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.
Bauxite mining moratorium in Malaysia ends last month but not the uncertainty
Bauxite mining operators and settlers in Bukit Goh, Malaysia, which once used to be a lucrative spot for bauxite mining activities, are still resting in the uncertainty over bauxite mining, even after the mining moratorium ended on June 30. The previous government had extended the moratorium seven times since the date of its enforcement on January 15, 2016, for keeping the pollution, lack of regulations, illegal mining, as well as excessive extraction at check. This resulted Felda settlers whose lands were on lease for mining activities facing sleepless nights. Bukit Goh bauxite action coordinating committee chairman Datuk Dr. Abdul Wahid Manap said the new government should answer on the fate of the mining industry. Many bauxite mining operators and settlers hoped the government would...
US offers tariff solution to German car companies on condition: says a report
The United States President Donald Trump would suspend threats to impose tariffs on imported cars from the European Union provided the bloc removes duties on US cars. The US ambassador to Germany conveyed the message to German car bosses, according to a report by a leading German-language newspaper Handelsblatt on Wednesday, July 4. Handelsblatt reported US ambassador Richard Grenell told executives from Daimler, Volkswagen, and BMW during a meeting that in exchange Trump wanted the European Union to withdraw duties on imported cars from the US. The meeting had taken place at the US embassy in Berlin on Wednesday. In June, Donald Trump had threatened to impose a 20-per cent import tariff on all EU-assembled vehicles, which could disturb the industry’s current business model for selling...
Utkal alumina expansion worth of INR 1300 crore to be completed in next 30 months
Utkal Alumina International, a fully-owned subsidiary of Hindalco, declared on July 4, that it would most likely finish its 500-kilotonne expansion over the next 30 months. This project involves a capital outlay of INR 1300 crore. Hindalco managing director Satish Pai told, “Our Utkal plant remains the most efficient producer of alumina globally and continues to provide strong support to our upstream aluminium business. The Rs 1,300-crore capacity expansion by 500 kt has already begun and is expected to be over in the next 30 months." Mr. Pai further said the company is completing the expansion plan fast thinking that the world-wide third-party alumina market would remain tight. In the financial year 2018, the company had achieved record production of 1,291-kilotonne with alumina...
EGA signs contract with Vedanta to supply bauxite from its mine in Guinea
UAE-based Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), jointly owned by Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi and Investment Corporation of Dubai, has signed a deal with Vedanta to supply bauxite from its mine in Guinea. Under the long-term agreement, EGA will start providing the ore to Vedanta from the second half of 2019, soon after its wholly-owned subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) will finish building a bauxite mine and associated export facilities in Guinea. By investing around US$1.4 billion in the bauxite mining project, GAC is expecting to produce some 12 million tonnes of bauxite every year. In the year 2017, EGA had supplied three sample shipments of bauxite, which were of around 15000 tonnes in total, to Vedanta for testing purpose. According to the current agreement signed,...
China’s primary inventory continues to decline slower on narrow consumption
The decline in China’s social inventory of primary aluminium continued to slow down over the week ended July 5, 2018, according to the data showed by Shanghai Metals Market. This could be attributed to the slowdown in consumption, resulting in suppressed purchasing interest among downstream consumers. As of Thursday, July 5, inventories of primary aluminium, including SHFE warrants, across eight major consumption areas shrank only 1,000 tonnes from Monday, July 2, to stand at 1.83 million tonnes. The figure fell 10,000 tonnes from last Thursday, June 28, compared to a drop of 40,000 in the week before. In some of the Chinese cities like Wuxi and Jiangsu, Gongyi and Henan, and Linyi and Shandong, the inventories witnessed a rise today, on July 5, in compare with Monday, July 2. While the...
Skilled manpower will be highly valued: Says Nalco
On the expected three-fold growth in steel and aluminium consumption by 2030, Nalco CMD Tapan Kumar Chand declared that skilled manpower will get their due values. He said, “The pattern of employment is undergoing a drastic change. The skill sets need to be realigned to meet the demands of the industries and cutting edge technology will provide the competitive edge.” He also said, while stressing on the importance of generating employment, “As Aluminium sector is expected to grow substantially, NALCO is geared up for the next wave of expansion. Over 11,000 people will be recruited by NALCO in the near future and we will shortlist the candidates from UPSC screened list. We will not take written test for these candidates since they have already been screened by the UPSC.” “Out of Rs. 28,000...
RBI urges Hyderabad High Court to lift stay on Anrak Insolvency
The Reserve Bank of India has urged the Hyderabad High Court for seeking to permit The State Bank of India to go ahead with insolvency proceedings against Anrak Aluminium, an Indo-UAE joint venture. SBI legal counsel VK Sajith has confirmed the RBI’s petition but refused to comment on the matter terming it sub judice. The company had defaulted on INR ?3,242 crores of loans and US$96 million of external commercial borrowings to the SBI-led lender’s consortium. In March, the high court had stayed the proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), after Anrak Aluminium approached the court saying that it had already entered into a one-time settlement with lenders. But the banking regulators challenged the case claiming that neither the company formulated any resolution plan...
US President Donald Trump defends trade tariffs despite criticisms from allies
Even after endless criticisms from allies, United States President Donald Trump maintains a defensive stance towards his decision of imposing billions of dollars of tariffs on allies’ aluminium and steel exports. Since May 31, when the US had announced 25 per cent additional tariff on imported steel and 10 per cent on aluminium on the EU, Canada, and Mexico, the US had been facing tremendous backlashes from those countries. The European Union and Canada both slapped heavy duties on the US’ exports in retaliation. While the EU imposed tariffs on American goods worth US$ 3 billion, the Canadian government announced duties on goods of C$16.6 billion. Nonetheless, Trump and his administration have enough to defend their decisions. According to the Hill, Trump and his administration explained...
Purchasing Managers’ Index for downstream aluminium sectors dips in June in China
According to the latest survey report by Shanghai Metals Market, the purchasing managers’ index for the downstream processing industries of aluminium dipped to 46 in June from May’s 54.8. This indicates that the PMI in June stood below the 50 mark that separates expansion and contraction. In the background of slow season in June, June’s production index, particularly for the aluminium plate/sheet and ship industry, dipped straight from 72.7 in May to 40.9 in June, while the new order index dropped from May’s 42.2 to 29.9. This enormous drop was primarily due to orders decline for heavy, medium, and thin plates/sheets used in the petroleum and petrochemical industries, hot-rolled coils, construction-use panels, as well as aluminium plastic-composite panels. The PMI for aluminium foil...
Bilgin 263 – Turkey’s two largest sister yachts are under construction
Bilgin shipyard announced two sister yachts from Bilgin 263 series are under construction at the Istanbul shipyard. Turkey’s largest yachts Bilgin 263-I is expected to launch in the latter half of 2019 and Bilgin 263-II is likely to make a debut in 2020. Bilgin 263-I has achieved 75 per cent of hull number one’s steel hull construction, while Bilgin 263-II has achieved 50 per cent of construction. Aluminium superstructure of hull one has also begun. These 80-metre superyachts are utilising a super eco-friendly approach in compliance with IMO Tier III certification that aims to reduce nitrogen dioxide emissions (NOx) by about 70 per cent compared to the current Tier II standards. Both the yachts feature fascinating interiors including bright living areas, extensive saloon and private...
Bauxite production in Jamaica sees plunge on devaluation of currency
According to the data published by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica-STATIN in its Producer Price Index Report, bauxite production in May declined in Jamaica as a result of the Jamaican dollar losing value to the US currency. The Producer Price Index measures the average change in selling prices received by domestic producers of goods and services. According to STATIN report, the Mining and Quarrying declined 1.8 per cent mainly due to the currency slide. The devaluation of currency also resulted in a negative movement of 1.9 per cent in the Bauxite Mining and Alumina Processing group. STATIN, on the other hand, reported Other Mining and Quarrying activities recorded a positive movement of 0.9 per cent for the same period, while manufacturing rose 1.7 per cent in May. The trade deficit...
S. Norton & Co. acquires resource recovery specialist Axion Recycling
Resource recovery specialist Axion Recycling has been purchased in full by Liverpool-based metal recycling firm S. Norton & Co. Axion recycles non-metallic waste from end-of-life vehicles and electronic goods and has been working with Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to help increase the recycled aluminium content for the new cars since the beginning of this year. On 20 th of June, 2018, S. Norton acquired Axion from the five individual private investors who have owned Axion since July 2006. Axion and its ancillary branches Axion Polymers and Axion Consulting will now operate as subsidiaries of S. Norton that collects and processes metal scrap at its four facilities in Manchester, Liverpool, London, and Southampton. On acquiring Axion, S. Norton’s Chairman John Norton said, “We are pleased to...
Commission of new aluminium capacity in China to slow down on lower aluminium prices
As per the data by Shanghai Metals Market, total costs for primary aluminium plunged to 3.6 per cent in June, compared to the month ago. Until the end of June, total costs for primary aluminium stood at RMB 13942 per tonne, with the average price hovered at RMB 14221 per tonne throughout the month. Both term and spot prices of primary aluminium lowered in June. Alumina costs and pre-baked anode costs for primary aluminium declined 8.1 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively, compared to the previous month. Alumina price averaged at RMB 5505 per tonne. In the background of pre-baked anode price fall in June, Weiqiao Group lowered its purchasing prices for pre-baked anode by RMB 100 per tonne, marking a decline for seven months in a row, SMM learned. Oversupply in the market was also a...
Car companies want the US to renounce imported vehicles tariff plans
Car companies and parts suppliers are constantly urging the United States not to impose additional tariffs of up to 25 per cent on imported vehicles, saying that this could result in job cuts, loss of investments, and even higher prices. According to the reports by The Guardian, Bloomberg, CNBC, Reuters and Fortune, General Motors warned the US that its higher tariffs on imported cars and other aluminium and steel products could make it isolated from the global economy. Besides imposing additional 25 per cent tariff on imported steel and 10 per cent on imported aluminium on the European Union, Mexico, and Canada last month, United States threatened to increase tariffs on imported vehicles, noting that there had been an imbalance in international import duty fees. The car companies fear...
Trump drops his decision to back down on trade tariffs against China
Today, on July 2, President Donald Trump has decided to rule out backing down on import tariffs against China. He has also threatened to impose up to US$ 500 billion worth of Chinese goods in case the two countries could not strike a fair deal sooner or later. But a couple of days before, the President had a different plan altogether, as he had decided to back down China from such hard-hitting policy. This could at least diffuse trade tensions between the US and China, even if temporary. The White House has already imposed 25 per cent tariff on US$ 50 billion worth of Chinese goods including industrially significant technologies with the aim to escalate the trade war between the world’s two largest economies. In response to China’s decision to levy heavy duties on 545 American products...
Russia seeks consultations with the US at WTO over additional imported metal tariffs
The government of Russian Federation becomes the latest entity to file a complaint against the US tariffs on imported aluminium and steel. On Friday night, June 29, 2018, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin announced that Russia filed a lawsuit to the World Trade Organisation and sent a request for consultations with the United States over Trump’s decision to impose additional metal tariffs on the national security ground. Oreshkin noted that Russian Federation government is now the seventh entity to drag the United States to the WTO, following the European Union, China, India, Canada, Mexico, and Norway. He explained that consultations request with Trump’s administration is Russia’s first step in the process. This would offer a platform to both the governments’...
China’s inventory declines slower W-o-W on limited downstream procurement: ingot price falls
China’s social inventory of primary aluminium continued to decline over the weekend ended on July 2, 2018, but on a slower rate. According to Shanghai Metals Market, including SHFE warrants across eight major Chinese markets shrank only 9000 tonnes from last Thursday, June 28, to stand at 1.84 million tonnes. Compared to the last Monday, June 25, the inventory today shrank 15000 tonnes, as SMM data showed. A little loss of procurement interest among downstream consumers could be held responsible for this week-on-week slower decline. In Wuxi and Jiangsu, the inventory today stood at 774,000 tonnes, while in Shanghai, the inventory hovered at 429,000 tonnes. In Nanhai and Guangdong and Gongyi and Henan, the inventory rallied at 241,000 tonne and 179,000 tonnes, respectively. More details...
EU leaders warn the US to retaliate against higher tariffs on imported cars if imposed
In a summit meeting on Thursday night, June 28, 2018, the European Union leaders slapped the United States with a warning of retaliation should the Donald Trump escalate a trade war with 20 per cent higher tariffs on imported cars from the EU. The EU leaders strictly criticised US’ decisions to impose tariffs on imported aluminium and steel products and repeatedly expressed support for the bloc’s retaliatory action over those levies, which Trump justified on national security grounds. "In reaction to the United States' decision to impose tariffs on the EU for steel and aluminium products, which cannot be justified on the grounds of national security, the European Council fully supports the rebalancing measures, potential safeguard measures to protect our own markets, and the legal...
