AL Circle Analysis: Aluminium’s recycling economics, trade walls and carbon rules converge
The story of the aluminium industry is starting a chapter wherein scrap availability, recycling technology, trade policy, carbon costs and demand growth are becoming increasingly interconnected. From the US and Canada to Europe, India, New Zealand and China, recent developments show that the global aluminium supply chain is being reshaped on several fronts at once. These developments point to a changing aluminium business model: access to metal alone may no longer be enough. Quality of recycled feedstock, domestic processing capacity, carbon intensity, trade exposure and the ability to meet increasingly specific customer requirements could become equally important competitive factors. Join the fourth edition of the webinar “Hedging for recyclers - Become an expert in 6 hours” by Jorge...
Europe holds 10% of global aluminium extrusion demand, supported by Germany’s Constellium, France’s Hydro Extrusions & Italy’s Metra
Across Europe, aluminium extrusion has become closely woven into some of the region’s biggest industrial and construction markets. From automotive and transport to buildings and industrial applications, extruded profiles are finding demand across a wide range of sectors. This is reflected in Europe’s position in the global market: the region accounted for 12 per cent of global aluminium extrusion capacity, making it the second-largest regional contributor after China. At the same time, Europe represented 10 per cent of global aluminium extrusion usage, out of total global usage of 35.35 million tonnes . With production capacity and usage shares relatively close, Europe’s extrusion capacity and consumption are broadly at par. If we break down Europe’s 10 per cent share of global aluminium...
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US aluminum recovered from scrap falls in January 2016
According to USGS Mineral Industry Survey for Aluminum in January 2016, total aluminum recovered from scrap in January 2016 was 296,000 t, 2% more than that recovered in December 2015 but 9% less than that in January 2015. Of this, 173,000 t of aluminum was recovered from new scrap, 6% more than the amount in the preceding month and slightly more than the amount recovered in January 2015. The amount of aluminum recovered from old scrap was 123,000 t, 4% less than the amount recovered in the preceding month and 21% less than that in January 2015. About 89,100 tons of aluminum alloys were produced at secondary smelters in the united States in January 2016. Average buying prices for UBC aluminum scrap was about 1212 dollars per ton.
BIR updates on non-ferrous scrap markets and aluminium recycling in major geographies
Labour costs have increased ‘very rapidly’ in China and some lower-end projects have moved to other developing countries in the region with wage and logistics advantages as well as lower environmental standards, according to Ma Hongchang, BIR’s advisor on local policy and regulatory developments. ‘Some capacity has already been transferred there,’ he points out. In 2015, China imported 3.658 million tons of scrap copper, 2.087 million tons of scrap aluminium More recently, many Chinese scrap traders and processors have been encouraged by the commodity price rebound and copper imports soared 50% year on year in February to 420 000 tonnes. Dubbed ‘unexpected’ in some quarters, this improvement in LME aluminium values helped to trade some of the ‘frozen’ tonnages which had remained unsold...
Alba backs Bahrain International CSR Award 2016
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), a leading aluminium smelter in the world, demonstrated its commitment as a frontrunner in corporate citizenship by backing the Bahrain International Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award 2016, organized by Bahrain CSR Society at the Regency Hotel over the course of two days starting April 6th 2016. The opening ceremony, held under the patronage of the Minister of Energy His Excellency Dr. Abdul Hussain Ali Mirza, was attended by Alba Chief Financial Officer Ali Al Baqali and Chief Marketing Officer Khalid A. Latif along with other Alba officials. On this occasion, Alba’s Chief Financial Officer, Ali Al Baqali said: “Alba believes in its responsibility towards the community in which its operates and as an active corporate citizen, we believe that it...
US primary production falls 25% in January YOY
According to USGS Mineral Industry Survey for Aluminum in January 2016, domestic primary aluminum production in US in January 2016 was 106,000 metric tons (t). The average daily production was 3,430 t, 6% less than the daily production during the preceding month and 25% less than that in January 2015. The monthly average U.S. market price of primary aluminium ingot decreased to $0.764 per pound in January 2016 from $0.769 per pound in December 2015 (fig. 2). The monthly average price increased to $0.783 per pound in February 2016. Inventories of primary aluminum in London Metal Exchange Ltd. approved warehouses in the United States were 420,000 t at the end of January. Inventories continued their downward trend, decreasing to 384,000 t at the end of February 2016, their lowest level since...
China ramps up aluminium output as 20% rally allows restarts
Aluminium smelters in China, which supply more than half the world’s metal, are restarting idled plants after a price rally, according to the industry group that brokered an agreement in December to curb capacity. As much as half of Chinese smelter capacity is profitable at current prices, Wen Xianjun, deputy chairman of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said in a phone interview, adding the restarts weren’t a breach of the December accord because the pact allowed for flexibility in production. Prices of the metal used to make everything from window frames to aircraft have climbed more than 20 percent from a low in November on the Shanghai Futures Exchange as Chinese policy makers signaled their willingness to bolster growth. The new production may reverse a decline in...
Alcoa signs bauxite supply contracts worth more than $350 million
Alcoa, the world’s largest bauxite miner, today announced that Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC) has secured multiple bauxite supply contracts valued at more than $350 million over the next two years. Under the contracts, the Company will supply bauxite to external customers from three of its global mines as it continues to successfully build its third-party bauxite business. The new contracts cover customers in China, Europe and Brazil. “With our quality resources and deep technical expertise, we are well positioned to deliver a stable supply of bauxite to customers across the global alumina industry,” said Garret Dixon, president of Alcoa Mining. “Our strategy is to profitably grow our third-party bauxite sales and these contracts demonstrate that we are well on track.” Alcoa is...
Chinese production down; Non-Chinese production up
Aluminium in China jumped to its highest price point in about six months. Chinese production seems to have fallen sharply over December and January which would help explain the strength of the local rally in prices. Meanwhile, according to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), non-Chinese global output rose by 3.7 per cent in the first two months of 2016, an acceleration from growth of 2.5 per cent in 2015. That’s a surprising outcome for a market burdened by high stocks and with prices hovering near a six-year low. Higher production excluding China has also led to steady aluminium Midwest premiums, which are hovering near $0.09 per pound. Aluminium has also recently moved from backwardation to contango as new supply has come in. Aluminium prices missing the broad metals rally...
'Berserk' aluminium boom signals bauxite bonanza for China's quarry
Key aluminium ingredient bauxite is shaping up as China's newest obsession in its mission to secure raw materials and once again minerals-rich Australia is a major target. China's investment in Australia's mining industry plunged, along with the global commodities rout, dropping in 2015 to the lowest since 2008 as surging supplies created gluts of materials including oil and iron ore. It's a different story unfolding for bauxite, with a potential step up in interest led by Aluminium Corp of China, known as Chinalco, which confirmed it's looking at investing in projects in Australia. Demand in China for the aluminium needed in air conditioning units to airliners will rise by almost a third by 2020, according to Morgan Stanley, while the nation's supplies of adequate raw materials to...
Japanese architecture firm clads art centre in porous aluminium panels
Kengo Kuma and Associates has built an art centre with an intricate aluminium-moulded facade at a former cotton mill in China, which has been converted into a shop and office complex. Kengo Kuma's Japan-based firm converted the entire 10,440-square-metre mill to create the new retail, office and art centre called Wuxi Vanke, which is located near Taihu Lake on the outskirts of Shanghai. The art centre occupies an extension to the old brick building. Its complex facade comprises hundreds of cast aluminium panels, which are arranged in an alternating pattern of solid and void to give the building a wavy outline. The porous form of the metal panels is modelled on Taihu stone, a type of limestone with water-worn hollows and perforations common in the region. Each piece of aluminium was cast...
Chinese aluminium smelters to benefit from power reform
Chinese aluminium smelters will stand to benefit as China vows to expand power transmission and distribution reform to more regions, SMM understands. The reform will cover another seven provinces and one more region in 2016 and the whole country by 2017, China's National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) announced recently. Power tariff cuts in the initial five provinces covered by the reform totaled 5.56 billion yuan in 2015. Another five provinces, namely Yunnan, Ningxia, Guizhou, Anhui and Hubei, were added in the reform in 2015, according to announcement by the NDRC.
About 51% of Chinese aluminium smelters see aluminium prices rise this week
About 51 per cent of the 45 Chinese aluminium smelters surveyed by SMM expect aluminium prices to rise this week. Those optimists see SHFE 1606 aluminium rising above RMB 12,000/mt and LME aluminium advancing above USD 1,550/mt. First, aluminium stocks in China’s five major markets fell sharply. It will take only about six weeks for aluminium stocks China’s five major markets to drop to 400,000-500,000 mt at current destocking pace. Aluminium prices used to get support when stocks fell to 400,000-500,000 mt during 2013-2015, and this year will be no exception. Second, improved downstream consumption and Chinese macro-economic data will also bode well for aluminium prices. Third, technical side is positive for SHFE aluminium. Another 38 per cent see SHFE 1606 aluminium stabilizing at RMB...
US aluminium smelting industry decline likely to have far-reaching consequences
An important part of the dramatic shift in global aluminium supply seen this century is the decline of primary production in the USA. While production in the Middle East has jumped from 0.9 million tonnes (Mt) in 1999 to an expected 5.7Mt this year, and Chinese primary production has skyrocketed from 2.6Mt in 1999 to reach 31.2Mt in 2015, production in the USA has fallen from 3.8Mt in 1999 to an expected 0.7Mt this year. Analysts opine this major decline will likely have consequences over the long term. According to them, the sources of this decline in US production are: • The Pacific Northwest (PNW) energy crisis in the early 2000s, • Low aluminium ingot price, and • Loss of competitive position in the global industry. Aluminium prices have been falling in real (inflation-adjusted) terms...
HP unveils the world's thinnest laptop made from aluminium, carbon fibre
A new laptop unveiled by HP today will be the thinnest in the world. At 0.4 inches (10.4mm) thick, the Spectre 13 Ultrabook is thinner than AAA batteries and both thinner and lighter than Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air. It breaks the previous record held by its own 0.49-inch thick (12.4mm) EliteBook Folio G1 enterprise Ultrabook. In terms of weight, the new copper-toned notebook is not the lightest device around, weighing 2.45 pounds (1.11kg). Most of the body is dark grey aluminium with bronze along the sides. "Carbon fibre and aluminium craftsmanship give this device the look and feel of pure luxury. The two-tone finish on the copper-coloured spine is an example of the beauty of contrast," the company said. A big difference with this new model is that the new Spectre is powered by Intel...
Uni-body casing of G5 smartphone is composed of special aluminium alloy, confirms LG
In response to the recent furor over LG G5 smartphone make after reviews started flowing in from various markets where it has been launched, the mobile phone manufacturer has released a statement confirming “unequivocally” that the LG G5 unibody casing is built from aluminium. The handset’s design first came into question when a video released on a leading social media site showed that on being scratched, the outer layer of the handset revealed a plastic like casing. But LG completely denies that its new flagship smartphone is built from anything other than metal. “Contrary to erroneous reports online that the LG G5 body is composed of plastic, LG would like to state unequivocally that the uni-body casing of the G5 is composed of a special aluminium alloy, LM201,” writes LG. According to...
Kobe Steel to spend $900 mln to bolster aluminium supplies for cars, planes
Japan's Kobe Steel Ltd will spend 100 billion yen ($900 million) over the next five years to boost steel and aluminium supplies to automakers and aircraft manufacturers as it looks to drive growth and counter faltering demand in China. Steel producers in high-cost countries say their best hope for surviving the global glut is to develop higher value specialised products although they will still face a tough time competing with low-cost Chinese producers. Under a new five-year business plan announced on Tuesday and starting this month, the country's third-biggest steelmaker aims to bolster its recurring profit, pre-tax before one-off items, to 140 billion yen in the year through March 2021, against an estimated 25 billion yen in the year just ended. In an effort to differentiate itself...
ESI Group introduces comprehensive cast simulation software for aluminium die casters
ESI Group, pioneer and world-leading solution provider in Virtual Prototyping for manufacturing industries, announces its participation at CastExpo,16-19 April 2016 in Minneapolis, MN, USA. Sponsored by the American Foundry Society (AFS), CastExpo is the largest metal casting trade show in North America. ESI will showcase on booth 1915 its leading casting simulation software, ProCAST, which addresses a large number of casting processes for diverse metals and alloys including aluminium die casting. Developed over the past 25 years, ProCAST has helped foundries across industries, improve aluminium die cast part quality, reduce manufacturing defects, and lower scrap rates. ESI ProCAST is a versatile, precise and comprehensive casting simulation solution, enabling foundries to tackle easily...
Pakistani auto part manufacturers push for exemption from steel and aluminium import duties
The Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (Paapam) has urged the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to immediately withdraw the new regulatory duty on all raw materials that they import. The government has recently imposed 15 per cent additional import duty on different steel products. However, this has caused problems for the auto industry that imports various steel raw materials under the common Pakistan Customs Tariff (PCT) codes. The intention behind levying duties on steel and other metal imports including aluminium was to protect the local industry in the face of dumping by Chinese manufacturers that resulted in underutilisation of local plants. The association did appreciate the imposition of duty to protect the local metal industry, but asked the...
India’s Supreme Court rejects bauxite mining in Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills
India’s Supreme Court ruled on April 1, Friday last week, that it could not issue an order for bauxite mining to begin in Odisha without getting input from local governments and other stakeholders in the area. The court required that the Odisha Mining Corporation add the fourteen gram sabhas (local councils) that objected to the move as parties to the suit. The firm approached the councils anew in order to seek permission to conduct mining in the bauxite-rich Niyamgiri hills. The controversy began in 2010 when Odisha Mining and Vedanta formed a joint venture to seek government approval to conduct operations in Niyamgiri hills. The move led to protests by the local Kondh tribal people, who established a committee to determine whether the joint venture complied with the relevant...
