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...
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...
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According to a recent report, Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd has bought a 25 per cent stake in PT Bintan Alumina Indonesia for US$80.23 million. The Southeast Asia’s largest smelter has signed a share subscription agreement with PT Mahkota Karya Utama (PT MKU) and PT BAI, and a shareholders’ agreement with PT MKU, Global Aluminium International Pte Ltd (GAI) and PT BAI on the subscription of 25% equity interest in PT BAI. PT BAI is currently building a one million tonnes per annum alumina refinery in Galang Batang, Indonesia. Further expansion will add another one million tonnes. Under the agreement, the acquisition would provide Press Metal with a long term supply of alumina. Press Metal intends to buy at least half of alumina produced before completion of the project and up to 1.5...
Shanghai Metals Market survey found China’s alumina output in October stood at 5.86 million tonnes, with metallurgical-grade materials accounting for 5.61 million tonnes. This brings the total alumina production in the first ten months in China to 57.6 million tonnes, down 0.95 per cent from the same period last year. The daily average production of metallurgical-grade alumina in October stood at 181,000 tonnes, up 0.63 per cent from 179,859 tonnes in September. This rise could be attributed to SPIC’s project recovery from technical upgrading in Shanxi. On the other hand, the year-on-year decline in China’s total alumina production in the first ten months could be because of the reversal of gains in alumina prices that restrained Xinfa’s refinery in Jiaokou and East Hope’s plants in...
The average spot alumina price declined by RMB 7 per tonne or 0.27 per cent on Monday, 11 November 2019 from Friday’s price of RMB 2579 per tonne. Alumina price in China stood at RMB 2572 per tonne today. Source: Shanghai Metals Market Alumina prices in East and Central markets fell by RMB 15 per tonne and RMB 10 per tonne to stand at RMB 2590 per tonne each. Their average prices are expected to range at RMB 2580- 2600 per tonne and RMB 2580-2600 per tonne. The alumina prices in North and South remained unchanged at RMB 2570 per tonne and RMB 2520 per tonne. A00 aluminium ingot price was down by RMB 130 per tonne on Monday, after two days of increase. The price stood at RMB 14100 per tonne and expected to move within a range of RMB 14080-14120 per tonne. Spot aluminium price is likely to...
Liang Xuan, a senior aluminium analyst at Shanghai Metals Market, estimates China’s alumina market to turn into a “tangible surplus” in the fourth quarter of 2019, as the newly started refineries ramp up their domestic production and import arbitrage window opens. As per Liang’s estimation, alumina capacity in China will likely expand by 2.5 million tonnes on an annualised basis in 2019 and 6.2 million tonnes in 2020. China has a built-in alumina capacity of 83.6 million tonnes, with 70.94 million tonnes of metallurgical-grade capacity in operation. On Thursday, November 7, Liang pointed out at the 2019 South China Metals Summit that in September, metallurgical-grade alumina supply in China was in a moderate surplus of 2,000 tonnes as the recovery of idled capacity slowed than expected,...
Aussie alumina startup FYI Resources has produced high purity alumina (HPA) during pilot testing at its Cadoux plant. Trial production at the company's kaolin prospect yielded a 99.99 per cent average purity grade. After the results, the company intends to transform the pilot production at the plant into full-scale production. The company considers the time for the pilot testing results as perfect, since Industry analysts have predicted a supply crunch for HPA with growing demands coming from the electric vehicle industry. “We are very pleased with the initial round of pilot plant results which demonstrated “four nines” purity in the material produced," said FYI managing director Roland Hill. Alumina is used as a separator in lithium-ion batteries, the demand for which has been flat over...
The average spot alumina price declined by RMB 13 per tonne or 0.50 per cent on Tuesday, 05 November 2019, after remaining flat at RMB 2596 per tonne on 04 November. Alumina price in China stood at RMB 2583 per tonne. Graph Source: Shanghai Metals Market Alumina prices in East and North markets fell by RMB 20 per tonne each to stand at RMB 2605 per tonne and RMB 2580 per tonne. Their average prices are expected to range at RMB 2580- 2630 per tonne and RMB 2540-2620 per tonne. In Central market, the price was down by RMB 10 per tonne to RMB 2600 per tonne. The price in South remained unchanged at RMB 2520 per tonne. Alumina (imported) registered a drop of RMB 40 per tonne or 1.48 per cent on Tuesday. The price reduced from RMB 2700 per tonne to RMB 2660 per tonne. Aluminium alloy (ADC12)...
According to a Reuter’s report, Indonesia’s alumina producer PT Well Harvest Winning (WHW) exported 823,997 tonnes of smelter grade alumina in the first three quarters of 2019. This was communicated by company spokesman Suhandi Basri on Monday, November 4, 2019. China Hongqiao Group Ltd owns 56% stake in PT Well Harvest Winning, the largest producer of smelter grade alumina in Indonesia. The rest 44% is owned by Jakarta-based mining firm PT Cita Mineral Investindo (CITA) and two other Chinese companies. Basri added that WHW exported 913,832.8 tonnes of alumina for the full-year 2018. The company, which is in operation since January 2016 produced one million tonnes of alumina in 2018 and expects to cross one million production mark in 2019. The major part of WHW’s alumina exports this year...
The alumina price on a FOB Australia basis rose to US$285 per tonne on October 28 in the beginning of the week ending Friday November 1, Shanghai Metal Market data shows. It is the highest since early October. The price is driven by renewed demand for imported alumina in China because of restocking by smelters. China aluminium price is on a higher range leading smelters to ramp up production in domestic smelters. According to Fastmarket’s benchmark daily alumina index, FOB Australia stood at US$285.18 per tonne on Friday, down only slightly from US$285.42 per tonne on the previous day. Before October 28 it had not traded above US$285 per tonne for four weeks. The price hit US$ 296 per tonne on October 8. According to market participants, a deal was concluded on Friday at US$307 per tonne...
After the month-on-month fall in August 2019, China’s General Administration of Customs data found that China’s alumina import in September 2019 grew from the previous month by about 25 per cent to stand at 147,000 tonnes. In August, the import volume was at 120,000 tonnes after dropping by 40 per cent from 200,000 tonnes in July. Besides, on a yearly basis, China’s imports in September continued to record a robust surge of 331.9 per cent, but at a slower pace compared with August when the aluminium ore imports had soared by 848.4 per cent year-on-year. In the total nine months of 2019, China’s alumina imports came in at around 790,000 tonnes, up 93.3 per cent from the same period last year. According to report from China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association in June, China was expected...
After staying flat at RMB 2,623 per tonne from October 24-31, the average spot alumina price is down by RMB 27 per tonne on Friday, 01 November 2019, to RMB 2596 per tonne. Graph Source: Shanghai Metals Market Alumina price in East China stands at RMB 2625 per tonne, down RMB 25 per tonne from its previous price. Alumina prices in Central and North have declined by RMB 30 per tonne to stand at RMB 2610 per tonne and RMB 2600 per tonne as on November 1. South China remains unchanged at RMB 2520 per tonne. Prebaked anode prices in East and Central China markets have edged lower by RMB 50 per tonne each. As on Friday, 01 November 2019, prebaked anode price ranged at RMB 2800-3160 per tonne and RMB 2850-3230 per tonne; the average price stood at RMB 2980 per tonne and RMB 3040 per tonne. The...
A consortium led by China Aluminium International Engineering, a listed arm of Chinese aluminium giant Aluminium Corporation of China, has reportedly won a contract worth RMB 5.3 billion (USD745.3 million) to build an alumina refinery in Indonesia. The news arrived after Chalieco confirmed on October 24 on receiving the report from PT Borneo Alumina Indonesia that it won the engineering, procurement, and construction contract. As per the report, the project will have an annual output of 1 million tonnes of metallurgical grade alumina. Chalieco said that it would receive the contract amount in two parts, without disclosing the division between partners or the schedule. In the first part, it will receive US$369.9 million and in the second, US$374.6 million. Chalieco will be in charge of the...
Rio Tinto has reportedly begun the commissioning of an industry-leading filter press technology at its Vaudreuil alumina refinery in Quebec, under CAD $250 million budget. Four 85-tonne presses have been already installed. The original scheduled time of commissioning the presses was six weeks later. By moving the refinery to dry stacking of bauxite residue in just 17 minutes instead of 3 years it takes currently, the new filter presses are expected to deliver environmental benefits. It will extend the life of the refinery operation as well, which supports 1,000 jobs in the Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean region. The presses will be fully operational by early 2020. Bauxite residue is primarily composed of the insoluble fraction of the bauxite ore that remains after extraction of the...
Improved availability of coal from linked mines and robust output of around 1 million tonnes per annum from Vedanta’s captive Chotia block has helped the company achieve cost competitiveness in the manufacture of alumina. According to a report, Vedanta’s alumina cost at Odisha’s Lanjigarh refinery fell to a two-year low of $284 per tonne by the end of June 2019, down 17 per cent year-on-year. Increased production of alumina was one of the primary reasons, which was at the highest point ever, showing a spike of 37 per cent Y-o-Y. Materialisation of linked coal improved from 66 per cent in FY2019 to 72 per cent by the end of Q1 FY20. Higher local bauxite sourcing also aided Vedanta’s efforts to trim the production cost of alumina. Under a long-term linkage arrangement with the Odisha Mining...
A proposed strike by engineering workers at Aughinish Alumina refinery, which was due to take place this week, has been temporarily stopped, as the dispute is referred to the Labour Court. The suspension notice came after High Court proceedings, initiated by Murphy International Ltd (MIL) against the trade union Unite, got settled following out of court talks between the parties. MIL had filed a lawsuit in the Republic of Ireland’s High Court late last week to prevent the strike, which the company claimed could result in the cessation of the refinery. MIL secured permission to serve short notice of proceedings against Unite. The injunction application was due to be heard by the High Court today. Meanwhile, out of court talks between the legal teams from both sides resulted in the...
Hydro released results for the third quarter of 2019. Underlying EBIT for Bauxite & Alumina decreased by 30% compared to the third quarter of 2018. The Underlying EBIT stood at NOK 481 million in Q3 2019, down from NOK 685 million in Q3 2018. But EBIT was up 16% quarter-on-quarter. “The results were driven by a decrease in the realized alumina sales price partly offset by positive effects from increased production following the lifting of the production embargo on May 20, 2019,” Hydro said, “A milestone was reached in September, when the final embargoes on Alunorte were lifted, allowing us to resume installation and commissioning activities at the new and modern bauxite residue deposit area, DRS2. Ramp-up is proceeding successfully, and we expect to reach 85-95 percent capacity...
The London Metal Exchange's alumina contract has started trading last week and multiple lots of 50 tonnes were traded on Thursday 17 October 2019 at US$284 per tonne for November 2019 and US$294 per tonne on the January 2020 contract. The contracts were settled on a basket of CRU's alumina price, the CRU-API, and Fastmarkets' FOB Australia alumina index. A press release from CRU has confirmed that. CRU's Alumina Price Index (API, Australia FOB) edged down to US$277.5 per tonne on the same day. The liquidity in the physical market was driven by alumina spot cargos sold to China. The latest physical market transactions involved two 30,000 tonnes Australian cargos sold at US$302.00 per tonne and US$303 tonne CIF China respectively. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) 2020 has ruled...
As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, average spot alumina price in China has dropped from RMB 2624 per tonne on October 22 to RMB 2623 per tonne on October 23. The prices of alumina in East, Central, North, and South China markets remain unchanged at RMB 2650 per tonne, RMB 2640 per tonne, RMB 2630 per tonne, and RMB 2520 per tonne. A00 aluminium ingot price in China has increased from RMB 13930 per tonne on October 22 and stands at RMB 13940 tonnes today. The price has recorded a growth of RMB 10 per tonne after two days of decline. The average price is expected to range at RMB 13920-13960 per tonne. Spot aluminium price is likely to be traded a premium of RMB 70-110 per tonne. Aluminium ingot prices in Foshan, Wuxi, and Hangzhou have increased by RMB 30 per tonne, RMB 20 per tonne and...
After remaining restrained for the past one week at RMB 2,643 per tonne, the average spot price of alumina has decided to record a movement today, October 22, by falling to RMB 2,624 per tonne, meaning a decline of RMB 19 per tonne, found Shanghai Metals Market. This marks the first drop this month since the Chinese market resumed after its National Day Holiday from October 1st to 7th. As the alumina price rose through the month before remaining restrained for a week, its decline today has not brought it lower than the month ago. Compared with the price in the same period last month, the average spot price of alumina is standing higher by RMB 32 per tonne. In the major Chinese markets, east, central and south, the alumina price has decreased by RMB 10 per tonne to stand at 2,650 per...
