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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Australia is the world's largest producer of bauxite and alumina, and the world's largest exporter of alumina. In 2014-15, alumina production in the country totalled at 19.9 million tonnes, out of which almost 86 per cent was exported directly, while the rest used in domestic aluminium production. {newsStudioGallery} South Africa is one of the leading destinations where Australia exports its lion share of alumina production and the amount is found increasing. In 2016, the country’s estimated alumina export to South Africa was 929,916 tonnes, which in 2017 recorded a sweeping growth to 2.47 million tonnes. In 2018, the amount rose further to 2.51 million tonnes, up 2 per cent year-on-year. However, this year is likely to witness a dip in Australia’s alumina export to South Africa by about...
Alumina production in China stood at 5.93 million tonnes in July, showed an SMM survey on Friday August 9. Production of metallurgical-grade alumina came in at 5.7 million tonnes last month. The average daily output registered 183,700 tonnes, weighed by lower output at Xing’an Chemicals, Henan Huiyuan, Henan Zhongmei, Xiaoyi Xinfa, Tiandong Jinxin, Galuminium, and Guizhou Huafei. Alumina production is expected to drop to 5.76 million tonnes in August. Environmental cutback across refineries will affect alumina production this month. Alumina refineries in Xiaoyi of Shanxi province have been required to cut production by half during August 8-20 to improve air quality. This will also lower alumina production. SMM data showed that alumina capacity that has been built up in Xiaoyi totalled 7.9...
According to a company statement, Russian alumina and aluminium producer Rusal suspended operations at its Achinsk alumina refinery on Monday and evacuated all but essential staff after a fire broke out a nearby Russian military base. The RIA news agency reported about the fire and the evacuation. A series of blasts rocked an arms depot at a Russian military base in Siberia on Monday, August 5. This led to the injury of eight people and eleven thousand Russians were being evacuated from neighbourhoods in Krasnoyarsk region’s city of Achinsk following the blasts. Suspension of operations at the country’s biggest alumina producing plant is likely to create tension in the market. This might create a supply concern and lift the prices for alumina in the international market.
Followed by a restraint at RMB2,457 per tonne on August 2, the average spot price of alumina has begun the week with a drop to RMB 2,442 per tonne, as of Monday, August 5, found Shanghai Metals Market. Quarter-on-quarter, the price thus, stands below by RMB 336 per tonne, and on month the price hovers lower by RMB 281 per tonne. In the east and central, the average alumina price has dwindled by RMB 20 per tonne, while in the south and north by RMB 15 per tonne and RMB 10 per tonne. However, against the background of alumina spot price decline in China, the A00 aluminium ingot price has registered a growth of RMB 10 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,840 per tonne. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 13,820 per tonne and RMB 13,860 per tonne, while the spot contract to be traded...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, the average spot price of alumina has started the month with a drop of RMB 18 per tonne to RMB 2,457 per tonne, as of August 1, 2019. With this, the price records a month-on-month decline of RMB 301 per tonne. Since the end of May, the spot alumina price is registering a sluggish trend ranging between RMB 3119 per tonne, as of May 29, to RMB 2,457 per tonne today. The rise in alumina import into the market and therefore, the lesser consumption of domestic production could be one of the reasons for this incessant drop in the spot price of alumina. In the south, the price today has declined by RMB 30 per tonne to RMB 2,435 per tonne, while that in the east, central, and north has inched down by RMB 20 per tonne and RMB 10 per tonne to RMB 2,480 per...
AlCircle’s new report- “Red Mud (Bauxite Residue) Management: Storage & Valorisation” is generating overwhelming response from the industry circle. From leading bauxite miners and alumina refineries to aluminium smelters, sustainability and environmental watchdogs, market and technical research firms and technical infrastructure providers- everyone is showing keen interest in the report. Some of the biggest names in the industry have already purchased their copies of the report. A necessary evil for the aluminium sector, red mud or bauxite residue has remained one of the biggest challenges for the aluminium industry players. With the production growth of primary aluminium and alumina, more red mud is bound to get generated. In 2018, alumina refineries in the world generated around 154...
The presence of abundant electrical power in Iceland due to geothermal and hydroelectric energy sources has been buoying the aluminium production in Iceland. Aluminium producers like Alcoa and Century Aluminium which have closed smelters in the U.S. are still running facilities in Iceland, mostly because of the cheaper hydroelectricity in the country. Needless to say, this demands the heavy supply of alumina as well, which Iceland secures from various parts of the world, mostly from Australia. {newsStudioGallery} Here in the below graph you will see a comparative study between Iceland’s total alumina import and the import from Australia. As per the global-export import data, Iceland in 2016 obtained1.07 million tonnes of alumina from all over the world, out of which 288,134 tonnes came...
Nouryon acquired Zhejiang Friend Chemical Co. (Friend), the largest producer of triethyl aluminium (TEAL) in China. TEAL is a metal alkyl used in the production of polypropylene and polyethylene. With this acquisition, Nouryon becomes the only global producer of metal alkyls. The deal will also raise the company’s global TEAL production. Johan Landfors, Managing Director Polymer Chemistry at Nouryon said: “Friend has a great reputation in the industry and with this acquisition we’ll now have manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe and North America, enabling us to better serve our customers in this fast-growing market.” The acquisition includes products, technology, customer lists and a manufacturing site in Jiaxing near Shanghai. Landfors also plans to expand operations at Jiaxing....
The average spot price of alumina registered a drop of RMB 30 per tonne on Tuesday, 30 July 2019, after remaining flat on Monday. Alumina price dropped from RMB 2505 per tonne to RMB 2475 per tonne. The prices of alumina fell across major China markets. Spot alumina prices in Central China and North China markets dropped by RMB 30 per tonne each. The average prices of alumina (Central China) and alumina (North China) stood at RMB 2490 per tonne and RMB 2460 per tonne. Alumina prices in East China and South China declined RMB 20 per tonne and RMB 25 per tonne to RMB 2500 per tonne and RMB 2465 per tonne respectively on July 30. Alumina (Imported) price fell to RMB 2750 per tonne on Tuesday, representing a drop of RMB 200 per tonne or 6.78 per cent from RMB 2950 per tonne. The last drop was...
Vedanta Limited announced its unaudited consolidated results for the First quarter (Q1) ended 30 June 2019 on Friday, July 26. Revenue for Q1 FY 2020 stood at INR 21,167 crore, lower 4% y-o-y, primarily due to lower commodity prices partially offset by higher aluminium sales, volume addition from ESL and currency depreciation. EBITDA for Q1 dropped 20% YoY to INR 5,188 crore, mainly due to lower commodity prices partially offset by easing of input commodity inflation, rupee depreciation and volume addition from ESL acquisition. The consolidated net profit (Profit after Tax) fell 11.9% to INR 1,351 crore. Its gross debt stood at INR 59,517 crore, down by INR 6,708 crore in Q1 June 2019 over Q4 March 2019. Mr. Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, Chief Executive Officer, Vedanta, said “Our...
Employee volunteers from Alcoa’s Pinjarra alumina refinery have reportedly joined local non-profit organisation Squared Away to assist them in cleaning up the surrounding area. This is the first community service this year through the company’s Alcoans Coming Together in Our Neighbourhoods (ACTION) Program. A pinjarra-based not-for-profit organisation Squared Away runs an engagement programme to improve the mental health and social and community engagement of men within the community. Michael Parker, Alcoa’s chairman and managing director in Australia said that this initiative by employee volunteers, together with Squared Away, proved we could make a big difference. "Alcoa is proud to be an engaged and supportive partner in our neighbouring communities and we encourage and support our...
Vedanta Ltd is aiming to achieve 80% fly ash utilisation of by 2020. In a recently released report, the company informed that it will introduce third-party review of tailings/ash dyke management system and development of site specific improvement plan in its India operations. Fly ash is by-product of coal powered plants. Indian thermal power plants generate around 1-million ton of fly ash which contains around 25-35% Al2O3 and 50-60% SiO2. “Our initiatives on water, energy and carbon management progressed well during the year. We recycled 94% of the high-volume, low-effect-wastes such as fly ash, slag, red-mud and jarosite,” the Vedanta report said. “Non-hazardous, high-volume and low-effect wastes such as fly ash, red mud and phosphogypsum are the predominant wastes generated from our...
RUSAL reported a 0.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter decline in alumina production in the second quarter of 2019. Alumina production dropped from 1.93 million tonnes to 1.91 million tonnes. Russian operations accounted for 36 per cent of the total output. Total alumina production stood at 3.85 million tonnes in the first half of 2019, compared with 3.81 million tonnes in the first half of 2018. This marks an increase of 0.9 per cent year-on-year. Aughinish Alumina produced 470,000 tonnes of alumina in Q2. Production in H1 was 949,000 tonnes. Production from Windalco remains unchanged at 109,000 tonnes in Q2. Nikolaev Alumina Refinery’s alumina production came in at 410,000 tonnes in Q2. RUSAL achieved bauxite production of 4.24 million tonnes in the second quarter of 2019. That was up 10.7...
The average spot price of alumina registered a drop of RMB 12 per tonne to stand at RMB 2505 per tonne on Friday, 26 July 2019. The prices of alumina fell across major China markets today. Spot alumina prices in East China, Central China, and North China markets dropped by RMB 10 per tonne each. The average prices of alumina (East China), alumina (Central China), and alumina (North China) stood at RMB 2520 per tonne, RMB 2520 per tonne, RMB 2490 per tonne respectively on July 26. Alumina price in South China market declined RMB 35 per tonne to RMB 2490 per tonne. A00 aluminium ingot price recorded a growth of RMB 80 per tonne on Friday. The price increased from RMB 13860 per tonne to RMB 13940 per tonne. The average price is expected to move within a range of RMB13920-13960 per tonne....
Chevron (TAPL) Pty Ltd, one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, has signed a domestic gas sales agreement with the South32-operated Worsley Alumina Joint Venture for the supply of natural gas. Chevron will provide approximately 60 petajoules for the operation of the Worsley Alumina Refinery. The company will supply natural gas from its Wheatstone, Gorgon and North West Shelf facilities. The deal is a clear demonstration of the company’s commitment to delivering reliable energy to meet growing demand locally and globally, said Chevron Australia Managing Director Al Williams “Our investment in Australia has enabled the development of an affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy supply for current and future energy users in Australia. Natural gas is playing a substantial...
The average spot price of alumina further recorded a decline of RMB 10 per tonne to stand at RMB 2517 per tonne on Wednesday, 24 July 2019. The prices of alumina fell across major China markets today. Spot alumina prices in East China, Central China, North China, and South China markets dropped by RMB 10 per tonne each. The average prices of alumina (East China), alumina (Central China), alumina (North China), and alumina (South China) stood at RMB 2530 per tonne, RMB 2530 per tonne, RMB 2500 per tonne, RMB 2525 per tonne respectively on July 24. Australian alumina FOB price came in at USD 298 per tonne, down RMB 1 per tonne from its previous price of USD 299 per tonne. A00 aluminium ingot price declined RMB 10 per tonne to RMB 13790 per tonne on Wednesday. The average price is expected...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, China in June imported 50,000 tonnes of seaborne alumina, down 16.7 per cent from May but up 4.6 per cent from June 2018. With this, China’s import of alumina came in at 320,000 tonnes in the first half of 2019, down 9.5 per cent from the same period last year. Exports, on the other hand, stood more than half in June compared to May, amounting to 3,757 tonnes. Compared to the same period last year, the export amount stood down by 96.8 per cent. This brought China’s total volume of alumina exports to 180,819 tonnes in the first half of 2019, down 24.4 per cent year-on-year, according to China’s General Administration of Customs on Tuesday, July 23.
In 2018, alumina refineries in the world generated around 154 million tonnes of red mud while producing 130 million tonnes of alumina. Red mud or bauxite residue has remained one of the biggest challenges for the aluminium industry since its inception. The risk of environment hazards from red mud and the recent incidents of red mud spillage from residue ponds are creating grave concern for the refineries, the communities living around a refinery and the environmentalists. The major concerns surrounding the red mud issue are: Continuous growth with more aluminium production Considered hazardous Storage issues Fear of leakage and release into the air Environmental hazards like air, water and soil pollution No proven utilization in bulk However, we cannot ignore the fact that red mud is a...
