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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According to Shanghai Metals Market, China’s total alumina production in December came in at 6.18 million tonnes, a growth by 11.22% from a year ago. The average daily output stood at 199,000 tonnes, from 203,000 tonnes in November. In 2018, China's alumina production totalled 70.48 million tonnes, 3.01% higher than the same period last year. Source:Shanghai Metals Market Tight supplies of natural gas in the heating season affected production across northern alumina producers. Air pollution warnings across Henan province and environmental curbs in Shanxi province affected alumina production in December. Maintenance on roasting furnaces at some south-western mills also accounted for the decrease. This, together with renovation on generators at some mills, is estimated to affect alumina...
Since the beginning of the New Year 2019, the alumina spot price has been found to record either a plunge or restraint; and today is not an exception. The alumina spot price in China has again registered a drop to RMB 2,893 per tonne after being at RMB 2,928 per tonne from January 4 to January 8, 2019, Shanghai Metals Market found. Today’s drop marks second this year as the first one was on January 4 from RMB 2,934 per tonne to RMB 2,928 per tonne. As the drop in alumina spot price has touched all the major markets in China, the east market has witnessed a price plunge by RMB 50 per tonne to RMB 2,920 per tonne. The prices in both the central and north markets have dropped RMB 30 per tonne each and hovering at RMB 2,910 per tonne and RMB 2,880 per tonne, respectively. In the south market,...
XJet, a provider of metal and ceramic additive manufacturing technologies and solutions, has unveiled a new ceramic material, alumina, for its Carmel AM printer at the Formnext show. The company said alumina was chosen for development because of its wide use as a technical ceramic and market demand to see parts produced with the benefits of XJet NanoParticle Jetting™ (NPJ) production. Alumina offers good electrical insulation, extremely high mechanical strength, high compressive strength and high hardness. It has lower wear resistance than the zirconia, making it simple to machine and refine both before and after firing. XJet CEO Hanan Gothait said: “XJet is devoted to the ongoing development of this technology and to serve the AM market. The recent opening of our more than $10m Additive...
Galuminium in China's south-western province of Guizhou will expand its annual alumina capacity to 800,000 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2019. Shanghai Metals Market reported that Galuminium planned to commission its second alumina production line for phase-one project in Q4. The company’s phase-two project has annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes, with an investment of RMB3 billion. In another update from SMM, average spot alumina price in China stood at RMB 2928 per tonne on January 4, a further drop from RMB 2934 per tonne on December 27. The spot price is expected to range within RMB 2928 per tonne today. Alumina-south is down by RMB 40 per tonne to stand at RMB 2930 per tonne as on January 4. The price is expected to range between RMB 2870 per tonne and RMB 2990 per tonne today....
Vedanta Ltd has proposed to invest $250-300 million in the next fiscal for ramping up the alumina refinery capacity at Lanjigarh. The company has planned to expand the capacity to six million tonnes per annum from its current 1 million tonnes. Metals and mining giant Vedanta expects to recover the invested sum within two years, banking on locally sourced bauxite to trim logistics costs, Business Standard reports. “Every tonne of aluminium produced with the Odisha sourced bauxite which can be used in expanding refinery capacity, will give us Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) advantage of $400 per tonne. So, if you are able to cover 50 per cent or 60 per cent of our requirement, then to that extent, $200 to $250 straight away goes up in the Ebitda...
According to a report, twenty-seven of the fifty-two young Jamaican engineers who were selected for further study and training in China last March by JISCO Alpart successfully completed the segment of the course and returned to the island on December 24. The batch of 27 was trained in the Bayer process technology and refinery operations. During the training in China, the young engineers completed three core areas of concentration. The first area of focus was in Chinese culture and language facilitated at JISCO’s head office; the second segment was in theoretical alumina process and equipment, done at North East University; and the final module was an advanced course in process control and operations done in the Henan Province. The remaining engineers out of fifty-two are in China...
After 18 months since the dramatic restart of bauxite and alumina production at the JISCO (Jiquan Iron and Steel Company) Alpart faclity at Nain in St Elizabeth, operational concerns have cropped up in the refinery. Production in Alpart alumina refinery has stopped for the past seven days, and it is not expected to resume production until later this week. The halt has been caused due to a breakdown in its boiler system. There is concern that with the loss of 10 days' production and the constant threat of industrial action from workers asking for a union, the company might fail to achieve its production projections. The losses are claimed to be running into several million US dollars due to the disruptions. Production was halted on December 23, after the last of its five boilers, acquired...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, some 800,000 tonnes of alumina capacity got affected in Shanxi Huaxing, an alumina producer located in Shanxi province of China. This occurred as the company upgraded its generators to meet ultra-low emission standards from mid-December. The company told SMM that regular production would start in the middle of March. At present, the company’s operating capacity stands at 1.4 to 1.5 million tonnes. A couple of days earlier, China’s largest state aluminium producer Chinalco also put one of its roasting furnaces at the Guangxi branch into maintenance that would expectedly affect total production of alumina by 20,000 tonnes. Chinalco at its Guangxi branch has an annual alumina capacity of 2.5 million tonnes. Another alumina producer in Guanxi Tiandong...
Alumina Limited (ASX:AWC) insider Deborah O’Toole purchased 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of A$2.25 ($1.60) per share, with a total value of A$18,000.00 ($12,765.96). ASX AWC opened at A$2.26 ($1.60) on Monday. Alumina Limited has a fifty-two week low of A$1.66 ($1.18) and a fifty-two week high of A$2.60 ($1.84). The company has a quick ratio of 23.69, a current ratio of 24.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.11. Alumina Limited, through its 40% interest in Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals, engages in bauxite mining, alumina refining, and aluminium smelting businesses. The company has a network of bauxite mines and alumina refineries in Australia, the United States, Guinea, Brazil, and Spain,...
Despite an increase in alumina production in November, China’s alumina export stood down by 37.9 per cent from October, showed Shanghai Metals Market. China exported a total amount of 285,700 tonnes of alumina in November compared to 460,000 tonnes and above in October. According to SMM, China’s total alumina production in November came in at 6.08 million tonnes, with average daily output at 203,000 tonnes. This marked a growth by 6.7 per cent from a year ago and 4.1 per cent from a month earlier. In October, China’s alumina production was at 6.039 million tonnes, with average daily output at 195,000 tonnes. However, regardless the fall in China’s exports volume in November than the previous month, it stood 72 per cent higher than 166,000 tonnes in September, which was the then the...
Introduction: The year 2018 has seen some unprecedented developments in the global alumina and aluminium market scenario that has turned the market upside down making all previous forecasts redundant. The alumina market went through a topsy-turvy and volatile period with sharp rise and fall in prices and supply disruptions. The almost balanced market in the beginning of 2018 after the environmental capacity cuts turned to a deficit market in the second quarter leading to a sharp increase in prices. Supply tightness and uncertainty created panic in the market. Though towards the end of 2018, the prices started consolidating, the supply side uncertainties still continue to persist. Read through the article that sketches the development in the alumina industry over the year 2018. YTD...
Noranda Alumina updates through a press release that it continues to expand the chemical grade alumina (CGA) capabilities of its Gramercy refinery in Louisiana. It has commissioned a new hydrate dryer and dense phase pneumatic conveying system during the final phase of a CGA expansion project launched in late 2017. The dryer and conveying system are state of the art technologies for the Gramercy refinery. After the expansion the refinery will have a capacity of 800,000 tonnes of CGA per year. “This new equipment, along with a new hydrate reclamation system, significantly increases Noranda Alumina’s CGA capacity while improving our operational flexibility and efficiency,” said John Habisreitinger, the company’s Executive Vice President. “The completion of this project enables Noranda...
According to the latest USGS release on Bauxite and Alumina in the Third Quarter 2018, imports of alumina by the U.S. in the third quarter of 2018 stood at 441,000 tonnes, 21% more than the 364,000 tonnes imported in the third quarter of 2017. Quarter on quarter, the volume was 25% more than 353,000 tonnes imported in the second quarter of 2018. This shows growing consumption by the domestic aluminium smelters in the U.S. in Q3 2018. The growth was primarily driven by reopening of Alcoa and Century smelters. The import volume is 42% more than those in the third quarter of 2016. {newsStudioGallery} The leading sources of imported alumina in the third quarter of 2017 were Brazil (52%), Australia (22%), and Jamaica (13%). The major sources remain unchanged from Q2 2017. Exports of alumina...
According to a report, Vedanta Limited is aiming to curb its alumina imports to 500,000 tonnes a year by the financial year 2021. Per the record, the company imports more than two million tonnes of alumina to power its smelters at Jharsuguda and Korba because of having no sufficient captive bauxite resources of its own. Vedanta also banks on imported bauxite to feed its alumina refining unit at Lanjigarh. However, the company confirmed that it would ramp up its Lanjigarh capacity to six million tonnes per annum; to start with, four mtpa in the first phase. The refinery scale up is expected to reduce Vedanta’s dependence on imported alumina and therefore, the cut at aluminium production cost as a result. To cater to the refinery’s enhanced bauxite requirement, Vedanta has tied up sourcing...
Alumina or aluminium oxide (Al2O3), the key raw material for producing aluminium is a white powder extracted from bauxite through Bayer process. Due to the exponential growth of the aluminium industry in last two decades and the significance of alumina in the upstream value chain, aluminium producers are building their own refineries and expanding the existing facilities to secure the availability of this resource. Driven by a growing demand for aluminium in China, followed by Middle East and India, bauxite production and alumina refining capacity has increased immensely across the major alumina producing regions of the world. The below map from International Aluminium Institute shows YTD alumina production in the world in 2018: Alumina is supplied to the world aluminium smelters from...
Brazilian expert study shows that there was no overflow from Alunorte’s residue deposit areas DRS1 and DRS2 in February 2018. The study also concludes that Alunorte, from a water management perspective, can produce at its nominal capacity of 6.3 million tonnes of alumina a year. Hydro announced through press release on December 13 that “computer simulations carried out by professors from the Federal University of Campina Grande show that there was no overflow from Alunorte’s residue deposit areas in February 2018. “In the study, the researchers simulated scenarios of water storage, pumping and treatment given different levels of alumina production and rainfall using internationally recognized modelling and simulation platforms. The Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG) is widely...
Ireland’s Finance Minister Paschal O’Donohue met US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin in Washington to discuss the future of Aughinish Alumina, which was put into uncertainty after the U.S. sanctions on Rusal. “He was going with a very simple message that it (Aughinish) was of strategic importance not only to Ireland but to Europe and the broader aluminium industry,” Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan told the local media after the meeting. He said that the discussions on Aughinish and Limerick have been very positive. The US authorities again postponed activating any sanctions until January 21. The US authorities announced sanctions against Oleg Deripaska’s EN+ Group and Rusal, the aluminium company that owns Aughinish Alumina. No agreed compromise has yet been reached between EN+ Group...
Alcoa of Australia has reportedly acquired three new gas supply agreements. All three agreements, together, will supply close to 25 per cent of the company’s requirements in Western Australia from 2020. The agreements with BHP, Woodside, and Chevron, coupled with other gas supply contracts, including with Quadrant Energy and Santos, announced in 2015, complete Alcoa’s gas portfolio to fuel its Kwinana, Pinjarra, and Wagerup alumina refineries for the mid-term, the company said. President of Alcoa Alumina and Managing Director of Alcoa, Australia, Michael Parker, said: “In securing these new gas contracts we are demonstrating to our employees, suppliers, customers and the communities where we operate our commitment to the state.” He further said: “Alcoa’s three WA refineries are the...
