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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China's Gansu Province-based steelmaker Jiuquan Iron & Steel Group (JISCO) Co. has announced the commencement of a 14-MegaWatt gas turbine on April 6. The gas turbine project is aimed at restarting Alpart Alumina plant in Jamaica. As per Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) report, JISCO will restart the 2-million tonne per annum alumina capacity shortly. In the last quarter of 2016, Russian aluminium giant Rusal completed the sale of its Alpart alumina refinery in Jamaica to JISCO for US$299 million. The sale was part of Rusal’s efforts to improve its own debt ratio. The two companies also established a consulting and technical services agreement in order to facilitate the hand-off. Alpart’s capacity, prior to its shut down in 2009, was 1.65 million metric tonnes of alumina and 4.9 million...
Monthly alumina output in China rose significantly in March, revealed first-hand production data of the Chinese alumina refineries as surveyed by the Shanghai Metals Market. Alumina production volume last month totalled 5,831,000 tonnes, up 27 per cent from March 2016 and +12.45 per cent from February this year. February's total alumina output was estimated at 5,185,000 tonnes. During the initial three months of 2017, that is, from January-February China produced 16,600,000 tonnes of alumina. The volume is 24 per cent higher than alumina produced in the corresponding period previous year. According to SMM estimate, April alumina output in China domestic market will decline by 2.48 per cent month-on-month to stand at 5,686,000 tonnes. China's primary aluminium output in March rose 23 per...
Western Australia’s mineral and petroleum industry has reported sales of A$94.8-billion in 2016, which registers an increase of A$3.4-billion YOY. The largest chunk of sale has been contributed by iron ore, nickel and petroleum sector. Alumina is the third most valuable mineral commodity in Western Australia accounting for 6% of the state’s total mineral value. Both the two producers of alumina in the state, Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals and South32 run their operations close to capacity in the Kwinana, Pinjarra, Wagerup and Worsley Alumina refineries. The sales volume remains flat year-over-year in 2016. However, the Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) noted that since there was a fall in alumina price in 2016, it indicated that the value of alumina sold...
Altech Chemicals has dual listed shares trading under the ticker A3Y on Germany’s Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The dual listing supports Altech’s strategy to broaden its European investor base, particularly in Germany where there is growing interest in the company’s high purity alumina (HPA) project. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is the world’s third largest exchange-trading market as measured by trading volume, behind the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. More than 50% of the total trades on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange are from investors located in countries outside of Germany. Altech’s investment appeal for German and other European investors is supported by its negotiations with a German institution regarding project finance and the appointment of a German engineering and procurement...
Goldman Sachs has updated its commodities price forecasts and that’s led to higher price targets for South32 (S32.AU) and Alumina (AWC.AU). Unused aluminium spools for work in the oil industry pile-up in a shop yard in the Permian Basin oil field. Here’s Goldman’s take on what the changes mean for South32, which remains a conviction buy: Diversified (RIO, S32): Upgrades in aluminium and coal price forecasts has had an upward impact on earnings and cash flows for both companies. S32 is most impacted due to the larger exposure to the aluminium and coal price revisions with our EPS forecasts increasing +8.9%/+38.3%/+41.2% in FY17E/18E/19E. We raise our 12-month target price to A$3.00ps (from A$2.90ps) and maintain our positive view on the stock and retain it on CL-Buy. We raise our EPS...
Middle East is at an inflexion point and threshold of a massive economic transformation as aluminium catches the world's attention as the next biggest industry after oil. The region is now only next to China and the US in terms of market size and with recorded 5,229,115 tonnes production of primary aluminium in 2016 accounts for 10 per cent of the global total output of the metal. Its aluminium exports have also grown enormously over the years. Middle East exported 4.25 million tonnes of aluminium in 2016. Driven by this huge market growth the consumption of alumina has risen significantly. {newsStudioGallery} Till 2013, Iran was the only alumina producer in the Middle East. Production at its Jajarm refinery, operated by Iran Aluminum Co, increased by 10 per cent year-on-year in 2013. In...
Vedanta Refinery has installed a red mud powder plant at its Lanjigarh alumina refinery in Kalahandi, Odisha. The automatic red mud powder plant is the country’s first of its kind initiative by an alumina refinery. The industry has been facing problems with red mud disposal which is a side-product of the Bayer process. Vedanta developed this innovative technology in-house which helps the alumina refinery to minimise consumption of caustic soda by 10 to 13 kg per ton of alumina. The facility also curtails the acreage of land necessary for disposal of red mud by 40 to 50 per cent as well as lessens wet red mud storage. The company has also installed a bio-gas plant to utilize organic waste. The plant will produce bio-gas from the waste which can be deployed in numerous ways. All the waste...
Carborundum Universal (CUMI), a part of Murugappa Group and a leading manufacturer and developer of abrasives, ceramics, refractories, aluminium oxide grains etc in India, has opened two new alumina fusion facilities at its electro-mineral complex in Kochi. The company also inaugurated zirconia bubble fusion plant at the site. M M Murugappan, Vice-Chairman of the Group, said that the two fusion plants and a zirconia bubble fusion plant creates the complex as one of the most advanced and integrated electro-mineral complexes in the world. The company made an investment of INR80-crore funded through internal accruals. The two alumina fusion plants have modern pot furnaces and tilt furnaces of large capacities while the zirconia bubble fusion plant has a modern tilt furnace. These facilities...
Environmental protection authorities in China that recently got down to track non-conformance by the country's numerous aluminium smelters and alumina refineries seem to have impacted the global trade of alumina and bauxite in the short-term. Deliveries of some contracts of brown fused alumina and bauxite may be delayed in April and May, reported reliable industry sources. A number of bauxite and alumina suppliers have told the sources that the ongoing production related problems in China's refineries could delay the deliveries. Apart from the supply issues originating from the China market, most of the European buyers are also reported to be not fully covered in the short term. The bauxite and alumina suppliers do not see any quality issues that could result in the declining demand of...
According to the aluminium sector report from Antaike, state-run metals consultancy firm in Beijing, published on Thursday, China is expected to add 6.65 million tonnes per year of new alumina capacity in 2017, mostly in North China, Central China and Northwest China. {newsStudioGallery} Currently, China has 79.25 million tonnes of annual alumina capacity as reported in the end of 2016 and the extra capacity would be in excess of that. 2 million tonnes per year new alumina capacity would be added in Shandong Province in North China and Henan Province in Central China would add 1 million tonne per year new capacity in 2017, the Antaike report says. The report figures also say Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, both in Northwest China, would add new alumina capacity of...
The Russian Federation plays a key role in the global aluminium industry value chain. Its major aluminium producer UC RUSAL is a vertically integrated company with bauxite processing and alumina refining operations in Russia's Kamensk-Uralsky, Sverdlovsk region and Leningrad region. Metallurgical alumina is produced by RUSAL at its Bogoslovsk, Urals, Nikolaev refineries, Basel Cement Pikalevo, Aughinish, Windalco, QAL, Friguia, Eurallumina, and Alpart refineries. Though majority alumina produced by RUSAL is used for in-house aluminium production, a significant percentage is sold to the external customers and it enjoys reasonable demand in the international market. {newsStudioGallery} The five-year historic trade data reveals a year-on-year increasing trend in Russia's alumina export....
The alumina industry has observed some of the major ups and downs in the past week across the globe. Let’s revisit the prominent news stories covering the week: Altech gains mining approval for Meckering deposit Altech Chemicals Limited announces that the Department of Mines and Petroleum (WA) has approved the mining proposal and the associated mine closure plan for its Meckering kaolin deposit. The mining approval marks an important stage in the development of the Company’s proposed Meckering kaolin mine, which will provide feedstock for Altech’s proposed Malaysian high purity alumina (HPA) plant. Bosnia's Alumina to produce 290,000 tonnes of alumina in 2017 Dr. Radislav Filipovic, Alumina’s director of business marketing and production in most of Zvornik collective, has announced that...
The global high purity alumina market size was estimated at 25,315 tonnes per annum in 2016. A recent study says the demand for the commodity will grow at a CAGR of 16.7% from 2016 through 2024. An increasing trend in adoption of LED lighting and displays globally is seen as the main factor driving this growth. Other application areas that are expanding steadily include lithium-ion batteries and high-performance electronic devices; HPA is widely used in making sapphire glass for smartphones. With rapid evolution in the electronics consumer goods sector, the demand for this specialty processed mineral is expected to grow even more steadily over the next five years period. There are many advanced inorganics and mineral processing companies that are adding high purity alumina to their...
Global high purity alumina producer Altech Chemicals presented its operations report for the half-year ended December 31, 2016, on Thursday, March 16. During the period, the company made advancements in a number of key business areas. Commercialisation opportunity was explored for Altech's kaolin (aluminous clay) deposit located at Meckering, Western Australia. The company plans to construct a high purity alumina plant in Johor, Malaysia, that would extract alumina from kaolin, producing 99.99 per cent alumina oxide (Al2O3) - high purity alumina (HPA). As announced during the period under review, Altech Chemicals said it is attempting to finalise financing for the project debt, the majority of which is aimed to be covered by German government export credit finance (ECA cover). In August...
The mineral sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina is dominated by the mine output of bauxite, iron ore, and lead-zinc ore while the metallurgy sector produces aluminium and steel. As per USGS 2013 Bosnia Mineral Yearbook data, the gross domestic product (GDP) was $17.8 billion in 2013, while the values of the country’s exports and imports were $5.8 billion and $10.3 billion, respectively. Exports of metal ores were valued at $38.5 million and made up about 48.5% of the total value of mining and quarrying exports. Alumina production and exports, since 2012, have decreased year-on-year. Total alumina output in 2013 stood at 175,961 tonnes, down 13% from 2012. {newsStudioGallery} In 2015, Bosnia Herzegovina exported 211377.84 tonnes of alumina worth US$75.63 million, which declined both volume...
Dr. Radislav Filipovic, Alumina’s director of business marketing and production in most of Zvornik collective, has announced in a statement on Tuesday February 14 that the company is planning to produce 290,000 tons of alumina in 2017. According to him, the company "Alumina" presently exports its products to 28 countries around the world in Europe, America, Africa and Asia. The company expects to introduce some 10 new products which will lead to market diversification. He added, “Year after year intensive increasing number of customers of our products." The company has increased its production capacity in 2017 in order to meet the market demand. "Late last year we had a very unfavourable environment when it comes to market alumina, particularly this was expressed during the period of the...
Altech Chemicals Limited announces that the Department of Mines and Petroleum (WA) has approved the mining proposal and the associated mine closure plan for its Meckering kaolin deposit. The mining approval marks an important stage in the development of the Company’s proposed Meckering kaolin mine, which will provide feedstock for Altech’s proposed Malaysian high purity alumina (HPA) plant. The approved submission specifically allows for mining activities to commence within the Company’s 100%-owned Meckering mining lease M70/1334, which is located approximately 140km east of Perth. At Meckering, Altech plans to mine approximately 140,000 tonnes of kaolin once every three years; mining will take place in short two-month mining campaigns. The resultant raw kaolin ore will be stockpiled on...
The global demand for alumina is growing like never before with phenomenal growth in aluminium production, especially in China. The world will continue to see strong demand growth for alumina particularly in China and the Middle East countries. It opens up new trading opportunities for the alumina producing countries around the world and especially for the net exporters of alumina. {newsStudioGallery} Globally, Brazil ranks second as a net exporter of alumina. Hydro’s Alunorte is the world's largest alumina refinery and is located in Pará, Brazil. After 20 years in operation, the company supplies the domestic and international markets with an annual production capacity of 6.2 million tons. On average, 14% of its production goes to the domestic market and the other 86 % goes for export....
