AL Circle Analysis: US scrap imports hit 580kt as China slips 3.2%, who drives aluminium recycling?
Aluminium scrap is no longer a side story in the metal’s market. Rather, aluminium’s next standoff is over scrap. As US imports surge 37 per cent while China’s purchases decline, manufacturers in Europe and India are confronting a common challenge of securing affordable, reliable raw materials. With recycling rates, trade barriers and low-carbon production reshaping market, the global industry faces a critical question: who will control the metal that powers its circular future? Join the fourth edition of the webinar "Hedging for recyclers - Become an expert in 6 hours" by Jorge Dyszel. A 1.1-billion-tonne stockpile: US stocks up, China steps back, India asks for access The US imported 580,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap worth USD 2.07 billion in H1 2026 , with Canada accounting for 63.62...
A should-cost analysis of an aluminium tower furnace in India: Comparing the economics of LPG, PNG, and electric energy sources
In precision non-ferrous casting and high-volume die-casting operations, thermal energy conversion represents one of the largest controllable operating expenses. In modern aluminium foundries, where margins are squeezed by primary metal price fluctuations and stringent customer cost breakdowns, even a modest INR 1–2/kg variance in liquid metal melting cost can translate into tens of lakhs of rupees in annual cost differences. A rigorous, transparent should-cost benchmark is therefore essential for procurement teams, foundry managers and strategic sourcing leaders. This analysis examines a baseline should-cost model for a 1,000 kg/hour aluminium shaft or tower furnace in an industrial foundry. It compares liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), piped natural gas (PNG) and electric energy across...
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'More protection with new bauxite-mining scheme,' says Pahang Environment Ministry
The new bauxite-mining scheme being finalised by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, Malaysia, will provide better protection for the people and environment, as well as ensure sustainability of the industry. Its minister, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, said that at least three areas of control would regulate the sector, which last year drew the wrath of Kuantan folk for the environmental pollution it caused, partly due to poor regulation of the industry. Now, industry players will have to, among others, observe the port’s export capacity, the mining operators’ production abilities and the Federal Government’s issuance of Approval Permits (APs). “It had been predicted that the bauxite-mining industry would last between two and three years,” Wan Junaidi said. “However,...
NALCO CMD meets India's PM Narendra Modi
During the recent visit of the Prime Minister to the Temple City of Bhubaneswar, Shri Tapan Kumar Chand, CMD, NALCO extended him warm welcome on behalf of all the industries in Bhubaneswar and NALCO, the Navratna company, at Raj Bhavan, Bhubaneswar. He also presented a book “Aluminium : The Strategic Metal” authored by him to Prime Minister. The book was earlier released by Central Vigilance Commissioner, Govt. of India, on 6th January, 2016. The book has been reviewed by Dr. Abraham Koshy, Professor, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmadabad. He has described it as “One Stop Shop” for key information pertaining to the entire value chain of Aluminium making from Bauxite Mining to rolling, casting and high end product making. The book is primarily meant for frontline engineers,...
No relief in sight yet for Indian aluminium makers
Government of India has provided relief to the domestic steel manufacturers hit by cheap imports and the global slowdown in commodity price by imposing a minimum import price ranging from $341 to $752 a tonne on 173 steel products. But, the global slowdown has left the aluminium industry still struggling with misearbly thin margins and low production. Addressing banks’ exposure to the steel industry has been given priority over a potential drop in investments in aluminium, pointed a senior Government official. It is to be noted that banks’ exposure to the entire metals sector, which includes aluminium, is around INR1,02,300 crore. Over the next five years, the aluminium industry has planned an investment of INR 1,20,000 crore but this has been put on hold due to existing constraints...
AEC urges U.S. Senate to take up vote on important Trade Enforcement Bill
The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) commends the U.S. House of Representatives for supporting American manufacturing by voting to approve the conference report to H.R. 644, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. AEC has asked the U.S. Senate take up this important issue and approve the bill when it comes to the floor, which is likely to happen this week. The final conference report creates new procedures at U.S. Customs and Border Protection to effectively address the evasion of antidumping and countervailing duty orders within set deadlines. “The relief our industry has enjoyed from unfairly traded Chinese imports has been threatened by the efforts of Chinese producers like Zhongwang and others to circumvent and evade duties,” said Jeff Henderson, AEC Director of...
STUDY: Vehicle lightweighting an economical solution for truck fleets
Commercial truck fleets looking to increase fuel efficiency, haul more freight and retain more drivers can look to lightweighting as a key enabler, according to a recent Confidence Report on Lightweighting by Trucking Efficiency. The report found that investing in lightweighting is an attractive and economical alternative to adding expensive new equipment – potentially saving fleets nearly $1 million over five years. Trucking Efficiency is an initiative of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) and the Carbon War Room (CWR) that aims to double the efficiency of the North American trucking fleet. “When lightweighting is looked at not only in terms of better fuel economy but also improved freight efficiency, it makes sense in a wide variety of applications,” said Mike...
Aluminium Federation SA begs National Energy Regulator to review its cost recovery strategy
Power utility Eskom will know in a matter of weeks whether its attempt to recover R22.8 billion for cost recovery and revenue adjustments is successful. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) hearings on Eskom’s regulatory clearing account (RCA) ended on Friday and the regulator will make a decision on February 25. The RCA application is a cost recovery mechanism that seeks to reconcile the tariffs Nersa awarded Eskom on the basis of a range of forecasts and what materialized, as reflected in the utility’s financial statements. The mining sector, which is a major consumer of power, told the hearings that the application was not affordable in the current economic climate. Major companies and business organizations begged Nersa to reject the application, citing the negative...
Can-Pack Romania invests in intelligent collection devices of aluminium cans
Can-Pack Romania, the only producer of aluminium cans in Romania, plans to invest 200,000 Euro in order to install during this year 21 intelligent collection devices of aluminium can waste that will be implemented in the Auchan hypermarket network, according to Adina Magsi, the general manager of Alucro. Alucro, a non-profit association, was founded in 2008 by Can-Pack Romania and EAA (European Aluminium Association) in order to the promote the collection-recycling system of aluminium cans on the local market. The organization will carry out information campaigns in order to determine the population to use these devices to recover the waste and avoid disposing of the aluminium cans in inappropriate places. "We have far more ambitious plans for 2016 that we want to achieve as we planned,"...
China Zhongwang upbeat about automotive aluminium market
China Zhongwang Holdings, China’s top aluminium extrusion producer, is pinning hopes on the automotive sector for pulling up demand for aluminium extrusions, reported sources close to the company. Zhongwang’s managing director perceives three areas of growth that will buoy aluminium applications consumption in automobile manufacturing; these are- car body, car door, and car parts. A recent survey report published by one international authority showed that a 100 kg reduction in vehicle weight could save fuel consumption by 0.3-0.6 liters per 100 km.
Maan Aluminium informs about closure of trading window
Maan Aluminium has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the company will be held on February 13, 2016, to consider and approve Un-Audited Financial Results of the company for the quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2015 along with the limited review report of the auditors for the corresponding period (Q3). Further, in terms of trading restrictions placed of the code of conduct of company to regulate, monitor and report trading in securities pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015 the Trading Window for dealing with the shares of company will remain closed from February 06, 2016 to February 14, 2016. Maan Aluminium is one of the oldest aluminium extrusion plants in Central India....
India's major aluminium scrap prices up; MCX aluminium settles higher
Major aluminium scrap commodities prices in India advanced on Thursday, February 4, while aluminium futures prices at Multi Commodity Exchange settled higher as a steep fall in the dollar eclipsed tepid demand in China, forcing shorts to cover ahead of the week long Lunar new year break. The major aluminium scrap commodities rose on Scrap Register Price Index as on Thursday. India's major scrap commodities like aluminium accessories scrap, aluminium ingots, aluminium rod company, aluminium sheet cutting, aluminium utensil scrap and aluminium wire scrap traded up on Thursday. The most active February aluminium contract on Multi Commodity Exchange settled slightly up by 0.39 pe cent to INR 104.45 per kilogram on Thursday from previous close of INR 104.05 per kilogram. The MXC aluminium...
Bank seeks order to take over Tower Aluminium Nigeria
Access Bank Plc has filed a petition before a Federal High Court in Lagos against Tower Aluminium Nigeria Plc over an alleged debt of N2.6bn. The bank, in the said petition, is seeking an order of the court appointing the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court or any insolvency or accounting expert, as the provisional liquidator of Tower Aluminium Nigeria Plc. It prayed the court to empower the said appointed provisional liquidator to take charge of “all identifiable and traceable assets, properties and funds in banks within and outside Nigeria” belonging to Tower Aluminum. It also sought an order restraining the respondent from “transferring or dissipating its assets; and an order restraining it from interfering with or disturbing the provisional liquidator to be appointed.” It also...
Alba announces the appointment of four new managers
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), a leading aluminium smelter in the world, is pleased to announce the appointment of four new managers in key departments of the Company, which underlines the Company’s belief of promoting from within and cultivating the next generation of leaders. The new managers are: Nezar Hameed Ali as Manager Operation Support Services (OSS); Hussain Al-Malali as Manager Customer Technical Support (CTS); Mohd A. Rahim Zainal as Manager Reduction Line 5 and Khalid Ahmed Shareef as Manager Reduction Maintenance & Services. On announcing the appointment of the new managers, Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray said: “As a priority, Alba always looks to promote from within the company. Alba believes in developing talented nationals by providing them with the...
Rio Tinto bauxite and alumina chief Phillip Strachan steps down
The man in charge of Rio Tinto's $US1.9 billion ($2.7 billion) bauxite expansion has left the company, as the miner's cost cutting drive continues to trim its executive ranks. Phillip Strachan had been Rio's chief executive of Bauxite and Alumina based out of Brisbane in recent years, but his role will now be absorbed by Pacific Aluminium chief executive Bruce Cox. The change comes barely three months after Rio announced it would go ahead with a major expansion of its bauxite export business near Weipa in Queensland. Mr Strachan has been involved with Rio's aluminium division since 1999, and it is believed he is not the only departure from Rio's Brisbane office. Mr Cox is well known across the Australian mining sector, having spent more than three decades working for BHP Billiton and Rio...
Alcoa celebrates one billionth milestone in bauxite mining
Alcoa’s workforce is celebrating an historic milestone after achieving one billion tonnes of bauxite mined, following 53 years of operation in Western Australia. President Alcoa Mining Garret Dixon saluted the hard work and tireless efforts of past and present employees who have worked across its mining operations at Jarrahdale, Huntly and Willowdale. “We’re very proud of this achievement and also our decades-long, internationally recognised land rehabilitation program - one of the most critical parts of the mining process which sees jarrah forest ecosystems restored,” said Mr Dixon. Mr Dixon said Alcoa had built a world-class integrated mining, refining and smelting system in Australia with a strong sustainability record. “In Australia, our bauxite is used to produce alumina to supply...
Aluminum Extruders Council reacts to DOC's delay in Zhongwang Case
The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) is disappointed that the Department of Commerce (DOC) has decided to delay its decision on the Scope Clarification/Circumvention filing against Chinese aluminium extruder Zhongwang Group. The AEC called for several governments, including the U.S., to investigate a variety of charges leveled against Zhongwang and its U.S. affiliates in the Dupre Report that surfaced last July. “While the DOC postpones its decision, the U.S. aluminium extrusion industry is watching its trade orders, which it fought hard to win, being evaded by a renewed flood of unfairly traded aluminium for which there is no buyer,” said AEC Director of Operations and Fair Trade Committee director Jeff Henderson. According to the evidence provided in the AEC submission to the Department...
Aluminium MMI: Alcoa stock plunges to a 7-year low
Although other base metals made new lows in January, aluminium prices held steady. The aluminium MMI fell only one point to 71. What didn’t fare well in January was Alcoa‘s stock price, which fell sharply to its lowest level since March 2009. Lower aluminium prices where the main cause driving the company’s shares down over the past months. In addition, the recent turmoil in stock markets is not helping matters. A combination of both made Alcoa’s stock price to plunge in January. Midwest Premiums Rising domestic premiums help Alcoa to improve its margins. Since September, premiums in US rose from the lows of $0.06 per lb., mainly because of the production cutbacks announced by domestic producers in Q4 2015. However, we haven’t seen falling stockpiles and we’ll probably not see a major...
Honor’s £189 aluminium 5x phablet debuts in the UK
Honor’s 5x phablet is poised to make debut in the UK market. The gadget comes with an updated Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 processor, compared with the 615 found on other versions. It is still made from aluminium material which it claims will not warm up even for those using it for hard core gaming. Honor even tried using a chainsaw on the phone to prove its strength, sending sparks across the stage at the launch event in Munich. Key features of Honor’s aluminium 5x phablet include enhanced fingerprint recognition security, featured on the back of the device – comparable to the Huawei Mate S launched at IFA way back in September. In addition to security, the finger print recognition function can be used to access and to select “your favourite” apps. Other features include dual sim...
Southern Aluminum Finishing Co. selected as Atlanta Metro Export Challenge semi-finalist
Southern Aluminum Finishing Co. received a $5,000 grant and is a semi-finalist in the inaugural Atlanta Metro Export Challenge, a grant competition powered by Chase which boosts support for small and medium-sized businesses looking to begin exporting or to increase their export programs. Thirty-five companies from metro Atlanta were selected as semi-finalists and will each receive a reimbursement grant of up to $5,000 to apply toward expenses related to building export capacity and activities. SAF won the grant based on several criteria. Chiefly, SAF is one of five continuous coil anodizers in North America. Additionally, SAF scored points because of its pro-active international efforts to expand its distribution of anodized aluminum sheet, aluminum extrusions, and fabricated painted and...
