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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Commodities giant Glencore supplied thousands of tons of alumina to an Iranian company that has provided aluminium to Iran’s nuclear programme. The previously undisclosed barter arrangement between Glencore, the world’s biggest commodities trader, and the Iranian Aluminium Company (Iralco) illustrates how difficult it is for Western powers to curb Iran’s ability to trade with the rest of the world. Even as the West imposes stringent restrictions on banks that do business with Iran, United Nations diplomats say Tehran keeps finding new ways to do business with willing partners. Reuters first learned about Glencore’s barter deal with Iralco, and an aluminium supply contract that Iralco had with Iran Centrifuge Technology Co (TESA), from a Western diplomatic source in early November. The...
According to China Customs, the imported alumina was 5,020 thousand tons in 2012 and has increased 167% over the same period. Australia and India are the main import countries, while 4,660 thousand tons from Australia and 140 thousand tons from India occupied 93% and 3% of the total import volume respectively. Since 2005 China alumina import volume has decreased gradually, as well as the ratio of total alumina supply volume. 2009 and 2012 were two special years, affected by financial crisis in 2009, China alumina output showed negative growth for first time in 10 years. Also owing to difference in domestic and overseas alumina price, the alumina import volume increased 12% yoy in 2009. In 2012, affected by export restriction on bauxite in Indonesia, Chinese electrolytic aluminium...
State-owned liquidator Nemzeti Reorganizációs Nonprofit is to take over the management and operation of Hungarian alumina maker MAL after a court has ordered the company to be liquidated based on a claim submitted by one of the creditors, the National Development Ministry (NFM) said on Wednesday. MAL was declared a company of strategic importance in September 2012. The national asset management company MNV will provide appropriate funds for reasonable measures serving to maintain operation and thousands of jobs at the company and its suppliers, the statement said. MAL came under pressure following a red sludge spill in October, 2010, which killed several people and caused huge damage. News of its liquidation comes the same day the company announced it has wound up production at its...
Indian state-run National Aluminium Co Ltd (Nalco) had issued a tender to export 30000 t of alumina for delivery this month on free-on-board (FOB) basis, two company sources said on Friday. The last date for submission of bids was March 6, said the officials, who did not want to be named as they are not authorised to speak to the media. Nalco, whose tenders serve as an international benchmark, last sold the same quantity of alumina to a Hong Kong-based buyer in February at about $357/t FOB through a tender.
Deutsche Bank has reiterated its 'buy' rating on Hindalco and maintained the target price of Rs 148, an upmove of over 39 per cent from the current market price, on improving alumina pricing outlook. According to the brokerage, spot alumina prices have moved sharply higher recently on expectations of improving global demand and production constraints. Factors like China's inability to source alumina internally and Indonesia's restraint on bauxite exports should drive prices in the medium/long term supported by cyclical recovery. "FOB alumina prices have strengthened by about USD20/t since the beginning of the year and we believe that industry fundamentals are improving sufficiently to see prices reach USD375/t before mid-year. This is largely a consequence of our anticipation of an...
Australia Minerals & Mining Group has filed a new patent application with the Australian Patent Office for its unique acid-based alumina processing technology. The technology produces alumina from its aluminous clay material with purity levels greater than 99.95% purity. It also benefits from a low energy input as the process uses low temperatures and pressures while its key reagents are recyclable. High purity aluminium is used in a number of applications such as high-performance electronics; tablets, mobile phones, computer screen backlighting; LED’s; and hybrid cars. It ranges in price from US$141,000 and US$396,000 per tonne depending on the purity and particle size. Australia Minerals & Mining Group’s aluminous clay material from its licence in Australia’s southwest is a low impurity...
Rio Tinto recently announced that it would not shut down its 2.75 million tonne (MT) Gove alumina refinery. The company clarified that it will be receiving energy assistance from the government of the country. The move could lead to a slowdown in the recent increase in alumina prices. However, various factors still point towards a higher alumina price in the medium to long term. Restrictions on bauxite exports by Indonesia- the mineral rich country restricted the exports of bauxite to entice foreign entities to set up facilities in the country. The country was a major supplier of bauxite ore for the aluminium companies throughout the world. This could lead to an increase in demand for alumina from the companies deprived of bauxite ore. Bureaucracy in India- new facilities are being...
Australia-based bauxite mining company Alumina Limited has reported a net loss of $62.1m for the full year 2012, reversing the previous year profits of $126.6m. The miner also reported a 13% drop in revenues to $5.8bn from its subsidiary Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC), as against revenues of $6.6bn for the previous year. Alumina Limited CEO John Bevan reasoned that the difficult market conditions precipitated the losses following the profits in the previous year. "Despite the very difficult market conditions, we are heartened by the sound operational performance of AWAC and the progress made on important initiatives that will ultimately strengthen the Company's position and improve returns to shareholders," explained Bevan. The company expects 48% of smelter grade alumina...
Credit Suisse upgraded shares of Alumina Limited to a neutral rating in a report issued on Friday. Separately, analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded shares of Alumina Limited from a neutral rating to a sell rating in a research note to investors on Thursday, January 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has assigned an underweight rating, and six have assigned a sell rating to the company. The company currently has an average rating of hold and a consensus price target of $4.90. Shares of Alumina Limited opened at 4.87 on Friday. Alumina Limited has a 52 week low of $2.65 and a 52 week high of $5.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $4.57. The company has a market cap of $2.970 billion and a P/E...
Alumina is holding off paying dividends despite recent price improvements and the post-balance-date equity injection of $452 million from China's state-owned Citic. There was no surprise on the dividend decision as sharply lower alumina and aluminium prices plus the revenue-sapping effects of the strong dollar led the Melbourne-based Alumina to post a loss of $US52.5m ($51.16m) compared with a profit of $US128m in 2011, when dividends totalled US6c a share. Alumina chief executive John Bevan said that the 2013 year had started on a positive note. "However, the outlook for the market in 2013 remains uncertain with macro-economic conditions, particularly in Europe, remaining difficult," he said. The reported loss was slightly better than the $US60m loss the market had been expecting, with...
Departing BHP Billiton chief executive Marius Kloppers says the worst mistake of his 5 1/2-year tenure was not to do with acquisitions but a decision to pour billions of dollars into the Worsley alumina plant south of Perth. "We spotted a technological change in aluminium and we made a great decision to not continue to invest in aluminium," Mr Kloppers told ABC's Inside Business program. "The parallel with the alumina industry was very, very close, (but) we kept on investing. I wish we just extrapolated a bit more and had not added some of the alumina capacity that we did." BHP spent $US3 billion expanding the Worsley alumina refinery, which suffered cost blowouts and delays. Last week, when BHP released its first-half results, the company slashed the book value of Worsley by $US2.2bn...
The New York-based Fitch Ratings agency announced today that it had downgraded the Clarendon Alumina Production Ltd's ratings on the basis of the Jamaica government debt exchange, which closes today. This follows announcements made last week by international insurance rating agency A.M Best that it had downgraded Sagicor Life of Jamaica and placed the entire Sagicor Life group under review due to its exposure to Jamaican government securities in its portfolios. The Caribbean’s only credit rating agency, CariCRIS also announced last week that it had placed a whole host of publicly rated entities in Jamaica under a ratings watch. Along with Sagicor’s Jamaica subsidiaries, CariCRIS also identified the National Commercial Bank of Jamaica, NCB Capital Markets Ltd, and the Development Bank of...
Alumina'a full year net losses have blown out and the troubled aluminium producer is bracing itself for more uncertainty ahead. The group's net loss for the 12 months to December 31 tripled to $US152.9 million from $US47.3 million ($148.42 million from $45.91 million) in 2011. Foreign exchange losses of nearly $US90 million ($87.36 million) and "other" losses of the same amount contributed to the loss. Excluding those items, Alumina recorded a net loss of $US62.1 million ($60.28 million) compared to a $US126.6 million ($122.89 million) net profit in 2011. Its underlying loss was $US52.5 million ($50.96 million) compared to an underlying profit of $US128 million ($124.25 million) previously. Revenue fell to $US5.8 billion from $US6.7 billion ($5.63 billion from $6.50 billion). Alumina cut...
Despite great resource potential, government bureaucracy and local sensitivities have effectively stymied India’s bauxite/alumina expansions in the country. It is likely that smelter production will move well ahead of domestic alumina availability requiring higher imports over the next several years, said Deutsche Bank in a report. China--by far the largest producer of bauxite/alumina in the world--has witnessed a CAGR of 77% in alumina production over the past 10 years. “We believe that the country is now undergoing a significant deceleration in locally sourced output as quality domestic resources become scarcer. We believe Chinese refiners are increasingly blending domestic bauxite with higher quality imports.” the bank noted. The Bank sees the challenges facing both India and China as...
Aluminium major Alumina has reported a net loss after tax of $62.1-million for the full 2012, compared with a net profit of $126.6-million last year, as aluminium prices declined. Revenue for the period was also down to some $5.8-billion, compared with the $6.6-billion reported in the previous financial year, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation was down to $335.5-million, compared with the more than $1-billion in the previous corresponding period. “It was a tough year for the industry and this has resulted in the company recording a loss, reversing the improvement in profits of prior years,” said Alumina CEO John Bevan this week. “Given the decline in cash flows received from the Alcoa Worldwide Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC) joint venture during 2012 and...
BHP's aluminium and nickel division recorded a widening loss of $US285 million in underlying earnings before interest and tax in the half - down from a $US66 million loss a year earlier - the worst performance of any division. Further, impairments of $US1.5 billion after tax against the Worsley alumina refinery, and $US865 million against BHP's Nickel West assets, both in Western Australia, contributed substantially to the 58 per cent fall in attributable profit for the first half of 2012-13, to $US4.2 billion. BHP declared a US57¢-a-share dividend (up 4 per cent from US55¢ a year ago) and its shares fell 0.9 per cent, or 35¢, in local trade to $38.65. Advertisement Mr Kerr, briefing investors from London, was followed by outgoing chief executive Marius Kloppers who said BHP would not be...
Australia's Alumina Ltd on Thursday said it was unlikely to bid for Rio Tinto's Pacific Aluminium business, but did not rule out that its new Chinese shareholder, state-owned CITIC Group, might be interested. "I don't believe that the intention of them (CITIC) coming on to our register has anything to do with whatever their position might be on Pacific Aluminium," Alumina Chief Executive John Bevan told reporters. "Our focus has been on the bauxite and alumina as our key focus of development, so it's unlikely that we would participate in the Pacific Aluminium," he said, adding that having CITIC as a partner could open up options down the track for looking at other acquisitions together, but there was nothing planned at the moment.
History and money link the U.S. and Australia but that’s not stopping China from shoehorning its way into the relationship at a business a level, as well as in laying the foundations for a push to replace the U.S. in a region it regards as its backyard and a critical supplier of raw materials. A deal last week in one of the mining world’s least loved commodities highlighted the optimistic view China has of future demand for minerals, while the size of two diplomatic posts in Australia’s natural resources capital, Perth, does the same job. The commodity which attracted a $468 million investment by two arms of CITIC (formerly the China International Trust and Investment Corporation) was alumina, particularly the mineral which eventually becomes the light metal, aluminium. Target of the...
