AlCircle News Edited By "Rupankar Majumder"
A professional with a technical background, specialising in producing insightful content centred around metals, particularly aluminium, passionately engaged in the intricacies of the recycling sector.
Trimet Aluminium SE in Hamburg settles new Anode Baking Furnace into operation
Trimet Aluminium SE’s aluminium smelter in Hamburg settles a new baking furnace for the production of carbon anodes, aiming to ensure greater energy efficiency. The new brick-lined ring chamber furnace with 48 chambers superseded an eight-year-old furnace, ensuring greater energy efficiency. An ultra-modern firing system also contributes to this, with a gas burner that makes more efficient use of energy while concurrently producing less emission. Furthermore, the furnace integrates optimized materials: the bricks used for the furnace walls are easier to heat so that considerably less energy is required. Trimet has invested around twelve million euros in the new system. Dr Andreas Lützerath, member of the Executive Board of Trimet Aluminium SE said: “With the new baking furnace, we will...
Chalco Chairman Lu Dongliang resigns from his position
Aluminum Corp of China Ltd, Chalco, declared on 14th May’20 that its Chairman Lu Dongliang had resigned from his position. The previous President of the company Ao Hong has been put in temporary charge. Lu Dongliang has informed the board of Chalco, the listed arm of state-owned aluminium firm Chinalco that he was stepping down as Chairman and Director due to a work re-allocation, according to company filings to the Hong Kong stock exchange, which said the resignation was effective immediately. A spokesperson of the group said: “Lu, 46, has also left his position as vice president of Chinalco.” Though it was not immediately clear what would be Lu’s next career move. He has been the explorer of Chalco’s Boffa bauxite project in Guinea. His rise was rapid through the ranks at the company,...
COVID-19 impact: Spanish Aluminium die-casting company RUFFINI S.A. resumes for production
RUFFINI S.A. resumes switching on the melting tower to re-start its production of casted components, after 30 days of shut-down due to COVID-19 epidemic. The customary die-casting firm based in Barcelona works aligned with the major customers located in Germany, so the supply to Europe has started again. As per a company representative: “The safety of the employees is the most important thing but also we have to keep in mind that we need to open again the industry as soon as possible.” The company have implemented a lot of measures in the plant to ensure there is a minimum risk of possible infection and employees are really happy to work again. Ruffini hopes to also help suppliers to open their factories and start changing the economic situation with the butterfly effect. Ruffini, with...
The steady rise of Sweden’s Aluminium cans importation market during 2017-20
Sweden is a competitive and highly liberalized, open market economy. The vast majority of Swedish enterprises are privately owned and market-oriented, combined with a strong welfare state involving transfer payments involving up to three-fifths of GDP. The rise in canned beverages market has also given support for the importation for aluminium cans. The nation’s aluminium can importation during 2017-19 has been recorded at 16,314 tonnes and the expenditure on import stood at $76.42. The projected for 2020 has been analysed at 6930 tonnes and the expenditure might reach to $25.66 million. When the estimated import volume and expenditure is summed with the last three years it reflects 23,244 tonnes and $102.08 million. Sweden’s aluminium cans importation in 2017 was recorded at 4385 tonnes...
The “Corona” crisis: British Aluminium Scaffolding firm George Roberts ensures £1 million loan to survive lockdown
The British company based in Liverpool scaffolding supplier George Roberts ensured a £1m loan from Barclays bank to support cash flow issues during the lockdown. The £38m-turnover firm used the government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), which was announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in March’20 as part of a £330m financial aid package for UK businesses. George Roberts NW finance director Mark Roach said: “The lockdown caused a reduction in orders due to a reduced number of live projects. The loan guarantees liquidity and maintains a platform to ensure the business retains and even improves its status in the marketplace going forward”. Graham Duckworth, Barclays Relationship Director said: “The loan has given George Roberts NW the financial headroom to get...
World Bank: Green energy roar will demand switch to ‘climate-smart’ mining
According to World Bank: “Climate-smart principles must steer the global search for the minerals and metals required by the green energy boom to make sure the process remains sustainable.” As per the new study, the global monetary body concluded that sourcing of non-metals, metals, and others for renewables in enough volumes – 3 billion tonnes – to keep global heating within 2°C by 2050 would carry emissions equal to only 6% of the footprint of fossil fuels. The World Bank has advised climate activists, green energy developers, and miners to work together to embed sustainability into the entire mineral supply chain, ensuring shortages do not prevent green energy from being deployed at the speed the Paris Agreement requires. The World Bank has spent years ransacking into the influence of...
COVID-19 impact: FIMI expects Indian Prime Minister’s stimulus package will crop up relief to the highly taxed mining sector
Indian Miners apex body Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) on 13 th May'20 hailed the INR 20 lakh crore special economic packages, expressing hope that the stimulus will also be used to give relief to highly taxed and struggling mining sector. FIMI said in a statement: "We are grateful to the Prime Minister for announcing the financial stimulus of INR 20 lakh crore to make India self-reliant and boost MSMEs.” The industry body added that it hoped the package "will also be used to boost the highly taxed and struggling mining sector, which is critical for raw material supply to Indian manufacturing units, power, infrastructure sectors, etc." FIMI said: “A majority of the mineral blocks in the country are small in size, with 72% of mines being less than 50 hectares in size and...
Ministry of Mines, India: Urges JNARDDC and NALCO to co-operate each other for the R&D projects in Aluminium Industry
Satendra Singh, Joint Secretary, Govt. of India-Ministry of Mines on 12 th May’20 chaired a review meeting through Video Conferencing with officials of Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC) and National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) to discuss the ongoing research and development projects. Mr Singh directed both the institutions to co-operate each other to serve the demand of aluminium industry with the support of research and development. NALCO is the largest aluminium producer of the country and JNARDDC is the institute that provides state-of-the-art technology with their research to NALCO. A discussion was held on different ongoing and other project ideas in the pipeline with NALCO. Singh also reviewed the pilot projects which can be...
Anil Agarwal: Vedanta set to delist from Indian stock exchanges
On 12 th May’20, Vedanta Resources stated that mining and metal tycoon Anil Agarwal plans to offer INR 16,200 crore in cash to take the Indian stock exchanges-listed Vedanta Ltd private. The London-based outfit Vedanta Resources which Anil Agarwal delisted in 2018, is offering INR 87.5 for a share of Vedanta Ltd to minority shareholders of the BSE/NSE-traded Company <iframe width="500" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HrZINbpvOBg" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> The offer price is at a 2% discount to Vedanta Ltd’s on 12 th May’20 closing price of INR 89.30 on the BSE but represents a 10% premium to the stock’s last trading price on 11 th May’20. Vedanta Resources, along with other...
US Department of Justice: Proposes Hindalco-owned Novelis to divest investment in aluminium major Aleris
The "US Department of Justice" is proposing a federal court to order Aditya Birla Hindalco-owned American company Novelis to divest its entire stakes in aluminium major Aleris due to the competitive concern with such an acquisition. Novelis with its headquartering in Atlanta produces flat-rolled aluminium products in three segments: automotive, beverage can and speciality products. Its revenues were approximately USD 12.3 billion for the fiscal year ending 31 st March’19. Novelis is a fully-owned subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Limited, an Indian company with its headquarter in Mumbai. Aleris was a Delaware corporation headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, before its acquisition by Novelis. Aleris produces flat-rolled aluminium products to the automotive, aerospace, building and...
Czech Republic’s Aluminium scrap import market reflects nose-up during 2017-20
The economy of the Czech Republic is a developed export-oriented social market economy based on services, manufacturing, and innovation that maintains a high-income welfare state and the European social model. The industry sector accounts for 37.5% of the economy. The principal industries are high tech engineering, electronics and machine-building, transportation equipment, etc. The Aluminium scrap import of the nation during 2017-19 remains enterprising, as the total import volume stood at 342,675 tonnes, while the expenditure remained at $356.20 million. The projected import volume for 2020 has been analysed at 131,782 tonnes and the expenditure might reach to $92.20 million. When the 2020 import volume and expenditure is added with the preceding three years it reflects 474,457 tonnes...
Two diesel locomotives built in China handover to Guinea, contribution towards enhancing Bauxite transit to port
A journey of 35 days that crossed 21,112 km with two large locomotives built by the Chinese group CRRC for the Dapilon-Santou railway line was landed on 8 th May’20 at the Guinean port of Boké, initiated the departure from the Chinese port of Yantai in Shandong province. The internal combustion diesel locomotives measure 22 meters long, 3.3 meters wide and 4.1 meters high and weighs 150 tonnes each. The mission thus established a new Chinese national record for bulk maritime transport between Yantai and West Africa in terms of length of journey and tonnage of cargo. The Papillon-Santou line links the port of Boké to bauxite mines in eastern Guinea. It will greatly contribute to enhancing the transit capacity of the port after it enters into service. The port of Yantai is the largest...
Denmark’s import of Aluminium ingot remains variable during 2017-19: Dip by 2.55% projected for 2020
Denmark is one of the most prominent Scandinavian nations and an important part of the European Union since 1973. The country holds a prominent position in the world economy. Denmark is the world’s 60th largest economy in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). It has a diverse economy that is a mixture of agriculture, services, and industry. The aluminium ingot importation of Denmark remains variable during 2017-19 as the total volume of import recorded was 232,165 tonnes, whereas the revenue expended remained at $405.24 million. The projected import analysis for 2020 has shown a dip by 2.55%, as the total import might reflect 73,720 tonnes, with $109.32 million to be listed for expenditure. The trading nations for Denmark’s aluminium ingot are Austria, Croatia, Germany, Luxembourg,...
COVID-19: PARC Robotic Systems in India reopens but still workers stay home
PARC Robotic Systems reinstated their two aluminium part factories in Pune at the western province of India. Bharat Gite, Director of PARC Robotic stated that he spent days servicing idle machines, sanitising his premises and putting in place social distancing norms for staff. The aluminium component manufacturer is facing a problem that it is becoming tough for their workers to return to their jobs post millions of Indians fled cities for their rural homes or on other cities when the Government of India executed a nationwide lockdown at the end of March’20. Bharat Gite said: “We haven't heard from customers in the last two months. It's a havoc situation. We don't know what is going to happen." PARC Robotics Systems has been a supplier company to General Electric Co. (GE), ABB Ltd., and...
Rio Tinto: To test zero-emission aluminium bus in Quebec
The metal and mining giant, Rio Tinto, has joined hands on a project to develop a zero-emission bus made of aluminium that will be tested in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada in 2021. The bus is fully electric and made with aluminium and it is named as the Electrip. Emmanuel Bergeron, Director of regional economic development, Rio Tinto said: “noting that it also offers greater accessibility for people with reduced mobility.” Since 2017, the mining company has come out to support the futuristic project, aligning with its focus on sustainability and combining public transport, low-carbon-footprint materials and renewable energy.
Political stand-off hampering bauxite labour talks in Guyana
The current political stand-off has been constantly hampering the progress of labour talks. This situation is also creating an abstraction of an order for Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI) and the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU) to enter into arbitration to resolve a long-brewing dispute over wages and salaries. On 8 th May’20, the General Secretary of the GB&GWU, Lincoln Lewis said: “The dispute between the two parties is set for arbitration and explained that they will only be able to start talks once the political impasse is resolved. He also added: “It will go to arbitration after the current political impasse as when there is a new government we expect the new minister will sign the order.”
The “Corona” crisis: Nissan to stretch production halt for most US plants, aluminium components suppliers to stand gloomy
The Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Nissan Motor Co., announced on 7 th May’20 that it is extending its production halt for most of the USA manufacturing plants in regards to the coronavirus pandemic. The decision has delivered a negative message to the aluminium components suppliers for their US plants, as their role of the supply chain cannot be ignored. Nissan had begun gradually resuming production operations at its Infiniti powertrain plant in Decherd, Tennessee last week. The company stated that it would evaluate current market demand and supplier readiness before setting a restart date for the remaining plants. Many automakers are expecting to resume the US production starting 18 th May’20 after halting operations in late March’20.
Mexico’s Alumina import remains "even" during 2017-19: Projected 9.69% growth in 2020
A lack of domestic bauxite mines means Mexico can't make enough aluminium domestically to meet demand. Aluminium is the world’s second-most-used industrial metal, second only to steel. Mexico’s long-running mining tradition dates back to colonial times, and despite the historically large (and continuing) importance of the mining industry and the fact that Mexico leads in the production of several metals and minerals. The alumina import of Mexico has remained even during 2017-19, as the total volume recorded was 91,495 tonnes and the revenue expenditure reflected was $116.42 million. The analyzed import volume for 2020 has been noted at 32,306 tonnes, while the expenditure might rise to $42.18 million. When the 2020 import volumes and revenue gets summed up with the last three years it...
