AlCircle News Edited By "Debanjali Sengupta"
Debanjali Sengupta is a passionate content writer with 10 years of experience in Business writing, Web Content writing, Blogging, Editing and Research. She is responsible for generating and editing content for AlCircle Newsletter and other online and offline content for enhancing the brand value and its visibility among global users.
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US aluminium scrap exports in January'20 record a rise of 4%, but exports to India fall
After back-to-back falls in the United States aluminium scrap exports in November and December, January 2020 saw a marginal rise, according to the US Geological Survey data. Compared to 140,000 tonnes in December 2019, the United States in January 2020 exported 146,000 tonnes, registering a rise of 4.29 per cent. In October and November, the United States’ aluminium scrap exports hovered at 157,000 tonnes and 151,000 tonnes, respectively, representing a month-on-month fall of 3.82 per cent in November 2019. In December 2019, the month-on-month decline in exports had increased to 7.28 per cent. Year-on-year, the United States’ aluminium scrap exports in January 2020 saw a rise of 4.29 per cent as well, as the export amount by the US during the same period last year was 146,000 tonnes. The...
Effect of COVID19 on Indian Aluminium Industry
On Tuesday, March 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a countrywide lockdown for 21 days starting Tuesday midnight. Since the announcement, no report of production cuts at smelters and refineries of three major Indian aluminium giants have arrived so far, except that Hindalco has temporarily scaled down operations at some of its aluminium and copper manufacturing facilities in line with the government's directives, according to a report last week. The government has, however, exempted key production facilities from having a continuous production process during the lockdown. Reports say there is enough availability of raw material and consumable stock with the plant premises for the next 15 days, at least, which is helping carry out the production seamlessly. The government has...
ABx appoints Clough to design and construct its first Alcore production plant
Australian Bauxite Limited (ABx) has reportedly appointed Clough for the design and construction of its first Alcore production plant in New South Wales. After six months of test work, Alcore has now decided to construct the first commercial plant where byproducts from aluminium smelters will be converted into aluminium fluoride. This aluminium fluoride can then be again sold back to the smelters as an essential electrolyte for smelting. On bagging the contract, Peter Bennett, CEO and Managing Director of Clough said: "Clough is a pioneering engineering and construction company, and our expertise with technology readiness, front-end engineering and EPC delivery will ensure a smooth transition for Alcore from the lab research stage to their first commercial plant." Alcore COO Phillip Hall...
Vedanta's aluminium ingots prices now at INR127,250-140,250/t after sixth consecutive cut
Vedanta for the sixth consecutive time has cut its aluminium ingots prices by nearly 1 per cent, with effect from Wednesday, April 1. The company had cut the prices of these products by 2 to 3 per cent. After the cut with effect from April 1, Vedanta is now selling ingots at INR 127,250 per tonne to INR 140,250 per tonne, down by 10 to 11 per cent from that the end of 2019. The last aluminium ingot price cut by Vedanta was with effect from March 27 , which brought the prices to INR 128,500 per tonne to INR 141,500 per tonne, down from INR 131,750-144,750 per tonne on March 24. The billet price after the cut on Wednesday came in at INR 135,250 per tonne, 0.91 per cent lower than INR 136,500 per tonne last week. The Indian aluminium producers generally link their product prices to the...
Three-month LME aluminium slipped to the four-years lowest at $1504/t this week; SHFE ended at $1628/t
With the beginning of this week, the US dollar rebounded against major currencies and riskier emerging market units, snapping a week of declines as investors braced for prolonged uncertainty and governments tightened lockdowns and launched monetary and fiscal measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic. However, on Tuesday, March 31, the dollar fell against a basket of major currencies, but again on April 1 advanced, with the index up 0.6 per cent at 99.52. Three-month LME aluminium resumed its downtrend on Monday, March 30, slipping to its lowest since April 2016 at US$ 1,522 per tonne in North American trading hours before closing the day sharply lower at US$ 1,529 per tonne. On March 31, it slipped to the further lowest at US$1,507 per tonne and closed the day at US$1,525.5 per tonne....
Ball creates a collection of 250ml recyclable aluminium cans for UK beverage brand Jimmy’s Iced Coffee
Ball Corporation has reportedly created a collection of newly designed, infinitely recyclable 250ml cans for Dorset-based UK beverage brand Jimmy’s Iced Coffee (‘Jimmy’s’). With the adoption of aluminium cans, Jimmy’s can achieve its environmental aim of removing plastic from packaging in 2020. Aluminium cans in Europe have an average recycling rate of 75 per cent. The partnership between Ball and Jimmy’s started in 2019 with the launch of the original Flat White in cans. Following that, Jimmy’s worked with Ball to produce three brand-new canned Flat Whites – Skinny, Oat, and Extra Shot Flat White. All three Iced Flat Whites are below 150 calories and come in 250ml infinitely recyclable aluminium cans, with distinctive and fresh designs with two-tone packaging and Jimmy’s timeless new...
COVID19 Effect: Chalco may shut some aluminium production on further price fall
Aluminium Corporation of China Limited, popularly known as Chalco, may consider carrying out maintenance or even shut some aluminium production if prices fall below its cash costs, said a company executive on Friday, April 3. With the weak demand for aluminium in China and also across the globe due to the outbreak of COVID19, the social inventories of primary aluminium ingot have been witnessing incessant hikes, resulting in continuous declines in aluminium prices over the past 2 months. On Thursday, April 2, aluminium prices in Shanghai hit a more than four-year low of RMB 11,250 per tonne. However, as far as the alumina production is concerned, Chalco’s Finance Chief Wang Jun said that there had been no change in Chalco’s production capacity for alumina. He also said the company would...
Toyota wins Okochi Memorial Prize awards for developing an innovative aluminium casting technology
Toyota Motor Corporation has reportedly won the Okochi Memorial Production Prize in the 66th (2019) Okochi Memorial Prize awards for developing an innovative aluminium casting technology. The technology is for improving the plant environment and product functionality. The award has been presented in the acknowledgement of remarkable achievements by Toyota related to research and development, and application of production engineering, production technology, and production systems annually. Toyota says this is the 12 th Okochi Memorial Prize for the company. <iframe width="500" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vy9PSvTXBtE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> This innovation by the Japanese...
JISCo’s dust control project at bauxite/alumina waste disposal area receive nod from political reps
JISCo Alpart Jamaica’s efforts to contain dust pollution from the bauxite/alumina waste disposal area, popularly known as the red mud lake, have received guarded thumbs up from political representatives. The news came after the Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth South Eastern Frank Witter told on Tuesday, March 31, “They (JISCo Alpart) have more work to do, but from what I have seen, the situation in March was a great improvement on how it was before.” Writter also said the efforts by Jiuquan Iron and Steel (Group) Co Ltd (JISCo), since late December, to control dust from 660-acre red mud lake with the use of a mix of anti-dust “mesh” covering, dust suppressants, and huge volumes of water, appeared to have helped considerably. Councillor Layton Smith (People's National Party (PNP),...
LME aluminium price continues to decline to $1448.5/t while SHFE aluminium increases to $1628/t
Three-month LME aluminium rallied from a new four-year trough of US$ 1,481 per tonne touched in North American trading hours, finishing the day higher at US$ 1,504 per tonne. The build-up of long positions primarily accounted for the gains on the day. LME aluminium is expected to continue to trade at US$ 1,480 per tonne to US$ 1,530 per tonne today. As of Thursday, April 2, both LME aluminium cash (bid) price and LME official settlement price declined from US$ 1463.50 per tonne to US$ 1448.50 per tonne. 3-months bid price and 3-months offer price slipped to US$ 1482.50 per tonne from US$ 1498 per tonne, while Dec 21 bid price and Dec 21 offer price stood at US$ 1618.50 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock stood at 1210475 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at 1062750 tonnes, and...
Turmec installs MRF plant in Wiltshire to treat recyclable materials
Turmec has reportedly designed, supplied, and installed an advanced MRF plant in Wiltshire to treat kerbside collected comingled recyclable materials picked from around 220,000 households across the region. The plant will have the capacity to process 20 tonnes per hour of dry mixed recyclables, ensuring a high-quality separation of recycled materials is achieved. Turmec’s advanced sorting equipment includes various screens with optical and magnet elements to maximise the recovery of paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, plastic pots, tubs and trays, steel and aluminium cans, food and drink cartons. The MRF’s plant and personnel are ready to recover materials of the highest quality for reprocessing. Comingled recyclables will be sorted in a single pass into 10 separate products for recycling....
Indian automobile industry unlikely to recover in FY2021 from COVID19 impacts: CRISIL estimates
CRISIL estimates the Indian automobile industry, including components, to be less likely to recover in the financial year 2021 from the toll taken by the COVID19 outbreak. The rating firm noted the coronavirus outbreak might have two challenges. Earlier than anticipated closure of Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) can lead to unsold BS-IV inventory, and anticipated retail sales may result in higher-than-normal BS-VI inventory for large passenger vehicle OEMs at the start of the fiscal. Remaining of sizeable inventory after one of the worst financial years in two decades in 2020 was already a burden on the automobile industry. A double-digit decline in sales and liquidity crisis in the second half of the year resulted in high inventory levels. Adding to it, demand shrank as a result of the...
China’s aluminium exports may see further decline as Vietnam enters into COVID19 containment lockdown
The coronavirus pandemic is likely to create a further impact on China’s aluminium exports as a greater part of the world has come under lockdown to contain the spread of the virus. According to a report on Wednesday, Vietnam, a major buyer of Chinese aluminium, has entered into 15 days nationwide isolation. Residents can only step outside for essential needs such as food, medicines, and urgent medical services, or may go to work at companies permitted by the government to remain open. Vietnam took the call for isolation after many European and American countries, who are also the major importers of Chinese aluminium, went into virus containment lockdowns, slowed business production, and kept people at home. Data from China customs showed that around 11 per cent of China’s exports of...
Alumina price in China extends decline by RMB66/t; A00 aluminium ingot price falls RMB220/t after two consecutive hikes
After continuous declines in the second half of the last month, the average alumina spot price in China started the fourth month of 2020 with a downfall of RMB 10 per tonne, and today on the second day the fall extended by RMB 66 per tonne to stand as low as RMB 2,267 per tonne, found Shanghai Metals Market. The weaker demand for domestic alumina in the Chinese market has been pushing the price down. Also, the decline in alumina export from China has resulted in higher stocks while the demand is low. So, the combination of higher inventories and lower demand has further triggered the downward trend of the alumina price in China. Today, on April 2, the north China has seen the highest downfall in alumina spot price by about RMB 70 per tonne to RMB 2,250 per tonne, followed by the central...
MIIT actively working on introducing stimulus policies to boost automobile consumption in China
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) is actively cooperating with relevant ministries and commissions to study policies and suggestions for boosting and stabilising automobile consumption in China. Such was the statement of Xin Guobin, Deputy Minister of MIIT at a press conference during China’s Manufacturing Industry Resumption Meeting on Monday, March 30. Following the MIIT’s calls, many Chinese provinces have already issued supportive measures to boost car consumption, added Xin in his statement. He believes more stimulus policies will make their way shortly. Xin also mentioned the operational status of the car industries during the press conference. He said the overall operating rate of the industry increased to 97 per cent from around 60 per cent. The rate of...
Coronavirus Effect: Rio Tinto to close Potline 4 at Tiwai Smelter and relocate 35 staff
The world’s second-largest metal and mining corporation Rio Tinto will close one of its aluminium production lines at Tiwai smelter, New Zealand, in line with the government directives to curb the spread of coronavirus. Such was the announcement made by Rio Tinto’s New Zealand's Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) venture on Tuesday, March 31. The New Zealand government has announced a four-week lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus that has infected more than 750,000 people globally. According to the report, Rio Tinto will close the potline 4 at Tiwai smelter and relocate the workers to other areas of operations. "Our focus is on supporting our employees in a time of uncertainty and running a safe and efficient operation to meet our obligations with customers and suppliers who are also...
LME aluminium price declined by $11/t to stand at $1506/t; SHFE dipped marginally to $1628/t
The US dollar rebounded against major currencies and riskier emerging market units on Monday, snapping a week of declines as investors braced for prolonged uncertainty and governments tightened lockdowns and launched monetary and fiscal measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Three-month LME aluminium resumed its downtrend on Monday, slipping to its lowest since April 2016 at US$ 1,522 per tonne in North American trading hours before closing the day sharply lower at US$ 1,529 per tonne. It is expected to move range-bound at US$1,520-1,570/per tonne today. As of Monday, March 30, both LME aluminium cash (bid) price and LME official settlement price stood at US$ 1495 per tonne after inching down by US$ 11 per tonne from US$1506 per tonne. 3-months bid price and 3-months offer price...
Primary aluminium inventories in China dip by 3,000 tonnes over the weekend
After the growth of 17,000 tonnes in primary aluminium inventories on last Monday and 20,000 tonnes on Thursday, the social inventories of primary aluminium have recorded a minor decline over the weekend ended Monday, March 30. The inventories over the weekend have dipped by 3,000 tonnes to come in at 1.664 million tonnes across eight major consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants. On Thursday, March 26, the inventories were at 1.667 million tonnes. The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across China in more details: In Gongyi, Nanhai, Chongqing, and Linyi, the inventories have decreased by 12,000 tonnes, 3,000 tonnes, and 1,000 tonnes respectively to stand at 185,000 tonnes, 438,000 tonnes, 15,000 tonnes, and 11,000 tonnes. In Wuxi and...
