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.
Operating rates across Chinese secondary aluminium producers drop record low in February
According to Shanghai Metals Market, operating rates across Chinese secondary aluminium producers dropped to a record low in February. The Chinese New Year holiday and poor end-market demand were the two main reasons for the decline, as suggested by SMM. Even in January, China’s secondary aluminium producers operating ratings were down by 2.37 percentage points from December. Its average rate in the said month was at 54.84 per cent, SMM data showed. The SMM survey had also warned that the operating rates would go further down in February, as large secondary mills were mostly closed for seven days over CNY while medium-sized and small producers were closed for up to 20 days. Operation recovery across the secondary aluminium sector in March remained slow so far, as the imminent VAT cuts...
Bauxite export by Guinea estimated to grow 13% YoY in 2019; China to remain the top importer
Guinea is the most significant bauxite supplier to the world with 7.4 billion bauxite reserve which is about 25% of the world’s total bauxite reserves. The country accounts for 95% of African bauxite production and 15% of world bauxite production according to the latest data from the US Geological Survey. {newsStudioGallery} With the highest bauxite reserves and a solid export-oriented growth plan, Guinea has been racing past many countries to become the key bauxite exporter globally. A four-year historical data set clearly indicates at that trend. According to our third-party data, the African nation is estimated to export 62 million tonnes of bauxite in 2019, compared with the estimated export amount of 55 million tonnes in 2018. This marks a growth of 13 per cent year-on-year. In 2016...
Chinese primary aluminium inventories rise on new stocks arrivals in Guangdong
According to Shanghai Metals Market, social inventories of primary aluminium across eight major consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, rose 1,000 tonnes over the weekend ended on March 18 to come in at 1.755 million tonnes. New arrivals of stocks in Guangdong in the amount of 13,000 tonnes contributed to the gains in overall stocks over the weekend. However, compared to Thursday, March 14, the increase in primary aluminium inventories today was slower. On Thursday, the inventories had risen 5,000 tonnes from March 11, in contrast to the growth of 1,000 tonnes today. In Wuxi, Jiangsu and in Shanghai, the inventories fell over the weekend from 628,000 tonnes and 313,000 tonnes to 623,000 tonnes and 312,000 tonnes. In Hangzhou, Zhejiang and in Tianjin, the inventories plunged...
Coca-Cola awarding $5.4 million to community recycling pilots in US
The Coca-Cola Foundation is reportedly funding community recycling pilots in seven cities across the United States, in a bid to encourage their efforts. The amount it is giving is $5.4 million, including $4 million for a three-year programme with the Recycling Partnership in Atlanta. “In each pilot city, local partners will work together to identify barriers to recycling on a local level and test a range of solutions,” said Carlos Pagoaga, group director of community partnerships for the Coca-Cola Foundation. In 2017, Recycling Partnership, with funding from Coca-Cola North America, had reached 5,000 households in Atlanta for a recycling education project. With the new grant, it aims to reach 10,000 households in the next three years. Street teams will pay a visit to every zip code in the...
Operations cut at Alunorte and higher raw material costs lead to Hydro's weakened underlying EBIT
On Friday, March 15, Norsk Hydro reported weakened underlying earnings before interest and tax by 2.15 billion crowns ($251.61 million) in its 2018 financial report, amidst some of its positive developments like the upgrade of the Husnes Plant and the ramp-up of the Karmøy technology pilot to produce the world’s most climate and energy-efficient primary aluminium. The decline of Hydro’s 2018 underlying EBIT could be because of the higher raw material costs and reduced operations at Hydro’s Alunorte plant. In addition, different tariffs and sanctions that influenced global markets and trade flow over the past year also apparently took a toll. Alunorte, the world’s largest alumina refinery, has been running at half its capacity after Hydro admitted that it had to make unlicensed emissions...
Acer introduces commercial notebook featuring magnesium-aluminium alloys parts
Acer has reportedly unveiled a new thin-and-light commercial notebook called TravelMate X514-51, specially meant for small and medium businesses. It comes in a chassis that features parts made of magnesium-lithium and magnesium-aluminium alloys, which are stronger than typical aluminium alloys at the same thickness, but weigh 20 per cent to 35 per cent lesser, said the manufacturer. Since the laptop is designed for frequent travellers, it is weighs only 2.16 pounds, with 14.99-mm thickness and 14-inch display. The laptop has Intel’s 8th Gen Core i5/i7 processors, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, 512 GB of SSD storage, modern 802.11ac Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 5.0 controller, and so on. The laptop also supports a host of security features required for businesses. To make business communications comfortable, Acer...
Canyon discovers 250.9 million tonnes of high-grade bauxite zone within Minim Martap
Once again, Canyon Resources Ltd. has reportedly identified a world-class high-grade bauxite zone within its Minim Martap project in Cameroon. The last time when Canyon had found a cluster of high-grade, low-containment bauxite trend within the same project was in November 2018. The recently-found high-grade inferred resource zone is of 250.9 million tonnes at 50.8 per cent aluminium oxide and 1.9 per cent silicon dioxide. Additionally, over 50 per cent of the area drilled for the resource grades is of more than 50 per cent aluminium oxide with 1.3 per cent silica. Canyon believes than Minim Martap is one of the world’s highest grade bauxite resources with low silica. Alexander Shaw, the chief geologist of Canyon, said, “By conducting a more detailed assessment of the historic resource,...
Turquoise Yachts announces sale of 74-metre superyacht featuring aluminium superstructure
Turquoise Yachts has reportedly announced the sale of its 74-metre superyacht designed by an Italian designer A Vallicelli & C Yacht Design. The construction of the yacht is already underway. It will feature an aluminium superstructure and steel hull, along with a 14.2 metre beam and 4.05 metre draft. The delivery time is scheduled in late 2020. The key exterior features of the yacht include a touch and go helipad on the forward upper deck and a private owner area equipped with an outdoor dinette, sunbathing cushions and an optional Jacuzzi. The tender garage will be spacious enough to store a full length 9.6 metre limousine tender, a guest tender, crew tender and a number of Jetskis. The interior design, to be handled by Ken Freivokh Design, will include large windows and a lot of spaces...
A00 aluminium ingot price declines on inventory gain; alumina price records a drop too
As the primary aluminium inventories have gained over the week ended on March 14 across China, the A00 aluminium ingot price has recorded a drop today, on March 15, by RMB 30 per tonne to RMB 13,800 per tonne, found Shanghai Metals Market. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 13,780 per tonne and RMB 13,820 per tonne, with spot discount to settle at RMB 40 per tonne. The decline in aluminium ingot price has touched all the markets in China and thus the price in the east (Wuxi and Hangzhou) has recorded a drop by RMB 25 per tonne to clock at RMB 13,790 per tonne. In the south and north, on the other hand, the price dipped by RMB 70 per tonne and RMB 30 per tonne to be at RMB 13,750 per tonne and RMB 13,760 per tonne, respectively. Today, the alumina spot price has also...
Fuziah urges people to attend discussion session next month on bauxite mining SOP
Kuantan lawmaker Fuziah Salleh has reportedly urged the public to attend a dialogue session on bauxite mining standard operating procedure (SOP) on April 14. She said the public must attend the programme to meet, discuss, and voice out their opinion and concern on the matter to officials from the Water, Land, and Natural Resources Ministry and other stakeholders. “They (public) will be able to ask questions and get immediate feedback at the session. They can seek further information on various aspects including the SOP for the pre-mining to post-mining stage,” she said in a WhatsApp message today. Yesterday, the Resources Minister Dr. Xavier Jayakumar had made an announcement about the public hearing, which will be held on April 14 with all stakeholders including non-governmental...
Germany’s aluminium wire import estimated to drop in 2019 after a YoY rise last year
Many automobile and power companies across the world are reportedly abandoning copper wires for its lighter and cheaper rival aluminium after a decade of technological innovation. European countries, like Germany, are also increasingly relying on aluminium wires for the past few years for automobile manufacturing, building construction, and electric circuitry. So to say, aluminium is emerging more and more as a particularly important engineering material, especially in lightweight automotive construction. According to global export-import data, Germany in 2018 had imported approximately 101,146 tonnes of aluminium, up 16 per cent year on year from 86,991 tonnes. In 2016, the import volume was even higher at 108,242 tonnes, up 24 per cent from 2017 and 7 per cent from 2018. In 2019,...
China’s primary aluminium production rises 5% Y-o-Y to 5.69 million tonnes during Jan-Feb
According to the National Bureau of Statistics on March 14, China’s primary aluminium production between January and February came in at 5.69 million tonnes. This represents a 5 per cent year-on-year increase, but a plunge by 2 per cent on a daily basis from December’s record rate. The bureau typically does not provide individual output numbers for those two months due to distortion from the timing of Chinese New Year. Chinese aluminium smelters, however, keep running throughout the week-long holiday. Per the statistics reported by Reuters, China’s daily average output stood at around 96,400 tonnes between January and February, down from 98,420 tonnes in December. This decline in China’s daily average output shows the impact of persistently low Chinese aluminium prices on smelters. The...
Bauxite mining activities in Pahang to be on hold for environmental impact assessments, says Ministry
According to a recent report, the Malaysian government announced that bauxite mining activities in Pahang should be on hold unless the miners conduct a study on the environmental impact of their sites. However, the date for when the environmental impact assessments (EIAs) will begin is not yet set. The resources ministry said that each mine would need at least six months to complete the assessment of the environmental impact. Thus, there will be a slower-than-expected restart in bauxite exports from Malaysia, resulting in disrupted global supply and price hike for a few more months. The Resources Minister Xavier Jayakumar said,” Mine operators will need to fulfil strict requirements, some of which will be based on the findings of the EIAs before they are granted licences to operate.” He...
Hainan targets to install 40,000 electric vehicle charging points in 2019
As part of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) promotion, Hainan province in China has reportedly targeted to install 40,000 electric vehicle charging points in 2019. By 2020, the number of charging points in Heinan will thus increase to 85,000, with the ratio of NEVs and charging piles below 3:1. The province targets that it will have a total charging points of 337,000 by 2025 while by 2030 940,000. The province also aims to lower the ratio of NEVs and charging points to 1:1 by 2030. Hainan had more than 4,600 charging points and four charging stations as of the end of 2018. According to the Hainan Clean Energy Vehicle Development Plan released on March, Hainan has vowed to phase out fossil fuel vehicles by 2030 as an effort to speed up NEVs growth. As of February 2019, China as a whole had...
US working to lift aluminium and steel tariffs from Mexico and Canada, Robert Lighthizer says
The US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Tuesday, March 12, that the United States is working on a plan to remove tariffs from Mexican and Canadian aluminium and steel while striving to preserve the gains that domestic producers received so far. He particularly told the US Senate Finance Committee that "What I'm trying to do is a have a practical solution to a real problem ... get rid of tariffs on these two, let them maintain their historic access to the US market which I think will allow us to still maintain the benefit of the steel and aluminium program." Once, a plan to lift metal tariffs from Canada and Mexico was linked to the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement but that ultimately failed to turn out successfully. Many US lawmakers believe that the...
A00 aluminium ingot price extends its rise today while input costs remain muted
According to Shanghai Metals Market, the A00 aluminium ingot price continued to rise today to RMB 13,730 per tonne. Yesterday the price was at RMB 13,680 per tonne, which indicates that the price today grew by RMB 50 per tonne. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 13,710 per tonne and RMB 13,750 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 40 per tonne. In the east (Wuxi and Hangzhou) and in the north, the A00 aluminium ingot price also recorded an increase by RMB 50 per tonne to RMB 13,720 per tonne and RMB 13,700 per tonne, respectively. In the south, on the other hand, the ingot price grew by RMB 60 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,710 per tonne. But the input costs showed no change today except the aluminium powder, which rose from RMB 17.20 per kg to RMB 17.30 per kg....
New reforms in UK may double aluminium recycling, says Green Alliance
New reforms if implemented, including a deposit return scheme (DRS), may double the aluminium recycling and prevent around £50 million of wasted resources each year each year, as suggested by environment think tank Green Alliance report. The report titled ‘Closing the loop: Four steps towards 100 per cent aluminium packaging recycling’ looks at the state of aluminium recycling in the UK and proposes a number of ways for improvement. The report was released yesterday, March 11. Per the report, the United Kingdom in 2017 had recycled 51 per cent of aluminium packaging, including 72 per cent of aluminium drink cans. But despite this high recycling rate, £50 million of used aluminium packaging go to waste each year. The report suggests that more aluminium should be extracted from the waste...
Mexico’s aluminium plates, sheets and bars import from US declines 3% M-o-M in November 2018
Mexico imports a large amount of aluminium, including crude metal and alloys, aluminium semi-finished products (plates, sheets, bars, etc.) and scrap, from the United States. According to USGS data, Mexico imported 750,000 tonnes between January and November, compared with 675,000 tonnes in the same period last year. Thus, the country’s total aluminium import in the first eleven months of 2018 rose 11 per cent year-on-year. Until October 2018, Mexico had imported a total of 682,000 tonnes. {newsStudioGallery} Out of this, Mexico in November 2018 imported 37,900 tonnes of aluminium plates, sheets and bars from the United States, down 3.06 per cent from 39,100 in October 2018, but up 17 per cent from 32,500 in November 2017. This shows that although the country’s aluminium plates, sheets...
