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 efforts of Anrak Aluminium Limited (AAL) to commission its Greenfield alumina refinery may not materialise in the near future with severe water shortage being experienced by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation. Though construction of the refinery with a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes was completed at Rachapalle in Makavarapalem mandal, about 100 km from here sometime ago, the company may not go on stream at least for a year or so. Anrak has a plan to invest Rs.14,000 crore on the refinery as well as 2.50 lakh-tonne smelter and a 90 MW captive power plant. Anrak website claims it will draw five million gallons per day (MGD) from the Yeleru Left Main Canal, which is adjacent to the project site. “AAL has already obtained the necessary approvals for the same,” it says. The...
Indian state-run National Aluminium Co (NALCO) has issued a tender for export of 330,000 tonnes of alumina for delivery in 2013, Commercial Director Ansuman Das said on Wednesday. The last date for submission of bids is Sept. 18. The deliveries would be made in batches between January and December next year, he told Reuters. NALCO, whose tenders serve as a global benchmark, last November sold 240,000 tonnes of alumina for deliveries in 2012 to a Switzerland-based buyer at 16.39 percent of the LME aluminium price on an FOB basis.
On Aug. 29, 2012, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its ratings on Australian mining company Alumina Ltd. (Alumina) to 'BBB-', from 'BBB'. The outlook is stable. They view that the current trading conditions in the alumina and aluminum industries are more challenging than at the beginning of the year for AWAC, driven by declining alumina and aluminum prices, the strong Australian dollar, and still elevated oil and caustic costs. -- Weak industry conditions are expected to persist in the near term, which will result in lower than expected earnings from AWAC and therefore a lower dividend to Alumina in 2012. -- The outlook on the rating is stable, as they expect that AWAC would adjust its operations to respond to market conditions or that AWAC or Alumina would exercise its...
The State of Pará in Brazil has decided that, effective from September 10, 2012, ICMS tax will again be collected from the fuel oil distributors, exempting Hydro's alumina refinery Alunorte from the ICMS tax. A change took place March 1, 2012, changing the collection point for ICMS tax from distributors to oil refineries. As reported for second quarter 2012 this increased Alunorte's costs by approximately NOK 150 million for the quarter. The amendments now decided by the Governor of Pará will exempt Alunorte from the ICMS tax on fuel oil, as was also the case prior to March 1, 2012.
United Company Rusal Plc, the world’s biggest aluminum producer, is seeking Chinese partners to set up joint venture factories in Russia’s Siberia region, the Beijing-based Jinghua Times reported Monday. The Russian company, which accounting 9 percent of global alumina and aluminum output, just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association on Saturday. A senior official from the aluminum giant indicated that a special work team has already been set up to attract Chinese investment into resource-rich Siberia, according to the report. Siberia has one of the world's biggest bauxite mines while the price of electricity, which is essential to turn bauxite into alumina, is cheap, according to the China Daily. Producing a ton of alumina would cost...
Indonesia and China have agreed to jointly produce alumina, commodities processing of bauxite into aluminum upstream raw material industry with aluminum ingot products, amounting to two million tons per year. The deal is a series of signing a memorandum of understanding between the PT Indonusa Dwitama with Chalco Hong Kong Limited in Beijing last weekend. The TS Indonusa Dwitama Fungkong interrupted signing Viktor said, under an agreement that the Chalco Hong Kong Limited invested 1.1 billion U.S. dollars for the construction of the plant (refinary) in West Kalimantan. "Initial production capacity of approximately one million tonnes per year. Yet the next two to three years, the production capacity will be increased to two million tonnes per year," he said. Operational Director of PT...
Labour unions in Guinea have called on the government to cancel Rusal’s 2006 contract for the purchase of the country’s Friguia bauxite and alumina complex. Rusal says the demands have no legal ground. The world's largest aluminium producer said on Friday that it intended to protect its ownership of the facility. “Rusal has been, and remains a rightful owner of the “Friguia” bauxite and alumina complex and will protect its ownership rights by all legal means around the world,” a Rusal spokesperson said in a statement. ”We hope that the Government of the Republic of Guinea will act in accordance with the laws of Guinea and international law,” the spokesperson added. Guinean labor unions backed by the main worker federation, CNTG, have asked the government to annul Rusal's contract on...
Guinean labour unions backed by the main worker federation, CNTG, have asked the government to annul a 2006 contract selling the country's Friguia alumina refinery to Russia's UC RUSAL , a union leader said. RUSAL paid $19 million in 2006 for the refinery, a price the current government has said is too low. The government of the West African country is also seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in back taxes from RUSAL. Labour unions at the 640,000 tonnes a year capacity refinery have been embroiled in a wage dispute with RUSAL over several years, leading to numerous strikes and shutdowns, and the plant is not operating at full capacity. "We have asked the government to cancel the contract considering the current situation prevailing at Friguia," Amadou Diallo, CNTG's secretary general,...
An alumina refinery in China that is 33% owned by Chalco has been closed down by authorities temporarily on environmental grounds. The refinery is located in Guangxi, South Western China and has been closed following an order from the Ministry of Environmental Protection last week. The country’s ministry of environmental protection also fined the company 100,000 yuan ($15,757). The facility cannot restart until it has passed environmental checks ordered after a ninth mud leakage accident was recorded, the National Business Daily reported Monday. As a result, the Guangxi Huayin Aluminium Company has shut down three of its five production lines. The company has the capacity to produce 1.6Mt/yr of alumina. The plant started operations in 2008 and was said to represent one of China’s biggest...
Hindalco Industries Ltd. (HNDL), India’s second-largest aluminum maker by output, plans to sign an agreement to borrow 100 billion rupees ($1.8 billion) as early as next month, according to two people familiar with the matter. The interest rate for the 12 1/2-year term facility, which will finance the company’s Aditya Alumina and Aluminium project in the eastern state of Odisha, is about 11.25 percent, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The company has raised 60 billion rupees selling bonds since January, the person said. The integrated alumina project includes a 4.2 million ton bauxite mine, a 1.5 million ton alumina refinery and a 359,000 ton smelter, according to Hindalco’s website. The company has placed orders for equipment for the...
Tribals from Rayagada's Kashipur block have vowed to stop Utkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL) from mining at Baphlimali hills alleging that the company has backtracked on its promises. "The company promised to bring about all round development of the affected villages and started construction work six years ago. We believed it and stopped our agitation against the company. But there has been no noticeable change in the lives of people living in the peripheral villages though 70% of the construction work is over," said Bhagaban Majhi, president of Prakrutika Sampad Surakhya Parishad (PSSP) that is leading the agitation. Tribals from Chandragiri, Maikanch and Kudupari panchayats have assembled under its banner. The UAIL has set up a 4.5 million tonne per annum bauxite mining plant at...
Alumina Limited chief executive John Bevan has said that the miner could be interested in buying BHP Billiton Ltd's alumina assets, following reports that BHP is considering selling its bauxite, alumina and aluminum assets in Brazil, according to The Australian Financial Review. “Alumar [in Brazil] is clearly one of our best assets,” Mr Bevan said while Alumina reported a half-year underlying loss of $US8.2 billion, according to the AFR. “[Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals (AWAC)] owns most of the joint venture and BHP owns 36 per cent of it. Clearly there is an attraction there. But whether we participate in that, we'll just have to wait and see how the process works.” Because of AWAC's role as a joint-venture partner with BHP, it would likely hold a pre-emptive right over the BHP stake....
Alumina Ltd expects the short-term outlook to remain volatile, but flagged an end to China's control over aluminium prices after swinging to a big loss in the first half of the year. For the six months to June 30, Alumina posted a net loss of $14.6 million, compared to a $67.7 million net profit in the previous corresponding period. The company has declined to pay a dividend for the period after it paid a final dividend of US three cents a share in February. Alumina chief executive officer John Bevan said that given the current volatility in external markets, the company’s cash flows and balance sheet are being conservatively managed. Non-chinese producers such as Australia's Alumina and Rio Tinto are hurting from China's policy in recent years of over-producing aluminium to drive down...
Global Alumina Corporation, a corporation participating in a joint venture to develop an alumina refinery, mine and associated infrastructure in the bauxite-rich region of the Republic of Guinea (the "Project"), announced today its financial and operating results for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2012. The text of the quarterly unaudited financial statements and management's discussion and analysis can be viewed or printed from the Company's SEDAR reference page at www.sedar.com. All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars. Second Quarter 2012 Financial Highlights • In the first six months of 2012 the joint venture partners contributed capital of $33.0 million towards the approved Project budget with the Company contributing its $11.0 million one-third share. • At June 30,...
Alumina Limited has cut its forecast output for alumina amid sustained low demand and prices, which pushed it to a net loss of $US14.6 million for the six months to June, equal to a loss of 0.6 US cents per share. The company has cut forecasts to 15.5 million tonnes from the annualized production rate of 15.9 million tonnes earlier this year, amid continued weak commodity demand and prices. In the June half, it produced 7.8 million tonnes of alumina. At the same time, it held unchanged at 360,000 tonnes its forecast of aluminium metal production. In recent trading, the spot price for alumina had fallen to around $US310 a tonne - levels last seen in late 2011. Alumina said if the price for its output remains weak, then production cutbacks are likely at competitor plants, since it is lower...
Regulatory hurdles and land acquisition problems are forcing alumina refiners to cut production, raising fears that India may have to rely more on exports for its aluminium requirement despite having huge reserves of the ore required for its production. At 3.3 billion tonne, India has the world's fifth-largest reserve of bauxite, the principal source of aluminium. But tardy government clearances and land acquisition issues mean that most of its alumina refineries cannot operate captive bauxite mines, leaving capacity idle. Every year, India produces 4 million tonne of alumina, which yields only 1.785 mt of aluminium. "It is unfortunate that instead of raising alumina production, the country will witness a fall in the output by at least 20%," said BK Mohanty, Advisor, Society of...
Rio Tinto has fingered its Gove alumina refinery in northeast Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory as the worst performer among its ailing aluminium interests, raising questions about the future of the remote operation in the absence of a sustained improvement in prices for its intermediate aluminium product. The group's aluminium exposure was enlarged with the ill-timed $US40 billion acquisition of Canada's Alcan in 2007 that delivered the Gove project into Rio's broader aluminium portfolio. The portfolio took a $US8.9bn Alcan-related impairment charge in February because of the slump in alumina/aluminium markets. Aluminium prices continued to weaken in the June half, falling 15 per cent to levels at which 25 per cent of non-Chinese smelting capacity is losing money, including at Rio....
Three of China's biggest alumina producers are planning to invest at least $1 billion into bauxite mines and refineries in Indonesia to guarantee supplies of the aluminium raw materials under threat from new export taxes and a 2014 export ban. The plans are among the first signs that Jakarta's rules curbing raw ore exports are driving major investment in metal processing in mineral rich Indonesia. Sources at top alumina producer Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (Chalco) , Bosai Minerals Group Co Ltd and Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group said their companies were actively seeking ways to increase supplies. Bosai Minerals was planning to boost production at its mines in South America and Africa, while Chalco was trying to quickly obtain a mining permit in Laos, the sources said. China is the...
