AL Circle Analysis: Bauxite developments, alumina trade & primary aluminium market dynamics across Australia, Guinea, US & India
The aluminium industry is entering another phase of supply-chain repositioning. Across bauxite, alumina and primary aluminium, companies are investing in new resources, consolidating strategic assets and expanding processing capacity, while governments are increasingly treating domestic supply as a strategic priority. The latest developments from Australia, Guyana, Guinea, Indonesia, the US and India point to a market where resource security, processing location and control over supply chains are becoming as important as production growth. At the same time, new trading mechanisms and changing investment patterns are beginning to influence how aluminium and its raw materials reach the market. Bauxite supply expands, but securing the right tonnes is becoming harder In Western Australia, VBX...
China's 22.87 Mt extrusion market faces a structural shift as 317 GW solar growth counters weak construction demand
The global aluminium extrusion landscape is undergoing a structural transition driven by industrial decarbonisation, global electrification, and the rapid deployment of clean energy infrastructure. Historically anchored by civil engineering and residential real estate, demand for extruded aluminium profiles in China, the world’s dominant manufacturing hub, is decoupling from traditional property sectors. Persistent structural weakness in China’s domestic construction market has slowed the consumption of conventional architectural profiles such as window frames, door sections, and curtain walls. Conversely, advanced industrial applications, specifically solar photovoltaic (PV) racking, battery energy storage systems (BESS), power grid modernisation, and electric vehicles (EVs), have...
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Jamaican govt wins bauxite levy victory over Noranda
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining (MSTEM) Phillip Paulwell said today that the Jamaican government has secured a victory in a dispute with Noranda Bauxite Limited (NBL) a subsidiary of Noranda Aluminium Holding Corporation which operates in the island. Arbitrators decided that NBL's contention to have a reduction of the bauxite levy charged on its operations could not stand. The London-based arbitration panel, which examined the Establishment Agreement between the Government of Jamaica (GoJ) and NBL, said that the contract terms for 2015 and beyond were not fixed, but open to negotiation. "I am very happy. We won on all the three points we put forward. We do not want to pressure the companies, but notwithstanding the difficulties of the industry, they need to realise that...
China aluminium consumption to peak in 2020, says CNMIA
State-backed China Securities Journal reported, the vice-president of one of the country's leading industry associations has prediced that aluminium consumption in China will peak in 2020 as new industrial uses drive growth. Chinese aluminium consumption will peak at 44 million tonnes (mt) a year, Wen Xianjun, vice-president of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, told a forum, according to the report. As per the report, in 2016, aluminum consumption is expected to grow 7.2 percent to 32.8 million tonnes. Fuelling the next five years' growth will be new industrial uses, including the manufacture of lighter commercial vehicles, new energy vehicles and airplanes, said Wen.
Oslo Pensjonsforsikring acquires Hydro's Herøya Industripark
Norsk Hydro ASA has entered into an agreement with Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS regarding the sale of Herøya Industripark AS. The transfer will likely occur during the first quarter of 2016. "After a thorough process, and based on an overall assessment, we concluded that Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS (OPF) would be the best new owner of Herøya Industripark. We see them as a long-term and very serious owner. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring already has a diverse portfolio of real estate, including industrial operations, and has broad experience in property management," says Executive Vice President Eivind Kallevik in Hydro. Almost a year ago, Hydro announced the decision to offer the industrial park in Herøya for sale, a consequence of changes Hydro has undergone in recent years. Hydro has developed...
Novelis partners with Cayuga Community College to develop a robust talent pool
Novelis, the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, today announced a long-term commitment to the Cayuga Community College’s Fulton campus to launch an Advanced Manufacturing Institute, including an industrial maintenance technician program and an advanced laboratory and training center. Funded in part by an $80,000 endowment by Novelis, the Institute’s mission will be to equip students with manufacturing skills to develop a robust talent pool that will be required to fill the many jobs expected to be brought to the Central New York region. Novelis and other manufacturers are facing an urgent need in identifying and recruiting qualified personnel as these companies seek to grow in the region. An industry research report from Deloitte Manufacturing Institute concluded that the...
Alcoa announces multiyear supply contracts with Boeing
Lightweight metals leader Alcoa announced long-term supply contracts with Boeing valued at over $2.5 billion. Alcoa will supply multi-material fastening systems for every Boeing platform in its largest fastener deal ever. Alcoa also will supply ready-to-install titanium seat track assemblies for the entire 787 Dreamliner family. “Alcoa has positioned itself to win in a multi-material aerospace industry, and these deals are the latest proof points that our strategy is working,” said Alcoa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld. “We are proud to partner with Boeing as it delivers sophisticated airplanes to meet the world’s increasing demand for air travel.” Under one contract, Alcoa Fastening Systems & Rings will supply advanced titanium, stainless steel, alloy steel, aluminum...
Vedanta's Jharsuguda aluminium smelter wins National Energy Conservation Award
Vedanta owned aluminium smelter plant in Jharsuguda has received the second prize in the National Energy Conservation Awards in aluminium sector. General Manager of the Vedanta Smelter Plant, Bijneswar Mohanty received the award in New Delhi recently. Various companies were audited by the Ministry of Power for energy consumption and Vedanta was shortlisted. The minerals and metal behemoth has bagged the prestigious award for the third consecutive time.
Century abandons plan to cut output at Kentucky aluminium smelter
Century Aluminum Co has abandoned plans to slash output at its Sebree, Ky., smelter due in part to a modest rebound in prices, a spokesman said on Thursday, the latest aluminium maker to backtrack on steps to cope with weak market conditions. The move comes as the company, whose largest shareholder is Glencore Plc, is considering launching a trade case against China, which it blames for the tumbling prices that have prompted smelter cutbacks and closures. It has launched an aggressive pressure campaign with U.S. trade groups, criticizing rising Chinese aluminium exports and overcapacity. In late October, Century said it would reduce output at the 210,000-tonne-per-year Sebree plant by one-third by December 31 due to a drop in aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange to more than...
Asia Alumina: Drifts sideways at $200/Mt FOB Australia
The price of Australian alumina continued to drift sideways Thursday, leaving Platts daily assessment unchanged at $200/mt FOB, despite a slight slippage of Yuan 15/mt ($2.30) in Chinese domestic prices in Shanxi province. The Australian assessment has fallen $5.50/mt in the last week, and $40/mt in the past month, pressured by uncommitted material, a free-fall in Chinese domestic prices and a weaker yuan against the dollar, which made imports costlier for the Chinese. In the last week, producer, consumer and trader market participants appeared to think the Chinese domestic and Australian alumina markets may be close to a floor. While participants did not rule out price decreases to come, there was some anticipation that the Australian market may trade in a relatively tight range in the...
Orbite Technologies shares down nearly 8% after construction update
Orbite Technologies Inc. is the second most active on the TSX and down nearly 8% after it reported that a dispute, now resolved, with one of its contractors will push the end of construction of its HPA production facility and start of commercial production into Q1 2016. An Orbite contractor, in breach of the contract between the parties, withheld from release to Orbite certain parts and equipment in its possession, which are critical to the completion of the calcination system assembly. However, a settlement has now been reached; the equipment was released on December 14th and has arrived in Cap-Chat. In spite of this, construction in Cap-Chat progressed well, albeit the installation of certain systems and piping is possible only subsequent to installation of the released equipment....
Import duty hike for Indian aluminium sector unlikely this year
The possibility of increase in import duty on aluminium by 2.5 per cent this year is "very bleak" despite the Mines Ministry pushing the case. "Although Mines Ministry has written to Finance Ministry to raise import duty by 2.5 per cent, the chances of this happening in 2015 are very bleak," a source said. Confirming the development, a senior government official said: "It seems the duty hike might happen in the first half of January or the government may put it in the budget, which will happen only in February 2016." Earlier this month, Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar told PTI that his Ministry has written to the Finance Ministry to hike the import duty on aluminium to 7.5 per cent from 5 per cent. The domestic aluminium industry says it is facing "a very tough time" on account of the...
"There will be an aluminium deficit in 2017," Norsk Hydro CEO Brandtzaeg
World aluminium major Norsk Hydro estimates that in 2016 without China, the world will have a 1.5 million to 2 million metric ton aluminum deficit, compared with a surplus of as much 1 million when including the world’s second-biggest economy. The plunge in price of primary aluminium has caused high-cost producers to reduce output and will probably lead to a better market balance next year and possibly a supply deficit in 2017, observed Hydro Chief Executive Officer Svein Richard Brandtzaeg. The benchmark three-month price has fallen by almost 50 percent since 2011 and last month hit a six-and-a-half-year low of $1,432 per tonne as the economic slowdown in China continues to weaken demand. "The need for adjustments is perhaps coming more rapidly than some imagined," said Brandtzaeg. “It...
Alupro praises aluminium collection growth
Local authority (LA) collection of aluminium foil and aerosols has grown rapidly in recent years, according to new data released by the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro), which works on behalf of members from across the aluminium supply chain to fulfil the industry’s obligation to recycle aluminium packaging. Over the past three years, the proportion of councils collecting aerosols has increased from 87 per cent to 96 per cent, while foil has seen a dramatic increase in the last eight years, going from being collected by 35 per cent of councils in 2007 to 86 per cent today. The new data means that foil will likely be upgraded to ‘Widely Recycled’ in the 2016 update for the On-Pack Recycling Label (OPRL). The OPRL is a labelling system used by over 500 brands to provide...
Chalco makes advancement in auto body aluminium sheet manufacturing
Aluminium Corporation of China Ltd (Chalco) has made great breakthrough in auto body aluminium alloy sheet manufacturing. After over two years of R&D, the State-owned aluminium major has achieved this feat, communicated Rare Earth Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chalco. In recent years, automotive sector has been increasingly shifting their focus on to the light metal for making critical auto body parts. The need to reduce weight of the cars and other automotives so that they become less oil hungry and emit less CO2 has been driving auto manufacturers' moves to tie up with aluminium companies for developing novel auto body sheet material made of aluminium alloys. Performance of 6016 series aluminium alloy sheet developed by Chalco can fully meet Shanghai General Motors’ highest...
Divestment of Hydro's Italian rolling mill completed
The Slim plant in Cisterna di Latina will from January 1, 2016 be operated by Rolling Mills International GmbH under the name of SLIM Aluminium S.p.A. An after-tax book loss of 45 - 55 million euros will be realized in Hydro’s fourth-quarter 2015 reported results. The rolling mill in Cisterna di Latina produces aluminium rolled products, mainly standard strip and sheet, as well as plain foil. Through the agreement, Rolling Mills International GmbH has acquired 100 percent of the shares in Hydro Aluminium Slim S.p.A. Rolling Mills International GmbH is controlled by Quantum Capital Partners AG, a Munich-based investment company. The rolling mill has around 430 employees and a production capacity of around 92,000 metric tonnes rolled products per year. The plant was established in 1964, and...
Primary aluminium market records deficit during Jan - Oct 2015
The latest report published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) indicates that global primary aluminium market has recorded a deficit during the initial ten months of the year. As per the report, the market reported a deficit of 279,000 tons when matched with the deficit of 589,000 reported during entire year 2014. The production of primary aluminium was up by 7.3% during the ten-month period from January to October this year. The global production rose by 3,260 kt during this period, when compared with a year ago. The total reported stock of metal has declined further by 184,000 tonnes during the month of October. The stocks at the end of the initial ten-month period stood at 3,961 kt, which is sufficient to meet 27 days demand. It must be noted that the stock levels at the...
Century Aluminum to operate Mt. Holly smelter at 50% capacity
Chicago-based Century Aluminum has announced its decision to operate the Mt. Holly, South Carolina smelter at 50% capacity. The company had earlier threatened to close the smelter on disputes with state-owned power supplier Santee Cooper over power rates at the smelter. Meantime, the company has initiated shutdown of its first potline starting Monday. According to Century Aluminum, the power rate of nearly $50/MWh at the Mt. Holly smelter is one of the highest among aluminum smelters across the US. This makes it difficult for the company to compete with its peers under the current market situation. The existing deal with Santee Cooper is about to expire during the end of December this year. The company had warned of serious actions including closing of smelter operations, if Santee Cooper...
Novaproducts Global launches new aluminium stair nosing product
Australia's Novaproducts Global has launched a new aluminium stair nosing product. Launched for the first time in Australia, the new Tiger aluminium stair nosing is specifically designed to conceal fixing, with architects not having to worry about screws being visible on the floor. Tiger aluminium stair nosing can resist impact from heavy duty traffic. A top-tier slip-resistant coating additionally protects the stairs from daily wear and tear. Manufactured from 6061 T6 aluminium, this epoxy-based product is compliant with all Australian and New Zealand safety standards. Available in 5m lengths as standard, Tiger is also supplied in custom sizes along with a diverse range of non-combustible colours. Key advantages and features of Tiger aluminium stair nosing include concealed fixing;...
China aluminium alloy wheel exports down in October
China reported a decline in both volume and value of its aluminium alloy wheel exports in October. Export quantity fell 2.8% year-on-year (YoY) to 69,500 tonnes in October, and export value also dropped 7.3% YoY to $329 million. Outbound shipment totaled 660,500 tonnes during the first ten months of the year, up just 0.1% from a year ago. The US was the top export destination -51.98% of China’s export value - during January -October, followed by Japan and Mexico.
