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.
US sweeping tariffs on aluminium and steel could hit own economy: Says Fed Chairman
Trump’s decision to impose additional tariffs on imported aluminium and steel could bring in a negative impact on United States economy, said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday, July 12. To quote Powell, "If it works out other ways, so that we wind up having high tariffs on a lot of products and a lot of traded goods and services ... and that they become sustained for a long period of time ... that could be a negative for our economy." Besides, US businesses had also been expressing concerns over the Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs, added the Federal Chief. He said, "I think if you're picking up a newspaper today you're hearing that from a lot of businesses.” "It's very difficult to predict how it turns out." Ever since the US imposed high tariffs on...
India’s retaliatory act on US aluminium and steel tariffs not apt, says USTR
Deputy USTR Jeffrey Gerrish said India’s recent retaliatory act against the US decision to impose tariffs on imported aluminium and steel was not appropriate. Mr. Gerrish opposed India’s retaliation by claiming that US’ tariffs on imported aluminium and steel were not a safeguard measure. Therefore, according to him, India’s retaliation held no ground. On Thursday, July 12, he said while addressing a Washington audience at the first Annual Leadership Summit of US India Strategic and Partnership Forum, “We were disappointed with the fact that India actually has imposed retaliatory measures actually it's not imposed them yet but announced retaliatory measures.” "They (India) are approaching this as a safeguard metric that we have imposed. On that basis, they've determined that they have a...
Operating rate of secondary aluminium in China edged down in June: SMM reports
Shanghai Metals Market studied that multiple hindrances relating to environmental problems, additional tariffs on aluminium scrap exports to the US, and stern limitations on impurities in scrap imports inevitably led to a drop in Chinese secondary aluminium operation rate for the month of June. The operation rate dropped 52.74 per cent, down 5.91 percentage points month-on-month and 6.17 percentage points year-on-year. Production at most producers shrank and finished products inventory edged down. Compared to last year, the first six months this year saw a relatively lesser demand for finished products, as a result of which most producers were left with heavy stocks in inventories. They, therefore, preferred to cut production and destock amid a seasonal lull in order to better manage...
Slovakia fears consequences of US tariffs on European automotive production
Being the EU’s leading car and car exporter to the United States, Slovakia expressed its deep concern and fear over the knock-out effect of US tariffs on imported cars from the European Union. Slovakia is known to contribute a lion share to the overall car making sector – 44 per cent of total industrial production and 35 per cent of exports. Last year, 1,001,520 cars rolled off assembly lines in Slovakia and exports were worth 3.7 billion euros. “The ratio of overseas car exports to Slovakia’s GDP is significantly the highest among all countries of the EU, at up to 1.7 per cent,” said the Slovak Institute for Financial Policy (IFP) in a study. According to IMF, the automotive tariffs, if come into effect, could hard-hit Slovakia approximately 90 million euros. Martin Vlachynsky, an...
Collerina to raise fund for its high purity alumina first process
Australia based company Collerina Cobalt Limited has declared that it is going to raise a fund of around A$ 4 million through a one-for-ten rights issue, priced at 8c each, for advancing high purity alumina (HPA) first process at its Collerina project in New South Wales. The issue price of 8c a share represented a 26.6% discount to Collerina’s one-month volume weighted average price of 10.9c a share. The company intends to use the entire fund towards the prefeasibility study test work, engineering and reporting, project and product marketing, as well as savings for working capital. Collerina Cobalt Limited, formerly known as Augur Resources Limited, is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, and development of mine and mineral deposits. The company operates in two geographical segments,...
Israel fails to receive exemption from US imported aluminium and steel tariffs
Like many other trading allies of the United States, Israel too could not win a reprieve from the US additional tariffs on aluminium and steel imports. In response to this, a group of Israeli manufacturers prompted warnings that this could bring in a “death blow” to local industries. In March, the US President had imposed a 25 per cent tariff on imported steel and 10 per cent on imported aluminium, under a little-used weapon in US trade law declaring that these metal tariffs were meant to protect its domestic producers. So far, only Brazil, South Korea, Australia, and Argentina had been granted a relief from the tariffs. The European Union, Canada, and Mexico, despite being important trading partners of the US, could not win a permanent relief after the expiry of the temporary exemption...
Imported tariffs on US-made cars lead to the possibility of BMWs price hike in China
As soon as China’s 25 per cent tariff on US-made cars came into effect on Friday, July 6, German luxury automaker BMW said it would not be able to completely absorb the new tariff and thus, would raise prices on the vehicles it makes in Spartanburg, South Carolina. BMW said it is “currently calculating related necessary pricing increases” for U.S.-made models imported into China and will announce them “at a later stage.” Last year, the automaker had shipped more than 100,000 vehicles of high-margin models such X4, X5, and X6 SUV and crossover from the United States to China. China's 25 per cent tariff on imported US vehicles was nothing but a retaliatory act to the Trump’s administration tariffs on US$34 billion of Chinese imports. This posed a tough choice for automakers whether they...
Switzerland launches complaint at WTO in response to US aluminium and steel tariffs
As declared on July 10, 2018, Switzerland has launched a complaint at the World Trade Organisation against the US tariffs on imported aluminium and steel, claiming that this tariff is wrongly imposed on them. Hence, it is now the eighth WTO member to start such a challenge. The Swiss economy ministry said in a statement, "From Switzerland's point of view, the additional duties, which according to the U.S. have been introduced to protect national security, are unjustified." Under WTO rules, if the US is unable to settle the issue in next 60 days, Switzerland can escalate the dispute by asking the WTO to set up a panel of judges to adjudicate. In April 2018, Switzerlandexported 310 tonnes of aluminium plates, sheets, and bars to the US, and from January to April 2018, the country recorded...
Japan’s Toyo Aluminium obtains 33% stake in Svam Packaging
33.4 per cent stake in the capital-based pharma packaging firm Svam has been taken over by Japanese packaging giant Toyo Aluminium K.K. for an undisclosed amount. As agreed in the joint venture, Svam Packaging will now be known as Svam Toyal Packaging Industries. This partnership is expected to bring in advanced technology to tackle the menace of spurious drugs by manufacturing aluminium foil packaging solutions such as laminates for the pharma industry. Svam Packaging Industries Managing Director Satish Ailawadi said, “This partnership will help us serve our customers better and provide safer packaging products in healthcare as well as food and beverage industry.” The partners also plan to set up manufacturing units in India and abroad to cater to clients in the pharma and food packaging...
Stable alumina buoys aluminium ingot price three days in a row
The A00 aluminium ingot spot price continued to rise three days in a row since July 6, 2018, according to the data by Shanghai Metals Market. Today, as of July 10, the ingot price raised RMB 20 per tonne to stand at RMB 14010 per tonne, compared to RMB 13990 per tonne on July 9 after growing from RMB 13910 per tonne, as of July 6. The average price today is expected to range between RMB 13990 per tonne and RMB 14030 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 50 per tonne to RMB 10 per tonne. However, not all major Chinese markets witnessed a growth in A00 aluminium ingot spot price, despite a hike in the average price. Only in the north, the ingot spot price registered a rise by RMB 10 per tonne to stand at RMB 14010 per tonne. In the east and south, on the other hand, the aluminium...
The world’s first POAL recycling plant to go online in September
The world’s first POAL recycling plant for producing Ecoallene will start in Italy in September 2018. POAL is a polyethylene + aluminium polycomposite recovered from food packaging. The plant will recover POAL and then turn it into a new recyclable material suitable for use in automotive, construction, giftware and other markets. Ecoallene is a new green material that is easy to recycle. It is also easy to colour, as well, and has a slight glittery look because of containing aluminium particles. This pioneering project, developed by an engineering company AMUT together with the Italian start-up Ecoplasteam, will be having an initial capacity of recycling 7000 tonnes of recovered POAL every year. Ecoplasteme carries out both technology for POAL treatment and washing the extrusion line to...
Normality resumes at Jamaica's New Day Bauxite Plant: Source says
Normality has been restored at New Day Aluminium (Jamaica) Limited since when it received order from the Industrial Disputes Tribunal (IDT), on Friday, July 6, 2018, for hourly paid workers to end a week-long-go slow. The workers had been on go-slow since June 28, supporting the University and Allied Workers Union’s claim towards the company (UAWU) for adjusting their top rate of US$13 per hour, based on changes in the exchange rate. According to UAWU President Senator Lambert Brown, the union had been appealing to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security to intimate the issue to the Industrial Disputes Tribunal without success. Yesterday, on July 8, Senator Brown told the Jamaica Observer that with the ministry’s decision to refer the matter to the IDT, the request was met and workers...
Russia imposes additional 25% to 40% import duties on US goods
Russia declared on Friday, July 6, 2018, that it would levy additional import duties of 25 to 40 per cent on the US industrial goods, as a retaliatory act against the US tariffs on imported aluminium and steel. The economy ministry said Russia would impose tariffs on some goods from the United States for which there are Russian-made substitutes. Those goods include fibre optics and equipment of road construction, the oil and gas industries and metal processing and mining. According to the ministry, these heavy duties are a compensatory measure for US$87.6 million of damage suffered by Russian export companies as a result of the US metal tariffs. The hike will cost an overall US$537.6 million, said the economy ministry, while adding that Russia may impose more such compensatory measures in...
China’s primary aluminium inventory drops slower W-o-W: Ingot price rises
China’s inventory of primary aluminium across eight major markets continued to dip over the weekend. According to Shanghai Metals Markets, including SHFE warrants, the inventory dropped 6,000 tonnes to stand at 1.83 million tonnes, as of Monday, July 9, 2018. A slowdown in downstream consumption led the decline to be smaller from the drop recorded a week ago. The inventory in some of the Chinese cities like Wuxi and Jiangsu, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Zhejiang, and Tianjin registered a plunge, compared to July 5, 2018, while in Nanhai and Guangdong, Gongyi and Henan, and Linyi and Shandong, the inventory rose from the previous day. More details are given in the table below: The average A00 aluminium ingot price surged further from RMB 13910 per tonne to RMB 13990 per tonne. The average price...
Abbott urges Trump to reconsider imported aluminium and steel tariffs
Governor Greg Abbott urged President Donald Trump in a letter on July 28, to reconsider tariffs on imported aluminium and steel, arguing that the metals are vital to the growth of Texas’ industries. In the letter, Abbott mentioned Texas companies imported more than US$8.3 billion worth of aluminium and steel last year, largely for use by the oil and gas industry. Echoing earlier comments by industry groups opposed to the tariffs, Abbott said energy companies depend on specialty steel for which there is no manufacturer in the US. "Our country's steel and aluminium workers are a vital part of the national workforce, and creating jobs in that industry must be a top priority," said the letter. "But attempting to protect these jobs through the new tariffs could jeopardize the livelihoods of...
Bawumia requests US to partner Ghana to help develop strong bauxite industry
Ghana Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia has requested the United States through the Secretary for Commerce Wilbur Ross, to consider partnering with Ghana for developing a strong bauxite industry in the country. While delivering a speech at the US-Ghana business session, Mahamudu explicitly said that Ghana owns rich bauxite deposits that can be exploited for well over fifty years. Partnership with the US, one of the most powerful countries in the world with the success story in the aluminium and bauxite sectors, would yield mutual benefits for both the countries, Ghana Vice president observed. Bawumia added as the government has begun the process of choosing partners for establishing a joint-ventured Integrated Aluminium Industry (IAI) by the name Ghana Integrated Bauxite and Aluminum...
Merkel announces to back EU auto tariff cuts on US
German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared yesterday, July 5, that she would back cutting the European Union tariffs on cars imported from the United States. This she announced in response to the US offer to abandon threatened duties on the EU-assembled imported cars in return for concessions. According to a report, the US ambassador to Germany told German car bosses at a meeting on Wednesday, July 4, that Trump would abandon the threatened 20 per cent tariff on EU car exports provided the US gets similar concession in return. Merkel said, "When we want to negotiate tariffs, on cars for example, we need a common European position and we are still working on it." She also said any move to reduce tariffs on US vehicles would require reductions on those imported from other countries to conform...
Alumina output to lower in China on environmental initiative and production lines maintenance
According to the latest update by Shanghai Metals Market, alumina production in Lvliang of Shanxi province is likely to be affected as the area was highlighted in China’s three-year initiative to “make skies blue again”. This initiative was released by the State Council on June 3, 2018, with an aim to reduce levels of PM2.5 in three years, lower the number of heavy-polluted days and improve air quality. From Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the key focus areas of this initiative will further expand to include some of the surrounding cities like Jinzhong, Yuncheng, Linfen, and Lvliang in Shanxi province, Luoyang and Sanmenxia in Henan province, and Xi'an and Tongchuan in Shaanxi province. Primary aluminium is also a targeted sector for this initiative, thereby, likely to face some impact on...
