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.
China’s alumina spot price reaches more than two-year high above RMB3500/t; A00 aluminium ingot price grows by RMB10/t
China’s domestic average alumina spot price has resumed from the Labour Day holiday from May 1 to 5 with a hike of RMB 50 per tonne. The tightening supply and improving demand have continued to boost the alumina price, marking the eighth consecutive day of rise. According to the Shanghai Metals Market, the domestic alumina price as of May 6 has come in at RMB 3,501 per tonne. In Lianyungang, alumina spot price has skyrocketed by RMB 105 per tonne to reach RMB 3,520 per tonne, followed by the surge of RMB 50 per tonne in Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Bayuquan. In Shandong and Bayuquan, the alumina price is standing at RMB 3,470 per tonne and RMB 3,570 per tonne, while the price in Henan and Shanxi at RMB 3,490 per tonne. If compared to a month ago, China’s domestic alumina spot price has...
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Africa & Asia’s (ex-China) alumina production trends up in Q1 2024 by 15.9% Y-o-Y
According to the International Aluminium Institute, alumina production in Africa & Asia (ex-China) amounted to 1.234 million tonnes during March 2024, up by 5.38 per cent from 1.171 million tonnes in February 2024. The output recovered in March after a fall in the previous month by 3.22 per cent from 1.21 million tonnes. On a year-on-year calculation, the March 2024 alumina output in Africa & Asia (ex-China) edged a hike of 18.65 per cent from 1.04 million tonnes. In the first three months of 2024, Africa & Asia’s (ex-China) alumina production totalled 3.613 million tonnes, up by 2.91 per cent from 3.511 million tonnes during the fourth quarter of 2023 and 15.91 per cent more than 3.117 million tonnes during the first quarter of 2023. Africa & Asia is the world’s second largest alumina...
Hindalco and Vedanta cut their aluminium selling prices by 1% with effect from May 3
Hindalco Industries Limited and Vedanta Limited have trimmed their aluminium ingot and aluminium product prices, with effect from May 3, 2024, following a plunge on the prior day by US$44.50 per tonne or 1.74 per cent. Hindalco has cut its aluminium ingot price by INR 2,500 per tonne or 1 per cent to INR 246,500 per tonne on May 3 versus INR 249,000 per tonne on April 30. Similarly, the company’s aluminium wire rod and aluminium billet prices have seen a cut of INR 2,500 per tonne, with effect from May 3, to stand at INR 263,500 per tonne and INR 260,600 per tonne, respectively, compared to INR 266,000 per tonne and INR 263,100 per tonne on April 30. Vedanta’s aluminium ingot price, on the other hand, has experienced a fall of INR 4,250 per tonne or 1.29 per cent to range between INR...
14 countries under scrutiny by US Department of Commerce for dumping aluminium extrusions
On May 2, 2024, the US Department of Commerce released a preliminary list of aluminium extrusion producers and exporters who sold their products at less than legitimate value in the United States. Those producers and exporters are primarily from China, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. The Department of Commerce also found the average dumping rates from the countries. China dumps 4.91–376.85 per cent of extrusion, Colombia 8.85-34.47 per cent, Ecuador 17.23-51.20 per cent, India 3.44-39.05 per cent, Indonesia 5.66-112.21 per cent, Italy 15.3-41.67 per cent, Korea 2.42 per cent, Malaysia 26.7-27.51 per cent, Mexico 9.18-82.03 per cent, Taiwan 33.93-57.86 per cent, Thailand 2.02-4.04 per cent,...
apt Holding GmbH bags ASI Performance Standard Certification for its two aluminium extrusion facilities
A German aluminium extrusion company apt Holding GmbH has reportedly achieved the ASI Performance Standard V3 (2022) Certification for two of its European facilities - apt Extrusions GmbH & Co. KG facility in Germany and apt Holding GmbH’s apt Extrusions B.V. facility in the Netherlands. The facility in Germany has remelting and casthouse operations for extrusion billets, four extrusion presses, an anodising plant, and mechanical machining capabilities. The Netherlands facility includes two extrusion presses, an anodising plant, and mechanical machining operations. apt Holding GmbH is specialised in producing extruded profiles destined for the construction, transportation, automotive, and industrial sectors. Its current production capacities include 80,000 tonnes per year for extrusion...
Striving sustainability: AMAG Austria to secure green energy from ImWind
AMAG Austria Metall AG, a producer and supplier of primary aluminium, premium cast, and rolled aluminium products, announced that it entered into a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with ImWind, a wind power pioneer from Lower Austria. As per the agreement signed, AMAG will secure green electricity for its headquarters in Ranshofen, Upper Austria, for the next 15 years to meet 20 per cent of its annual requirement. ImWind will start supplying green electricity to AMAG from the end of 2024. The electricity will be produced through new wind turbines. An output of 18 megawatts of electricity will reduce more than 26,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, equivalent to the carbon emissions of more than 10,000 cars per year, compared to conventional electricity generation. This power purchase...
Alpha HPA is on track with the development of Stage 1 battery materials production facility in Gladstone
Alpha HPA Limited, an Australia-based ultra-high purity alumina producing company, is reportedly continuing to develop Stage 1 of the battery materials Precursor Production Facility (PPF) in Gladstone, Queensland. The company is also in the final phase of commissioning process equipment to reach the production capacity of the full range of Alpha’s high-purity aluminium products. Alpha’s Managing Director Rimas Kairaitis said: “Alpha continues to build strong production and marketing momentum by leveraging our expanded capacity in the Stage 1 PPF. We are highly encouraged by the stronger end-user engagement and the additional Letters of Intent, which further consolidate the building demand we are observing in our target technology sectors.” Alongside, Alpha HPA is expanding its team and...
Press Metal announces steady operations for 2023 amid challenging economy; revenue drops 12% Y-o-Y
Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad, a Malaysia-based aluminium company engaged in the manufacturing and trading of both midstream and downstream aluminium products, announced its full-year 2023 financial and operational report, demonstrating its resilience, operational efficiency, and steadfast dedication for the year. Although its financial output recorded a dip last year due to global economic challenges, Press Metal maintained steady operations, expanding its extrusion capacity, enhanced efficiency, and optimised cost structure. Press Metal declared a full-year revenue of RM13.8 billion, down by 12 per cent from the previous year, while net income decreased by 14 per cent to RM1.22 billion. In tandem with lower revenue, Press Metal’s profit margin also dipped over the year from 9...
Africa's Q1 2024 primary aluminium production drops by 7.7% despite March recovery
Primary aluminium production in Africa decreased during the first quarter of 2024 despite a recovery in the quarter’s last month. However, the output in March demonstrated a fall on a year-on-year basis. According to the International Aluminium Institute, primary aluminium production in Africa during Q1 2024 totalled 371,000 tonnes, reflecting a sequential plunge of 31,000 tonnes or 7.71 per cent from 402,000 tonnes. On a year-on-year basis, the Q1 2024 output stood 5.36 per cent lower than 392,000 tonnes. Africa’s primary aluminium production increased in March by 5,000 tonnes month-on-month from 121,000 tonnes to 126,000 tonnes. On an annual basis, the March 2024 output edged a fall of 5,000 tonnes or 3.82 per cent from 131,000 tonnes. Africa’s daily average production of primary...
Century Aluminum records increased shipments but sees net sales dip in Q1 2024
Century Aluminum, a global primary aluminium producer with operations in the United States and Iceland, announced its first quarter results of 2024, which ended March 31. The company’s net sales during the period totalled $489.50 million, down by $22.8 million or 4.45 per cent from $512.3 million in Q4 2023. However, despite the drop in net sales, Century’s net income attributable to stakeholders surged by $216.8 million to reach $246.8 million in Q1 2024, driven by higher shipments and elevated average global aluminium price on the London Metal Exchange at $2,190 per tonne, up $8 per tonne from the prior quarter.Shipments grew sequentially from 173,871 tonnes to 174,627 tonnes. Amid the increase in net income, Century Aluminum experienced an adjusted net loss of $3 million for the first...
China’s alumina and bauxite imports record M-o-M growth in March 2024
According to China Customs data, the country’s alumina exports in March 2024 amounted to 144,100 tonnes, bringing the total exports in the first three months of the year to 421,600 tonnes. China’s alumina imports were 303,800 tonnes in March 2024, which reflected an increase of 3.97 per cent month-on-month and a jump of 334 per cent year-on-year. In three months, China’s alumina imports totalled 947,300 tonnes, up by 105.85 per cent year-on-year. The net imports of alumina stood at 159,700 tonnes in March and totalled 525,700 tonnes from January to March 2024. Customs data also showed that China imported 11.8628 million tonnes of bauxite in March 2024, which increased by 5.19 per cent month-on-month but decreased 1.43 per cent year-on-year. From Guinea, the highest producer and exporter...
Egypt Aluminum sees a double-digit hike in net profit during the nine-month period of FY2024
Egypt Aluminum, the largest aluminium producer in Egypt and one of the largest in Africa, has reportedly announced its financial results for the first nine months of FY2023-24 ended March 31. Egypt Aluminum, popularly known as Egyptalum, posted its net profit after tax surged by 33 per cent year-on-year to EGP 5.22 billion during the nine-month period, compared to EGP 3.91 billion. In the first six months of FY2024, Egypt Aluminum achieved a net profit of EGP 3.43 billion, a 101 per cent year-on-year jump from EGP 1.70 billion. The above figure suggests that Egytalum’s net profit in the third quarter of FY2024 was EGP 1.79 billion. The company’s revenue in nine months was EGP 22.46 billion, up 52 per cent Y-o-Y from EGP 14.75 billion. In the first two quarters, the revenue was EGP13.38...
March 2024 alumina production recovery worldwide fails to offset Q1 decline
In the first quarter of 2024, which concluded on March 31, global alumina production slowed down over a quarter, primarily attributed to a significant decline in China's alumina output. Even a month-on-month recovery in China's alumina production in March 2024 failed to mitigate the overall decline in global output for the quarter. Alongside China, the global alumina production also regained in March but could not appease the Q1 output. However, annually, the world alumina production in Q1 2024 recorded a hike of about 3.49 per cent from 33.879 million tonnes. According to the International Aluminium Institute, the global alumina production in March increased by 6.96 per cent month-on-month from 11.188 million tonnes to 11.967 million tonnes and grew year-on-year by 1.24 per cent from...
Guinea achieves record-high bauxite production and exports in 2023, marking third consecutive year of growth
According to Reuters report, Guinea's bauxite production and exports increased for the third consecutive year in 2023. The West African nation is one of the world's biggest producers of bauxite, having 40 billion tonnes of mining capacity in Boké, Fria, Gaoual, Télimélé, Pita-Labé, Mali, Kindia, Dabola, Tougué, Lelouma, Mamou, Dalaba, Koubia. Guinea has the highest mining potential of bauxite, followed by iron ore (25 billion tonnes), gold, and diamond (more than 10 billion tonnes). In 2023, Guinea produced about 123 million tonnes of bauxite, up over 19 per cent year-on-year. With this significant rise, whether or not Guinea's bauxite production exceeded that of Australia is not known. Guinea's exports jumped 24.5 per cent to 127 million tonnes, 4 million tonnes more than production....
Rusal's 2023 annual report: Production surge counters revenue dip from aluminium sales price decline
Rusal, the world’s second-largest aluminium company by primary aluminium output, has announced its financial and operational results for the full year 2023 ended December 31. The company posted that its primary aluminium production totalled 3.848 million tonnes in 2023, representing a slight growth from the previous year. The company’s bauxite and alumina production increased significantly on an annual basis to 13.376 million tonnes and 5.133 million tonnes in 2023, up by 8.6 per cent and 13.8 per cent, respectively. Along with production, Rusal’s primary aluminium and alloys sales boosted 6.6 per cent year-on-year from 3.896 million tonnes to 4.153 million tonnes, driven by the release of excess inventory accumulated at the end of 2022. However, the growth in sales was offset by the...
GCC eyes to replace Russia in western countries with its wealth of primary aluminium
In the wake of the Western countries' ban on Russian aluminium, aluminium producers from the Gulf Cooperation Council expect their exports to increase to the United States and European markets. This anticipation is based on the new sanctions package imposed by the United States and the United Kingdom against Russia-made aluminium. The LME and CME also recently announced that they would rule out Russian aluminium produced on or after April 13 in a bid to limit the metal's trade on global exchanges. In this situation, GCC market analysts have identified a unique opportunity for the region to expand its international trade. Zaid Aljanabi, a principal analyst covering primary and secondary aluminium at CRU, stated, "There are more opportunities for GCC producers to gain market share with the...
Glencore’s aluminium purchase from Rusal valued at $1.06 billion in 2023
On Friday, April 26, Rusal said in its annual report that Glencore, a Swiss multinational commodity trading and mining company, bought aluminium from the Russian producer worth $1.06 billion in 2023 as part of a long-term contract. Glencore purchased Rusal’s aluminium, withstanding much pressure not to buy Russian metals. Western countries have been shunning Russia-made aluminium since the beginning of geo-political crisis between Ukraine and Russia in 2022. But there are no sanctions imposed by the western countries particularly against Rusal. The $16 billion aluminium purchase contract between Rusal and Glencore is scheduled to expire in 2025, and according to a report in March 2024, Glencore is unlikely to renew the contract . However, Glencore declined to comment on Friday whether...
NALCO’s aluminium ingot price sees a cut of INR5200/t with effect from April 26
In tandem with the LME aluminium price drop from where it began this week, National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has reduced its aluminium ingot and aluminium products prices, with effect from Friday, April 26. NALCO has cut its aluminium ingot and aluminium product prices by INR 5,200 per tonne from April 20. Thus, the company’s aluminium ingot price has derived at INR 252,150-255,650 per tonne as of April 26. Currently, NALCO’s aluminium wire rod and aluminium billet prices span a range of INR 261,150- 265,500 per tonne and INR 256,600-259,250 per tonne, respectively. Following a continuous growth from April 17 to April 22, reaching US$2,654 per tonne, the LME aluminium benchmark price trended down to stand at US$ 2,586.50 per tonne in the subsequent week. Hindalco and Vedanta’s...
