses in the State on their electricity bills and used to support renewable energy producers, such as wind farms and other plants. Russian-owned Aughinish Alumina received significant fund support from the same levy between 2006 and 2016. According to CRU data, the refinery was paid €13.7 million from the...
As per the data shown by Aluminium Association of Canada, Canada’s primary aluminium industry is the fourth largest in the world with an annual production of 3.2 million tonnes of primary aluminium, using the lowest carbon footprint. Alcoa, Aluminerie Alouette and Rio Tinto operate 10 plants in Canada (9 plants in Quebec and 1 in British Columbia). The industry supports more than 8,000 jobs in Canada generating over 5.5 billion US$ in annual deliveries. {newsStudioGallery} The country imports the largest part of its alumina to feed its smelters. Rio Tinto owned Vaudreuil refinery, Jonquiere and Quebec refineries produce about 1.56 million tonnes of alumina and the rest they import from several parts of the world. According to the global export-import data, Canada is forecast to import 4.7...
According to a report from Reuters, China is exporting large volume of alumina for the second time this year despite the domestic price rise that is putting pressure on smelters. Chinese alumina suppliers signed contracts to export over 140,000 tonnes of alumina in July at a higher price, according to consultancy CRU. Chinese customs data shows that is three times higher than the entire volume exported in 2017. China, which has always exported very insignificant volume of alumina due to strong domestic demand has started focusing in the export market since April this year as the capacity cut in Norsk Hydro’s Alunorte plant in Brazil and U.S. sanctions on Rusal created supply disruption in the international market and lifted the prices. International alumina prices increased 37 per cent...
The Australia-based metals and mining company South32 is reportedly using a new robot, the BIKE platform, to execute safety checks at its Worsley alumina operation, the world’s largest alumina project comprised of a bauxite mine near the town of Boddington and an Alumina refinery near Worsley. The BIKE platform is used to carry out inspections of tanks, vessels, and pipes, and till date recorded a total of 67 confined-space entries and 68 working-at-height activities. It features wide-view cameras and an ultrasonic probe and is operated remotely. The robots can even climb the walls and roofs using magnetic wheels and can tackle obstructions such as stairs and 90-degree corners. South 32 said, “One of the main advantages of these mobile robots is that they can reach locations inaccessible...
China’s largest state-owned aluminium producer The Aluminium Corporation of China Limited (Chinalco) has raised its floor price of non-metallurgical grade alumina to RMB 3500 per tonne on Monday, August 27, Shanghai Metals Market learned. This shows a growth of RMB 100 per tonne from the last floor price released on August 17. Chinalco International Trading Co. has also raised the floor price of spot aluminium hydroxide by RMB 65 per tonne to RMB 2275 per tonne as of August 27, 2018. The alumina spot price, according to SMM, has started this week with the continuation of restraint at RMB 3261 per tonne, from August 24 to 27, but followed by a little hike to RMB 3275 per tonne today, August 28. In the east and south market, the alumina prices have decided to remain unchanged since the...
After putting countless efforts on overcoming local political unrest at Niyamgiri mines for securing bauxite from there, mining baron Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Ltd. finally decides to put a stop at it and use alternate bauxite resources for expanding Lanjigarh alumina refinery, a top company official reveals. The Lanjigarh alumina refinery is expected to complete its expansion project to 6 million tonnes per annum by 2021. CEO for Alumina and Power Business Ajay Kumar Dixit says there are enough alternate bauxite resources available to feed the expansion while adding that with the completion of the expansion project, the plant may require about 18 million tonnes of bauxite in a year. Currently, Lanjigarh imports 2.5 to 3 million tonnes of bauxite and sources almost an equal volume from...
South32 and Alumina Ltd. have announced strong financial performances yesterday predominantly due to their alumina operations. After Alumina Limited reported doubling of profits in H1 2018, South32 posted a 16 per cent rise in its annual underlying earnings on Thursday, as healthy demand for alumina and manganese helped offset lesser output from its Illawarra coal project. The results were buoyed by high prices for alumina, manganese and metcoal driven by a tight supply. The Australian miner, a spinoff from BHP Billiton, reported its underlying earnings jumped to US$1.33 billion from US$1.15 billion in the previous year, better than analysts’ expectations of around US$1.32 billion. South 32’s profit had been lifted by large gains in spot prices for its key commodities, such as manganese,...
Alumina spot price in China has been recording an incessant rise over more than a week. As per the data of Shanghai Metals Market, the price started displaying a surge from Thursday, August 16, from RMB 3059 per tonne to RMB 3108 per tonne, after showing a restraint in the previous day. Since then there was no looking back. On August 17, the price expanded to RMB 3146 per tonne, followed by RMB 3175 on August 20, RMB 3198 on August 21, and RMB 3250 and RMB 3261 in the next two consecutive days. However, today, August 24, the alumina price decided to show no change in the spot market and remained at RMB 3261 per tonne. At the beginning of the month also, the alumina spot price was more or less on the uptrend though range bound in the first few days. Australian alumina FOB price neither...
Alumina Limited, a bauxite and alumina company, today reported a net profit after tax of US$286.4 million for the half-year 2018, a 110% increase on the same period of 2017. Margins jumped on the back of higher global alumina prices during H1 2018. AWAC is Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals, a joint venture which is 40% owned by Alumina Limited and 60% owned by Alcoa Corp. Total EBITDA increased by US$525.6 million to US$1,208.0 million and margin for alumina refineries increased by $87 per tonne to US$200 per tonne. Net cash inflows increased by $196.9 million to $660.5 million. The company declared a fully-franked interim dividend of US8.6 cents a share, up from US4.2 cents a year ago. Commenting on the outstanding results, Alumina’s Chief Executive Officer, Mike Ferraro said, “This has...
After China and Australia, Brazil ranks as the third largest alumina producer in the world and plays a dominating role as alumina supplier. Hydro’s Alunorte that located at Para, Brazil, is known to be the world’s largest alumina refinery that exports almost 86 per cent of its total production to the world and the rest 14 per cent to Brazil’s domestic market. {newsStudioGallery} The United States is one of the major importers of alumina from Brazil and according to the international export-import data, it is found to import higher volume year-on-year. The below graph shows that in the first five months of the calendar year 2018, Brazil exported a total volume of 308,483 tonnes of alumina to the United States, up 40 per cent from 184,358 tonnes in 2017. The reason could be the rise in...
