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...
Grow with
AL Circle
Ford's 2015 profit jumps on stronger sales
Improving sales in most of the world helped Ford Motor Co. achieve a record pre-tax profit in 2015, and the company says the numbers could go even higher this year. Full-year pretax profit jumped 48 per cent to $US10.8 billion ($A15.33 billion) as its global sales and market share grew. Ford's US sales reached their highest level in a decade, and its F-Series pickup remained the best-selling vehicle in the US for the 34th straight year. A change in the way Ford accounts for its pension costs also boosted pretax results. Bob Shanks, Ford's chief financial officer, said 2015 was the 'breakthrough year' Ford promised after it spent heavily in 2014 to build new plants in Asia and bring a new, aluminium-sided F-150 pickup to market in the US. Ford expects this year's pretax profit to be equal...
Jamaican govt says no compromise on Noranda bauxite levy
Jamaican government has rejected pleas to relieve St Ann-based bauxite company, Noranda, of its levy obligations in light of its declining profits. Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Peter Phillips told the House of Representatives yesterday that the Government would not compromise the 40-year-old levy to save Noranda from decline. “Were we to accede to Noranda’s demand, the country would be realisng, in nominal terms, the same amount of taxes that we were receiving prior to the introduction of the bauxite levy in 1974. And we would be doing so while allowing the exploitation of a depleting, non-renewable resource,” Phillips said during the debate on the first supplementary estimates 2015/16, which were approved by the House of Representatives last night. “This would be dishonouring the...
China found guilty of dumping aluminium extrusion products in TT
According to the preliminary findings of an anti-dumping investigation by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Trinidad and Tobago, China is guilty of dumping metal products in the country. The action has been determined to have caused “injury” to local enterprise involved in the marketing of similar products, one particular trader having had to reduce prices by some 13 percent in order to compete with the Chinese products entering the local market. The preliminary findings, handed down this month by Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon, relate to a 2014 complaint brought in relation to aluminium extrusions, namely aluminium bars, rods, tubes and pipes. “The Minister of Trade and Industry has, arising from the investigation into the allegation of the dumping described...
China Zhongwang's new aluminium-body automobile production unit to come up in Yingkou
China Zhongwang Holdings, the world's second largest and Asia's and China's largest producer of industrial aluminium extrusion products is planning to come up with an aluminium-body automobile manufacturing plant in Yingkou City, Liaoning. Operations at the project, with a planned investment of 6 billion yuan ($913 million), is scheduled to start in October 2017, reported industry sources. The aluminium-body automobile production base having an estimated annual vehicle production capacity of 50,000 units will be built in two phases. Investment in the first phase has been estimated to be around 3 billion yuan. The project will essentially churn out aluminium-body oil tanks and aluminum fire-fighting trucks along with other utility vehicles, said industry sources.
China’s appetite for aluminium alloy and aluminium semis declines
Chinese aluminium alloy exports increased 58 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in December to reach 8,991 mt in December 2015, while declining 17.71 per cent y-o-y during January-December period, showed data published by China's General Administration of Customs on January 26. Australia supplied maximum quantity of the alloy which amounted to 2,572 mt in December and 14,386 mt in the one year period, both the figures showing a significant rise from the corresponding period previous year. Imports from most of the countries, on the other hand, declined- a trend which indicates at the slowing demand of aluminium alloy in the country. Import of aluminium semis too dropped 15 per cent y-o-y in December and 5.6 per cent in the one year period. China's cumulative consumption of aluminium bar, rod,...
Hydro Årdal power outage has limited effect on production
Following the power outage on Friday night, around 10 percent of Hydro Årdal's primary aluminium production capacity is temporarily shut down. Hydro expects to leave customers unaffected by the incident by increasing remelt of cold metal at the plant’s cast house, compensating the temporarily reduced primary production. Full primary aluminium production is expected to resume in Q2 2016, and financial effects are expected to be limited, based on the current information. Casthouse operations at the plant has fully resumed after the incident, and efforts are ongoing to further stabilize the plant’s primary aluminium production processes. It was under adverse weather conditions in the region Hydro’s primary aluminium plant experienced almost four hours power outage due to a technical fault....
Upbeat Nalco plans to invest INR 30,000 crore for growth in next 5 years
Upbeat about a rise in aluminium consumption in India, Navaratna PSU Nalco is all set to invest INR 30,000 crore in various projects in the next five years. “Nalco plans to invest to the tune of INR 30,000 crore in the next five years,” Nalco’s CMD Tapan Kumar Chand said in his Republic Day message, adding that a INR 6,000 crore refinery project in Damanjodi is on the anvil too. “Sunny days are ahead for aluminium industries as consumption in the country is slowly picking up against the backdrop of an increase in GDP to 7.5 per cent this fiscal and availability of consumption potential of more than three multiples,” the CMD said. Noting that the average consumption was 2.2 kg in India as against the global 8 kg per capita, Chand said growth in electrical and electronics sectors as well as...
Fallout from Malaysian ban continues as authorities step up bauxite export licence checks
Fallout from Malaysian ban continues as authorities step up export licence checks. CBIX edged lower again last week, down 1.8% (US$0.9) to finish at US$46.6/dmt. The fall was more reflective of the subdued alumina market, particularly in China, than the longer term implications of the Malaysian ban. Adding to the disruptions in Malaysia, authorities engaged in brief but intense process of export licence checks, delaying shipments and leading to serious congestion at the port (vessels were queued as they awaited loading). The disruptions are reportedly affecting buyers, with some avoiding Malaysian bauxite purchases altogether, as they wait for the authorities to provide more policy clarity. Malaysian bauxite prices remained unchanged over the week, with unwashed bauxite fetching...
Water sold to Selangor free from bauxite contamination, says Pahang govt
The Pahang government said yesterday that the raw water supplied to Selangor was not contaminated with bauxite. State Basic Facilities and Environmental Committee chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Soffi Abdul Razak said the source of the water supplied to Selangor came from west Pahang area such as Raub and Bentong, away from the bauxite mining areas in Kuantan. "Water is collected in Kelau dam before being released to Semantan river and pumped into the tunnel which channelled the water into Langat river. Bauxite issues have nothing to do with it because the catchment areas are different." Soffi was commenting on Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali's statement that the state government would conduct tests on raw water from Pahang following fears of bauxite sediment pollution in...
French tycoon Xavier Niel buys stake in Guinea bauxite miner
French telecoms tycoon Xavier Niel's NJJ Capital has acquired a minority stake in Alliance Miniere Responsable (AMR), a Paris-based company developing bauxite reserves in Guinea, AMR said on Wednesday, 24 January. The stake, the size of which was not known, is the latest investment by one of France's richest men. Niel set up low-cost telecoms operator Iliad in France and this week was said to be eyeing a move into the U.K. market. The specific goal behind the move was unclear, but a spokesman for AMR said that Niel wanted to diversify his portfolio, which also includes a stake in Telecom Italia. Guinea is a major producer of bauxite, an aluminium ore, but growth has been hamstrung by a slump in metals prices and a two-year Ebola epidemic in the West African nation that killed more than...
Aluminium falls by 0.4% on global cues
Aluminium prices fell 0.38% to INR 103.90 per kg in futures trading today, taking weak cues from global markets. Further, subdued demand in the domestic spot markets also weighed on the metal prices. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in current month shed 40 paise, or 0.38%, to INR 103.90 per kg in business turnover of 301 lots. Metal for delivery in February contracts traded lower by 30 paise, or 0.29% to trade at INR 104.50 per kg in 89 lots. Market analysts said the weakness in aluminium at futures trade was mostly in tune with a downtrend in base metals pack at the London Metal Exchange (LME) and subdued demand at the domestic spot markets.
Chalco sees profit from shuttering loss-making aluminium capacity
Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. said it expects to swing to a small full-year profit after shutting loss-making capacity. Its shares rose. China’s largest publicly traded aluminium smelter is contending with a global glut of the alloy and faltering demand at home, which have pushed prices to a six-year low in recent months. The company, known as Chalco, joined other producers in December in pledging to halt new mills and idle capacity. Chalco expects net income of about 200 million yuan ($30 million) in 2015, after a net loss of 16.2 billion yuan the year before, according to a statement Thursday. It said its primary aluminium production costs fell about 9 percent, while the cost of alumina, a material used in the making of the refined metal, dropped about 13 percent. It also cited gains...
EPA pushes back Superfund decision on Columbia Falls Aluminum plant
The Environmental Protection Agency officials said recently that the disciplinary authority will put off a decision on whether to approve Superfund cleanup of the shuttered Columbia Falls Aluminum Company plant. Regional project manager for the EPA, Mike Cirian, had recently told community members that a decision could come as early as March. But Cirian told The Flathead Beacon on Tuesday that agency officials informed him that a decision won’t come until this fall. The aluminium plant closed last year and was determined eligible for long-term remedial cleanup under the federal Superfund program. The community has been awaiting the EPA’s decision on a potential Superfund listing, as the 960-acre industrial site has been out of operation since 2009. Tests at the property owned by Glencore...
China’s scrap aluminium imports declined while exports inched higher in December
China imported 167,191 mt of scrap aluminium in December 2015 and 2,086,952 mt of the same commodity during the twelve months period ending 31st December, 2015, according to the data published by the country’s General Administration of Customs in their recently published Exim report. The monthly import figures for December showed a 26.8 per cent decline from the corresponding period last year, while the January-December figures indicated at a 9.5 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in imports. According to the GAC data, China shipped around 139 mt and 1043 mt of scrap aluminium in December and during January-December period respectively. The monthly data shows 50.75 per cent increase while the yearly data indicates at a 7.4 per cent increase in scrap aluminium shipments y-o-y from China to...
CARSTAR Vision Park hosts aluminium repair sessions
CARSTAR Canada has launched a series of one-day aluminium repair information sessions. The events take place at CARSTAR Vision Park in Hamilton, Ontario. The first of these sessions took place January 26. The next is set for January 27, with two more events scheduled for February 17 and 18. The information sessions are focused on providing CARSTAR’s franchise and insurance partners with a better understanding of the processes used in aluminium repair. Each event follows a set pattern. Representatives of CARSTAR and Pro Spot deliver classroom style presentations on the process, including the importance of making sure the right tools and training are in place before a facility attempts aluminium repair. At the January 26 session, Bill Davidge of CARSTAR and Art Ewing of Pro Spot delivered...
Novelis creates new Sales and Marketing organization to better serve global customers
Novelis, the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, announced the creation of two executive positions, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Global Can, and Vice President of Sales and Marketing Global Automotive. Effective April 1, 2016, these new positions will allow Novelis to more seamlessly serve its global customer base and accelerate its global integration strategy. Andy King has been named Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Global Can. In this new role, King will be responsible for driving can business growth, product branding and marketing, and portfolio management across all global markets. Prior to this position, King served as Vice President and General Manager, Can, Novelis Asia. King has held a number of leadership positions with the company since 1996 and has...
Alcoa wins fourth Boeing contract in string of recent deals
Lightweight metals leader Alcoa announced a long-term supply agreement with Boeing for multi-material aerospace parts. Under this agreement, Alcoa will supply components for the 777X-Boeing’s newest commercial airplane-the 737 MAX-scheduled for first delivery in 2017-and the 787 Dreamliner. The deal draws on capabilities gained through the Firth Rixson acquisition and the company’s new aluminium-lithium facility in Lafayette, Indiana. “This is the latest in a series of Boeing contract wins made possible by Alcoa’s recent aerospace investments,” said Alcoa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld. “Alcoa has successfully built a strong leadership position in this market and we are proud to see our home-grown innovations and new products create value for our customers.” Under...
Market downturn to hit Nalco profit despite high production
National Aluminium Company (Nalco) chairman and managing director TK Chand on Tuesday said that the company’s profitability would remain depressed during the current fiscal despite achievement of higher production. Chand said that the company is set to close the fiscal 2015-16 with a bauxite production of 63 lakh tonnes registering a growth of 10% over the last fiscal. Similarly, he added, there would be growth of 2.6%, 14 % and 14% respectively in the production of alumina hydrate, aluminium and net power by the end of this fiscal. The CMD pointed out that even though the profitability of Nalco has registered 39% growth in PAT (profit after tax) in Q2 over Q1, it has remained depressed as compared to last year due to continuous downturn in the market. He, however, said that the company...
