Domestic spot alumina prices edged down slightly last week amid flat trading activity. Recent alumina price movements were mainly attributed to earlier concentrated restocking by downstream buyers, which has led to accumulating inventories at rail stations and smelters. Coupled with supply-side maintenance-driven output cuts that are still building, readily available spot volumes have tightened relatively. Only sporadic tender deals were heard recently, leaving prices in a temporary steady phase. On the bauxite front, domestic ore prices saw limited movement last week. Supply-side bottlenecks are unlikely to ease in the near term, with mines prioritising captive supply, leaving little excess spot material available. For imported ore, freight rates rebounded slightly and consecutively last...
The global aluminium supply chain is facing a series of changes that extend from bauxite mines and alumina refineries to smelters, regional premiums and finished-metal trade. In 2026, the market’s direction is being shaped not only by production volumes but also by freight costs, export restrictions, shifting Chinese demand and tariffs. Developments across Guinea, Australia, China, Europe and North America point to a market where access to supply is increasingly as important as the availability of raw materials. Bauxite supply: Guinea’s cap meets a well-stocked China, but is it stable? Guinea remains central to the seaborne bauxite market, with its shipment connections to China demonstrating the importance of reliable logistics. A new sea-rail route has enabled a Guinea bauxite shipment...
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According to the International Aluminium Institute, alumina production in Africa & Asia (ex-China) during the second quarter of 2023 totalled 3.358 million tonnes, registering an increase of 4.38 per cent from 3.217 million tonnes a quarter ago. But on a year-on-year basis, the output in Q2 2023 stood 4.87 per cent lower than 3.530 million tonnes. In June 2023, Africa & Asia’s (ex-China) alumina production was recorded at 1.115 million tonnes, down by 4.13 per cent M-o-M from 1.163 million tonnes, following a rise of 3.24 per cent in May from 1.080 million tonnes. Compared to June 2022, Africa & Asia’s (ex-China) alumina production edged a fall of 2.28 per cent from 1.141 million tonnes. In the first half of 2023, Africa & Asia (ex-China) churned out 6.575 million tonnes of alumina in...
The world alumina production in June 2023 stood at 11.310 million tonnes, bringing the Q2 output to 34.613 million tonnes. Compared to 33.372 million tonnes in Q1 and 35.556 million tonnes in Q2 2022, the world alumina production in Q2 2023 edged a quarterly increase of 3.72 per cent and an annual fall of 2.65 per cent, respectively, found the International Aluminium Institute survey. On a month-on-month calculation, the world alumina production in June 2023 decreased by 4.78 per cent from 11.878 million tonnes, and on an annual basis declined by 4.4 per cent from 11.830 million tonnes. During the first half of 2023, world alumina production totalled 67.985 million tonnes, down by 1.63 per cent from 69.112 million tonnes a year ago. In China, alumina production during June 2023 was 6.735...
Alumina Limited, a leading Australian company focused on investing in long-life, low cost bauxite and alumina assets, announced the hiring of Mr Alistair Field as a Non-Executive Director with effect from January 15, 2024. Mr Field has retired from Sims Limited as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. Before working with Sims Metal, he held a number of executive and senior management positions in the mining and metals industry, including Ma’aden Aluminium’s Project (Saudi Arabia) Director in Operations, Rio Tinto’s Chief Operating Officer of Bauxite Alumina Pacific and Alcan’s Vice President of Operations Pacific Bauxite and Alumina. So, for having a diversified work experience in top-most positions in the metal and mining industry, Mr Field is expected to bring extensive...
The global mining and metal giant Rio Tinto has expressed concern that the expenses associated with renewable energy could severely impact Australia's industrial prospects. This comes in the wake of the company's absorption of a significant $1.2 billion loss and depreciation related to its alumina refineries in the last six months. Surprisingly, Yarwun, the very alumina refinery that Australia's Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen chose as the venue to announce the emissions reductions scheme in January, is now experiencing severe financial losses. The scheme, aimed at curbing emissions, poses a significant threat to Australia's aluminium production sector. Yarwun is no exception, as it entered into deep financial debt. As part of the initiative aimed at achieving net-zero emissions in...
The Australian-based mineral-exploration company Surefire Resources has made its way onto the global stage for battery and LED markets by confirming 99.99 per cent pure alumina in test work utilising waste rock from its 100 per cent-owned Victory Bore vanadium mine, located roughly 400 kilometres east of the Western Australian port of Geraldton. The business announced that it has manufactured the critical high-purity alumina (HPA) standard known as "4N" - alluding to the four nines in the purity % measurement. Surefire's relevance stems from the company's now-proven ability to utilise waste from Victory Bore to manufacture 4N HPA . Others have traditionally depended on pricey high alumina-content metals to improve feedstock grades and, as a result, final product purity. Currently, 99.992%...
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Headquartered in Henan, China, the Henan Xinhongji Refractory Material has been successfully enlisted by AL CircleBiz, the world's first B2B market for the global aluminium sector. AL CircleBiz is the world's first global marketplace, bringing millions of buyers and sellers along the aluminium value chain. The company primarily connects clients and merchants via searches against listed products and business leads. Xinhongji Refractory has believed in high quality, honesty, and innovation since its inception to impress consumers with exceptional goods and first-rate services, serve customers with sincerity and friendliness, and attract customers with high technology and innovation. The products offered by Xinhongji Refractory include- High Alumina Bricks High Alumina Refractory Cement...
On July 20, 2023, analysts and traders said that Chinese alumina prices escalated to their highest on constraint provision in more than a month amid augmented demand from aluminium smelters in the southwestern Yunnan province. On July 20, the Shanghai Futures Exchange witnessed a remarkable surge in the recently introduced alumina futures contract. According to Refinitiv Eikon data, the contract for the most-traded November expiry date, SAOX3, experienced a significant jump of 3.2 per cent, reaching an all-time high of RMB 2,908 per tonne. Refinitiv, an LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) business, is one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure. Refinitiv Eikon is an open-technology solution for financial markets professionals, providing access to...
Alumina is essential for the production of primary aluminium. It is obtained from bauxite ore through the Bayer process and serves as the primary feedstock in the Hall-Héroult process , which extracts the non-ferrous metal, aluminium from its powder form. Alumina production is energy-intensive but necessary due to its importance in primary aluminium production. Last year, the worldwide alumina output slightly increased from the previous year, reaching 139.2 million tonnes. Almost all of the alumina production, about 93.7%, came from metallurgical-grade sources, with only a small amount being chemical-grade. China was a major contributor to this increase in production, producing an estimated 78.8 million tonnes of alumina, making up around 57% of the global output. Some of the major...
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According to the International Aluminium Institute data, alumina production in Africa & Asia (ex-China) during May 2023 amounted to 1.167 million tonnes, reflecting a month-on-month hike of 8.05 per cent from 1.080 million tonnes. The growth continued after an increase of 1.41 per cent in April from 1.065 million tonnes in March 2023. However, on a year-on-year calculation, Africa & Asia’s (ex-China) alumina output in May edged a fall of 3.55 per cent from 1.21 million tonnes, found IAI. The daily average output in May 2023 stood at 37,600 tonnes, up by 4.4 per cent M-o-M from 36,000 tonnes and down by 3.6 per cent Y-o-Y from 39,000 tonnes. Africa & Asia’s total alumina production during the first five months of 2023 amounted to 5.464 million tonnes – 4.16 per cent less than 5.701 million...
According to the Shanghai Metals Market survey, China’s metallurgical-grade alumina production in June 2023 (30 calendar days) totalled 6.46 million tonnes, down by 1.22 per cent from 6.54 million tonnes in May (31 calendar days). The daily average production in the said month was recorded at 215,000 tonnes, reflecting steady output compared to the earlier month owing to operation resumption in Henan, Guizhou, and Chongqing, along with newly added capacity. On a year-on-year calculation, China’s alumina output in June stood 4.2 per cent lower due to the closure of alumina capacities in high-cost areas like Shanxi, Henan, and Inner Mongolia. At the end of the month, China’s installed alumina capacity was 100.25 million tonnes, with an operating capacity of 78.58 million tonnes. The...
Alpha HPA, a critical metals producer, has recently been granted a substantial Industry Partnership Program grant of $21 million by the Queensland government. This grant has been provided to support the second stage of the company's $300 million Gladstone high-purity alumina facility. It is worth noting that the company's Stage 1 Precursor Production Facility is already operational and producing 99.99 per cent pure aluminium products using its proprietary licensed solvent extraction and refining technology in commercial quantities. The plant currently produces 5N purity aluminium-nitrate and has plans to expand its product line to include HPA, aluminium sulfate, nano HPA, and high-purity aluminium hydroxides. The Stage 2 plant is expected to create up to 117 jobs and establish stronger...
The Indian aluminium major, Hindalco Industries and the parent company of Novelis will commence full-scale alumina sales in Japan. With a dedicated Japanese corporation and warehouses at major ports, Hindalco aims to be among Japan's top three alumina suppliers. Hindalco plans to offer high-end and general-purpose products while emphasising its commitment to environmentally friendly practices. Hindalco produces coarse alumina hydrate, metallurgical alumina, special alumina and alumina hydrate. The chemicals business focuses on special alumina and alumina hydrates which are products of in-house technological innovation by our Research & Development team at Hindalco Innovation Centre-Alumina(HIC-A). The chemicals business serves a wide range of customers across 32 countries worldwide with...
According to the International Aluminium Institute, alumina production in Europe (incl. Russia) improved during May 2023 for an alternate month, reaching 560,000 tonnes. Compared to a month ago, the output in May grew by 55,000 tonnes or 10.89 per cent from 505,000 tonnes, following a sequential plunge of 9.34 per cent from 557,000 tonnes in March. However, on a year-on-year calculation, Europe’s (incl. Russia) alumina production in May 2023 edged a sharp fall of 22.44 per cent from 722,000 tonnes. The daily average production stood at 18,100 tonnes in May 2023, reflecting an increase of 7.74 per cent month-on-month from 16,800 tonnes and a downfall of 22.32 per cent year-on-year from 23,300 tonnes. From January to May 2023, Europe (incl. Russia) produced 2.631 million tonnes of alumina,...
World alumina production in May 2023 recorded a monthly recovery of 4.32 per cent to reach 11.918 million tonnes, found the International Aluminium Institute survey. In April, the output was down by 1.69 per cent M-o-M to 11.425 million tonnes, following a sequential rise of 0.83 per cent in March from 11.331 million tonnes to 11.621 million tonnes. So, world alumina output registered a growth in May for an alternate month. But on the other hand, on a year-on-year calculation, world alumina production in May edged a fall of 2.34 per cent from 12.204 million tonnes, learned IAI. World daily average alumina production in May 2023 was 384,500 tonnes, up by 0.97 per cent from 380,800 tonnes in April but down by 2.34 per cent from 393,700 tonnes in May 2022. During January-May 2023, world...
The United States alumina imports in the first quarter of 2023 ended March 31, stood at 323,000 tonnes, reflecting a sharp decline of 36.42 per cent sequentially from 508,000 tonnes, found the US Census Bureau data. On a year-on-year basis, the imports registered a fall of 27.42 per cent from 445,000 tonnes. Last year, the United States imported 1.88 million tonnes of alumina – 21.29 per cent more than 1.55 million tonnes in 2021. Australia, which emerged as a significant exporter of alumina to the United States in the fourth quarter of 2022, supplying 161,000 tonnes, provided nothing in Q1 2023, according to the USGS data. Brazil exported 269,000 tonnes versus 243,000 tonnes in Q4 2022 and 319,000 tonnes in Q1 2022. That indicated a month-on-month rise of 10.70 per cent and a...
Datong Refractories, a company with its head office in Kaifeng, Henan, China, takes immense pride in providing fooder for top-quality refractories. It produces elements like reactive and calcined alumina, calcium aluminate cement, fused spinel, fused mullite, tabular alumina, white fused alumina, bubble alumina, ceramic alumina balls, and thermal insulation materials. With advanced management techniques and a strict producing process, Datong has enhanced its brand's competitiveness and provided internationally standard refractories. Kaifeng Datong has been enlisted under AL CircleBiz's B2B platform for better connectivity and outreach. AL CircleBiz is the world's first online marketplace for the global aluminium industry. At this moment, the company is brimming with energy. It proudly...
Rusal, the world's second-largest aluminium company by primary aluminium production, announced that on Thursday, June 15, it started the construction of a modern alumina facility in the Leningrad region. Rusal contemplates investing around 400 billion rubles in this project to construct four technological lines for alumina production and develop port infrastructure in Ust-Luga. The project will be developed in two phases. Phase one will have a capacity of up to 2.4 million tonnes per year and is expected to be commissioned by 2028-end. The second phase will also have a similar capacity, with an estimated completion time of 2032. So, in total, the new alumina refinery will have a capacity of nearly 4.8 million tonnes. Once the project starts operating, it is expected to create up to 7,500...
The 15th edition of the most important trade fair in the industry, which gathers international experts and key decision-makers, will take place from June 12th to 16th in Düsseldorf, Germany. Calderys will showcase its aluminium expertise, iron & steel and foundry through one major theme: sustainability. On June 9, Calderys announced its participation in GIFA 2023. The Group will showcase its innovative and sustainable solutions in Booth C72 - Hall 10. 2023 is a year of change and evolution for Calderys. GIFA is the opportunity to meet Calderys as a standalone company, combined with HWI, and becoming one of the biggest refractories companies in the world and a leading world-class casting fluxes and bentonite-based solutions provider. By integrating complementary product portfolios and...
