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...
Grow with
AL Circle
Norsk Hydro ASA's alumina refinery Alunorte in Brazil will be subject to ICMS taxation on fuel oil starting February 1, following a decision by the Brazilian state of Pará to change the collection point of the ICMS tax on fuel-oil purchases. Assuming that the decision is upheld, the estimated effect on Hydro will be an increased cost of approximately BRL 60 million per quarter, which will be charged to Hydro's Bauxite & Alumina business area. "We are concerned about the sudden changes in tax legislation in Pará, and we are doing what we can to try to get the decision reversed, in dialogue with Pará legislators," says Executive Vice President and head of Bauxite & Alumina Johnny Undeli. "Hydro's ambition is to develop robust and viable operations in Pará and to be an enabler for...
Australia Minerals and Mining Group Limited announces that it has appointed specialist process consultants to produce commercial samples of its high purity alumina (HPA) product and to conduct test work to optimize AMMG's process flow sheet. Batch test work will initially be required in order to confirm specific process conditions and identify areas of possible economic optimization. Upon the successful batch optimization test results, AMMG and its consultants will embark on a larger bulk program producing commercial HPA samples with 99.99% (4N) purity for international dispatch. AMMG's consultants are highly qualified process operators with substantial experience in process plant implementation and optimization; project management and financial analysis. Their Perth-based processing...
Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board BKPM announced three processing and mineral concentrate refineries (smelters) are in the construction phase and they expect them to be ready for production in Indonesia in 2014. Two of the smelters will process as well as purify iron ore, bauxite will be processed in the third smelter to chemical grade alumina. Indonesia Chemical Alumina is the owner of these three smelters. This company, jointly owned by Japan and Aneka Tambang (Antam), operates in West Kalimantan. Two other companies constructing smelters happens to be one foreign investment company named Delta Prime Steel and another jointly owned by Antam and Krakatau Steel. These smelters, located in West Kalimantan, will process the iron sands to sponge iron. Mahendra Siregar, head of BKPM,...
PT Indonesia Chemical Alumina, bauxite ore processing company into Chemical Grade Alumina (CGA) in Tayan, West Kalimantan, a subsidiary of PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (ANTM)or Antam is projected to absorb 670,000 wet metric tons (wmt) of bauxite this year. Antam’s bauxite reserves reach 108.8 million wmt with bauxite resource of 365 million wmt residing in the Tayan, Mempawah and Munggu Pasir in Kalimantan. "CGA raw materials will be supplied by Antam," said Tri Hartono, Antam corporate secretary.
AusGroup's subsidiary MAS Australasia, which provides scaffolding and associated services for construction and maintenance projects in the mining, oil & gas, infrastructure and commercial sectors, has been awarded a contract to service mining giant BHP Billiton. It clinched a two year deal, with an additional one year option, to undertake scaffolding for maintenance services at BHP Billiton's Worsley Alumina refinery, in the South West of Western Australia. The contract is worth up to A$7 million (S$7.9 million) per annum with a potential full contract value of A$21 million. MAS will be providing scaffolding assets for maintenance services at the Worsley Alumina refinery including the service and maintenance of scaffolding equipment provided by MAS for the completed BHP Billiton's...
The Niyamgiri Surakshya Manch (NSS) has demanded that the Lanjigarh alumina refinery of the Vedanta Alumina Limited (VAL) in Kalahandi district be completely closed. The demand was made at a public meeting organised in Munikhol of Muniguda block in Rayagada district on Thursday to mark the success of the NSS in thwarting the attempts to mine bauxite in the Niyamgiri Hills. The Ministry of Environment and Forests recently refused to give its nod for mining bauxite from the hills. The decision was taken after the VAL proposal was rejected in 12 gram sabhas organised in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts last year. At the public meeting, the leaders were of the opinion that the threat to the Niyamgiri Hills and the Mali Hills in Koraput district remained till the Lanjigarh refinery existed....
Investment house Deutsche Bank has rated Bauxite and aluminium investor Alumina Limited as a ‘Buy’, following the release of more than expected fourth quarter results, a report in Australian Financial Review says. Alumina Limited owns a 40% share of Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals (AWAC), the world’s largest alumina business and was formed in 1994 through a joint venture with Alcoa. The earnings release showed Alumina received US$107 million in dividends and also distributions from AWAC for the year 2013. No capital expense from Alumina was required for AWAC and at the end of 2013 Alumina’s net debt stood at US$135 million. The market situation seems to be favorable for Alumina Limited since 2014 beginning, while the shares of other major mining houses like Rio Tinto Limited BHP Billiton...
Despite the Indonesian bauxite ban, Chinese firms are more careful about building alumina refineries in Indonesia, officials at one of the refineries in China said. One firm had cancelled its plans entirely. Bosai Minerals has withdrawn their plans to build a two million-tonne-a-year complex in Indonesia. An official said, the company was focusing on the development of the two existing bauxite mines in Ghana and Guyana and may ship bauxite from these two mines to China if the price of domestic bauxite were sufficiently high. However, China Hongqiao Group Ltd's alumina refinery located in Indonesia was due to be finished by the end of the year 2014, an official said. It is expected that Hongqiao firm would start exporting bauxite from Indonesia in the second half of the year 2014, after...
Meller Optics, Inc. supplies a whole line of calcined alumina polishing powders (high purity) easy to mix with de-ionized water for lapping, grinding and finishing a wide range of optics. Meller Microlux Alumina Powders are available in two grades and also seven particle sizes from 0.05 - 3.0 microns. These powders are ready-to-mix with de-ionized water to produce surface finishes to 10-5 scratch-dig. They are suitable for lapping, grinding and polishing, they are ideal for hard as well as soft optics including barium and calcium fluoride, silicon, germanium, zinc sulfide, zinc selenide, stainless steel and semi-soft crystalline materials. Meller Microlux-R Alumina Powders feature 99.98% purity and include large agglomerated particles which breaks down under pressure due to aggressive...
Alumina Ltd (AWC) is an Australian listed company which produces alumina, which is a commodity. Bauxite ore is refined to produce alumina, which is then smelted to produce aluminium. AWC is the lesser partner in a 60:40 joint venture with US alumina/aluminium giant Alcoa, called AWAC, for which AWC is paid a quarterly dividend by Alcoa as its means of income. That dividend has an agreed floor of US$100m per year. Alumina, the commodity, has for decades traded on a long-term contract basis with aluminium smelters across the globe. But in recent years the push has been on to switch to more of a spot trading market, as has been the case over the last decade with other bulks such as iron ore. Spot trading markets are seen to benefit producers on average given bulk long-term contracts tend to...
On January 8, the proposal for providing the second round of forest clearing for Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC, which has a tie-up with Vedanta Aluminium for supplying Bauxite) was rejected by the environment ministry. OMC had proposed to get the forest cleared for mining ore in Lanjigarh reserve in Kalaihandi as well as Rayagadha districts. According to the order issued by the environment ministry, 12 village councils of the above mentioned districts had decided unanimously to not allow any kind of mining activity on Niyama Dangars. However, the industry experts are of the view that the rejection from the environment ministry does not end everything for Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Aluminium that has investments of Rs.50,000 crore in Lanjigarh. Despite the scarcity of Bauxite ore, the alumina...
Alcoa Inc. today announced the resolution of the investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding certain legacy alumina contracts with Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba). The settlement with the DOJ was reached with Alcoa World Alumina LLC (AWA). AWA is a company within Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC), the unincorporated bauxite mining and alumina refining venture between Alcoa Inc. and Alumina Limited. As part of the DOJ resolution, subject to final court approval later today, AWA will pay a total of $223 million, including a fine of $209 million payable in five equal installments over four years. The first installment of $41.8 million, plus a one-time administrative forfeiture of $14 million, will be paid in the...
Alba and Klaveness have re-established trade relations by entering into long-term freight contract, it was announced yesterday. Alba said it had reached a settlement agreement with Torvald Klaveness Shipping, whereby each party agreed to waive their respective legal claims. In addition, the parties agreed to enter into a new long-term commercial freight contract for the delivery of alumina to Alba by Cabu Chartering AS, a subsidiary of Klaveness. Klaveness had filed an arbitration claim against Alba in London and Alba had filed a civil claim against Klaveness in Norway. "We are pleased to have reached a settlement with Klaveness and resume normal business relations," Alba chairman Mahmood Al Kooheji said. "Klaveness had been a major freight carrier for Alba in the past and is a...
The Sherwin Alumina plant in Ingleside insists the red dust floating across town in the high winds this weekend do not pose a risk to public health. Several homeowners contacted KRIS 6 News after they were worried the red dust that covered their homes and cars. A company spokesperson says workers are doing what they can to control dust coming from the red mud storage facility, but in winds around 45 miles an hour it becomes difficult.
State-controlled miner Aneka Tambang plans to start commercial operations of its $450 million aluminum processing plant located in Tayan, West Kalimantan in April, trying to fulfill a government requirement on the export of value-added minerals. Tri Hartono, corporate secretary of the company known as Antam, confirmed to Jakarta Globe on Monday that commercial production of chemical-grade alumina (CGA) will start in April. That would come three months after the government’s implementation of a ban on raw exports of minerals. All ore must be processed into refined products for shipment overseas to meet a Jan. 12 deadline. Miners that fail to meet the requirement risk losing their operating licenses. The CGA plant, which will be operated by Indonesia Chemical Alumina (ICA), an 80 percent...
Utkal Alumina International Ltd (UAIL), a subsidiary of Aditya Birla owned Hindalco Industries, is yet to reach its full envisaged capacity of 1.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa) after starting of operation in June last year. So far, the company has managed to achieve 70-75 per cent capacity utilization at its alumina refining unit in Kasipur in south Odisha's Rayagada district. "The alumina plants usually take around one year to utilise the full capacity. Utkal Alumina will also take another 4-5 months to get there," said a senior officer of the company. After struggling hard for over two decades, UAIL started its trial production in June 2013 powered by 90 Mw co-generation thermal power plant. Utkal Alumina has captive bauxite mines at Baphilimali spread over Rayagada and Kalahandi...
The Orissa government has assured Vedanta Aluminium of leasing laterite minerals, which will help the company run its 1-million-tonne alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Orissa’s Kalahandi district. The state government has agreed to lease out laterite deposits in Rayagada and Koraput districts to VAL in a month or two. In reply, Vedanta Resources chairman Anil Agarwal has written a letter to chief minister, Naveen Patnaik, stating, “We are very encouraged to be assured that the government would take all steps so that mining lease could be granted in two months for small and laterite mines, which can serve as a breather for our alumina refinery on a short-term basis.” Vednata has some experience of extraction of alumina from laterite soil in Andhra Pradesh. Vedanta Aluminium has applied for...
The need to strictly follow safe mining practices and high standards of hazard-free work environment was emphasised during 31st Odisha Metal-ferrous Mines Safety Week Celebration 2013-14 in Odisha's Rayagada district. Held under the aegis of DGMS (Directorate General of Mining Survey) - Bhubaneswar Region, the week was observed at Utkal Alumina International Ltd's Baphlimali mines where the criticality of safety at workplace and relentlessly following safe mining practices was further stressed. The inspection team including officials from NALCO, Indian Rare Earth and ACC reviewed the activities of Utkal's Mines and surroundings, with DGMS providing the oversight durint the recent safety week, a press release said today. In their view, the safety measures adopted by Utkal were notable, it...
