Chevron Australia has entered a new natural gas supply agreement with South32’s Worsley Alumina business, reinforcing the importance of reliable energy supplies to Australia’s alumina refining industry. The deal will support operations at the Western Australian facility, where energy availability remains central to mineral processing and industrial activity. Under the contract, Chevron will supply natural gas to South32 Worsley Alumina Pty Ltd from 1 January 2028. The arrangement continues a longstanding commercial relationship between the companies, with the fuel allocated to the alumina producer’s processing requirements. Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our report: " Global Bauxite & Alumina Market Forecast to 2036: Supply–Demand, Trade...
Rio Tinto and Rondo Energy have commenced front-end engineering and design for a 30 MW/360 MWh thermal energy storage project at the Yarwun alumina refinery near Gladstone, Queensland, marking a potential milestone in the use of heat batteries to reduce emissions from alumina refining. The Rondo Heat Battery will store energy as high-temperature heat in refractory bricks and supply continuous process heat to support Rio Tinto’s alumina refining operations. If progressed, the project would be one of the first large-scale demonstrations of thermal energy storage for industrial process heat globally and a world-first for the alumina industry. Heat batteries target round-the-clock industrial demand Australia regularly experiences four to six hours of surplus solar-generated renewable...
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Altech Chemical, the high purity alumina producer confirmed that the results from first-phase testing of batteries that contain graphite particles coated with its proprietary high purity alumina coating technology remain positive. Test work will now advance to the next stage comprising further testing of battery charging and discharging with the focus of demonstrating repeatability and consistency. The Australia headquartered company lately accomplished initial-stage demonstrations of its technology which coats graphite particles typical of those used in anode applications within lithium-ion batteries with a nanolayer of high purity alumina, a product that Altech is looking to produce out of Malaysia from its long-life feedstock of kaolin in Western Australia. Altech said: “The initial...
The average alumina spot price in China has recorded a drop of RMB 12 per tonne to close the week on Friday, March 5, at RMB 2,332 per tonne, following a week-long restraint at RMB 2,344 per tonne, found the Shanghai Metals Market. In Shandong and Guangxi, the alumina spot price has decreased by RMB 25 per tonne and RMB 20 per tonne, respectively, to stand at RMB 2,330 per tonne and RMB 2,340 per tonne, while the price in Henan and Shanxi has dipped by RMB 10 per tonne to RMB 2,330 per tonne. In Guizhou, alumina price is standing at RMB 2,350 per tonne, slipping by RMB 10 per tonne as well. Australian alumina FOB price has dwindled by US$ 4 per tonne to come in at US$ 296 per tonne on March 5, learned SMM. A00 aluminium ingot price has declined sharply by RMB 480 per tonne to RMB 17,100...
Metso Outotec, the frontrunner in sustainable technologies, end-to-end solutions and services for the minerals processing, aggregates and metals refining industries globally has been awarded a contract for the engineering and delivery of two 170 t/h Bayer process flash evaporation plants to the National Aluminium Company’s (Nalco) Damanjodi Alumina Refinery in Odisha, India. The value of the order is approximately $15.7 million and it has been booked in the Metals segment’s orders received in Q1 / 2021. Dr Alessio Scarsella, Director, Light Metals, Metso Outotec pointed: “We are excited for Nalco having chosen us as the supplier for the two energy-efficient flash evaporation plants complementing our market position in the Bauxite and Alumina sector.” “Previously, we have delivered three...
In South America, alumina production in January 2021 stood at 1.069 million tonnes, reflecting a month-on-month downfall of 3.17 per cent, according to the data shown by the International Aluminium Institute. In December 2020, South America produced 1.104 million tonnes of alumina – an increase of 12.65 per cent from 980,000 tonnes in November. On a year-on-year calculation, South America’s alumina output stood 2.10 per cent higher than 1.047 million tonnes. In the entire year of 2020, alumina production in South America totalled 11.780 million tonnes, up by 9.69 per cent from 10.739 million tonnes produced during the same period of the previous year. In North America, on the other hand, alumina production grew month-on-month by 3,000 tonnes or 1.31 per cent to 232,000 tonnes in January...
In East & Central Europe, alumina production in January 2021 stood at 410,000 tonnes, recording a downfall of RMB 6,000 tonnes or 1.44 per cent month-on-month, found the International Aluminium Institute. In December 2020, alumina production in East & Central Europe increased 3.48 per cent month-on-month from 402,000 tonnes to 416,000 tonnes. On a year-on-year basis, East & Central Europe’s alumina output in January 2021 grew by 29,000 tonnes or 7.6 per cent from 381,000 tonnes. In the entire year of 2020, alumina production in East & Central Europe totalled 4.597 million tonnes, up by 3.37 per cent from 4.447 million tonnes. In West Europe, however, alumina production rose 3,000 tonnes or 0.63 per cent over the month to 479,000 tonnes in January 2021. In December 2020, the output stood...
World alumina production in January 2021 stood at 11.687 million tonnes in January 2021, registering a month-on-month decline of 1.04 per cent, according to the International Aluminium Institute. In December 2020, world alumina production came in at 11.810 million tonnes, up by 3.18 per cent from 11.446 million tonnes in November 2020. On a year-on-year calculation, world alumina production in January 2021 stood 3.05 per cent higher than 11.341 million tonnes. In China, alumina production in January 2021 continued to stand at 6.20 million tonnes like in December 2020. On a year-on-year calculation, the output recorded 3.85 per cent hike than 5.97 million tonnes. In December 2020, China’s alumina production was up by 1.64 per cent from 6.10 million tonnes in November 2020. In the Oceania...
The economy of Italy was massively stroked by the worldwide financial crash and only emerged from a recession in 2015; however, the country’s GDP remained around 4% lower than the 2007 level. Now, after it languished in 2019, the economy was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the country was the first in Europe to be hit by the pandemic. As per the January 2021 update of the World Economic Outlook, the IMF has revised its GDP growth projections for Italy to 3% in 2021 and 3.6% in 2022. The European nation with a long Mediterranean coastline has recorded 234,796 tonnes of alumina import during 2018-19 and the expenditure that occurred for the import remained at $136.28 million. The import for 2020 stood at 102,771 tonnes and the revenue expended remained at $57.74 million. When...
The average alumina spot price in China has slipped by RMB 18 per tonne to stand at RMB 2,344 per tonne on Wednesday, February 24, after two consecutive days of restraint at RMB 2,362 per tonne on February 22 and 23, found the Shanghai Metals Market. SMM data shows the alumina spot price in Shandong has decreased the highest by RMB 35 per tonne to RMB 2,355 per tonne, while the price in Henan and Shanxi has declined by RMB 20 per tonne to come in at RMB 2,340 per tonne. In Guizhou and Guangxi, the average alumina spot price has inched down by RMB 5 per tonne to peg at RMB 2,360 per tonne. Australian alumina FOB price has continued to remain restrained at US$ 303 per tonne since February 4, 2021, learned SMM. A00 aluminium ingot price has also witnessed a decline today, on February 24,...
According to the IMF, the economy of Mozambique is forecasted to rise 4.7% in 2021, supported by the post-pandemic global economic recovery, reconstruction efforts, the recovery of the agricultural sector, the gradual easing of monetary conditions, and the clearance of supplier payment arrears. The Southern African nation’s import of alumina during 2018-19 recorded at 2.17 million tonnes and the import for 2020 remained at 0.91 million. However, when the import volume of 2020 gets added with the existing two years, it signifies 3.08 million tonnes. Mozal is the largest primary aluminium producer of the country and with 580,000 tonnes production capacity, it is considered the second-largest aluminium producer in the continent. Mozambique’s import of alumina in 2018 stood at 1.08 million...
As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, average spot alumina price in China has decreased by RMB 26 per tonne after six days of restrained. The price now stands at RMB 2362 per tonne as of Friday, 19 February 2021. Alumina prices in Henan and Shanxi have reduced by RMB 32.5 per tonne each to stand at RMB 2360 per tonne each on Friday. The prices of alumina in Lianyungang and Bayuquan China markets have declined by RMB 15 per tonne and RMB 20 per tonne to stand at RMB 2450 per tonne and RMB 2465 per tonne today. SMM aluminium ingot price stands higher for the seven days in a row. The price has come in at RMB 16430 per tonne on Friday, 19 February 2021. This marks a growth of RMB 220 per tonne. The price is expected to range at RMB 16410-16450 per tonne. The aluminium alloy (ADC12) price...
LAlumina LLC, which operated the Burnside Alumina until it was shut down in August’20 and laid off hundreds of workers has been charged and filed by lawsuits by several contractors. The contractors filed lawsuits against LAlumina soliciting money after they claim agreements for goods and services were broken. As per the records, they are collectively seeking more than $3.3 million from the company. Gonzales-based TMA Environmental, Baton Rouge-based Environmental Specialties International and Providence Engineering and Design; Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Summit Electrical Supply Co.; Clayton, Mississippi-based Olin Corp. and Dubai-based Mur Shipping BV are the lists of contractors filed lawsuits. In September’20, LAlumina shut down its operations within a year of acquiring the alumina...
According to the Shanghai Metals Market, China’s alumina production started the year with a drop of 1 per cent month-on-month in January 2021. Compared to 5.96 million tonnes in December 2020, China produced 5.90 million tonnes of alumina in January 2021. This included 5.69 million tonnes of metallurgical-grade alumina, with the daily output at 183,500 tonnes. The daily alumina output in January 2021 reflected a downfall of 2,000 tonnes or 1.08 per cent from 185,500 tonnes in December 2020. However, on a year-on-year basis, it stood up by 2.36 per cent, found SMM. The decline in China’s alumina production in January could be attributed to the production restrictions in a heating season and limited roasting capacities at alumina refineries in Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong due to shortages of...
Guinean mining logistics company United Mining Supply (UMS) is looking for sourcing alumina to produce specialty alumina at Alteo plant in France. This news came in late January after UMS chairman Fadi Wazni told S&P Global Platts. UMS took over the charge of Alteo’s production site near the southern city of Marseille in early January. Alteo’s Marseille plant will initially need to procure 400,000 tonnes of alumina per year to process it into specialty products dedicated to lithium-ion batteries and smart phones. In around three years, this requirement is expected to increase to 500,000 tonnes per year with the expansion of the plant, said Wazni to S&P Global Platts. "We may open bids for alumina as early as this week," he said. "The market for alumina is quite big so we are quite...
The Board of Directors of Vedanta has approved the expansion of existing capacity of Lanjigarh Alumina Refinery, as announced by Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta Ltd. On 4 th February 2021, during its regulatory filing, Vedanta stated that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting which was held on 3 rd February 2021 has approved the expansion of Lanjigarh Alumina Refinery. Vedanta plans to expand the production capacity of the alumina refinery to 5 MTPA from existing capacity of 2 MTPA for INR 37.79 billion approximately, subject to requisite government approvals. Vedanta said: "Completion of this project will place Lanjigarh Alumina Refinery as one of the world’s largest single-location alumina refinery complex."
The average alumina spot price in China has recorded a decline of RMB 14 per tonne to stand at RMB 2,388 per tonne on Wednesday, February 3, following a restraint last day at RMB 2,402 per tonne, found Shanghai Metals Market data. In Henan and Shanxi, alumina price has plunged by RMB 17.50 per tonne to come in at RMB 2,392.50 per tonne, while that in Shandong, Guizhou, and Guangxi has remained restrained. A00 aluminium ingot price has registered a sharp downfall of RMB 160 per tonne to stand at RMB 15,030 per tonne on February 3, marking the second consecutive day of decline, learned SMM. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 15,010 per tonne and RMB 15,050 per tonne, with spot contract to be traded at a premium price of RMB 20 per tonne. Chongqing has seen the highest fall...
As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, average spot alumina price in China has decreased by RMB 1 per tonne today after two days of restrained at RMB 2403 per tonne. The price now stands at RMB 2402 per tonne as of Monday, 1 February 2021. Alumina price in Shandong has declined by RMB 20 per tonne to stand at RMB 2390 per tonne. The prices of alumina in Henan, Shanxi, Guizhou, Guangxi China markets have remained unchanged at RMB 2410 per tonne, RMB 2410 per tonne, RMB 2365 per tonne and RMB 2365 per tonne on Monday, 1 February 2021. Alumina (Imported) price has reduced to RMB 2485 per tonne, representing a drop of RMB 15 per tonne. The average price is expected to move within a range of RMB 2470-2500 per tonne. SMM aluminium ingot price stands higher today. The price has come in at RMB...
Australia’s pioneering construction materials and industrial mineral manufacturing company, Adbri, has announced its contract extension with South32 alumina refinery. The five-year deal comprises of the exclusive supply of lime to the South32 Worsley Alumina refinery in Western Australia. The contract extension to May 2029 is driving the supply relationship with the refinery to over 40 years. The gross revenue over the term of the contract to 2029 represents approximately $224 million, which is subject to volume and price adjustments over this period, on materially similar commercial terms. Nick Miller, CEO, Adbri, said: “We are pleased to extend our long-term relationship with South32’s Worsley Alumina refinery.” “The extension of the contract demonstrates the strength of our Western...
Alumina production in East & Central Europe improved 14,000 tonnes or 3.48 per cent month-on-month in December 2020 to 416,000 tonnes. The output in November was down by 10,000 tonnes or 2.43 per cent from 412,000 tonnes in October to 402,000 tonnes. Total production in the fourth quarter came in at 1.230 million tonnes, up 7.52 per cent quarter-on-quarter from 1.144 million tonnes and 6.77 per cent over the year from 1.152 million tonnes. On a year-on-year basis, East & Central Europe’s alumina production in December 2020 stood up by 5.58 per cent from 394,000 tonnes. In the entire year of 2020, alumina production in East & Central Europe totalled 4.597 million tonnes, 3.73 per cent higher than 4.447 million tonnes a year ago. In West Europe, alumina production grew 20,000 tonnes or 4.39...
