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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Prospects of GCC aluminium highlighted at Annual Aluminium Symposium, Qatar 2015
Qatalum in cooperation with Hydro organized the annual Aluminium Symposium in Doha, Qatar on 14 December at the Intercontinental Hotel. Titled “Aluminium, The Engine for Growth in the Region”, the day-long event was co-sponsored by Hydro, Qatar University, CAM (Centre for Advanced Materials) and hosted a number of key members of the industry, education sector, and several postgraduate students. Amongst those representing Qatalum were Mufeed Odeh and Olaf Wigstoel, who delivered speeches addressing the importance of the aluminium industry in the Middle East during a period of stagnation in the energy sector. Dr. Odeh, Sustainability Advisor at Qatalum delivered the keynote message to the symposium. In his message, Dr. Odeh emphasised the importance of education to attract new staff,...
Chalco forays into green building materials sector
Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco) has been reported to be making foray into green building materials business. The company made an announcement to this effect on December 15 following establishment of a joint venture with China State Construction Engineering Corporation. The JV, located in Chengdu, Sichuan province, will invest nearly 5 billion yuan ($774 million) over the next five years to develop new building materials, said industry sources. As per industry reports, products of the JV project will encompass renewable building materials, such as aluminium alloy scaffold and van room, as well as other new materials, such as composite and high-molecule materials.
Hudson files amended PEA for Specialty Alumina production
Hudson Resources Inc. informed on November 23, 2015 that the Corporate Finance Department of the B.C. Securities Commission had selected Hudson for a technical disclosure review. As a result of that review, a number of disclosure deficiencies were identified. On May 25, 2015, Hudson filed a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) titled "Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for Specialty Alumina Production from the White Mountain Anorthosite Deposit, West Greenland" dated March 30, 2015. It was determined that certain aspects of the PEA did not comply with the requirements of NI 43-101 and Form 43-101F1. As a result of the review, Hudson has filed an amended PEA for Specialty Alumina production from the White Mountain Anorthosite Deposit, West Greenland dated December 9, 2015. The...
High-grade bauxite deposit unearthed in Queensland
AIM listed IronRidge Resources has discovered a high-grade Direct Shipping Ore bauxite deposit in Queensland, Australia. IronRidge said its 16 sq km licence at its Monogorilby project where the deposit has been unearthed had the potential of becoming a new mineral hub with significant scale potential. Bauxite, the principal ore of aluminium, is first refined to produce alumina which is then smelted to produce the primary metal. According to the company sources, an initial 48-hole drilling program has already been started to define a maiden resource by first quarter 2016. Excavations so far had indicated an average 5 metre thick bauxite mineralisation, with highest indications up to 7 metre. The location of the ore deposit also indicated low stripping ratios. Vincent Mascolo, chief...
Orbite provides HPA construction update
Orbite Technologies Inc. announced today 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. Following the dispute settlement, it was determined that...
Brazil aluminium can recycling rate grew 12.5% in 2014
The recent report published jointly by the Brazilian Aluminium Association (ABAL) and the Brazilian Association of Highly Recyclable Cans Manufacturers (Abralatas) suggests significant rise in aluminium can recycling rates in the country during 2014. According to the report, Brazil recycled 289,500 tons of aluminium beverage cans out of the 294,200 tons available in the market during the year. The recycling rate witnessed a growth of 12.5% over the previous year. The aluminium can recycling rate of the country stood at 98.4%. The recycling rates have sustained above 90% levels for more than ten years in a row. The country has once again emerged as the top recycler of alumiinum cans, a position it maintains for over a decade now. The data suggests that the country recycled 22.9 billion...
Novelis supplies aluminium solutions for all-new Ford F-series super duty truck
Novelis, the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, today announced it is supplying high-strength, military-grade, aluminum for the upcoming Ford F-Series Super Duty lineup of trucks, the toughest, smartest, most capable Super Duty ever. Following the launch of the 2015 Ford F-150, the aluminum-intensive F-Series Super Duty trucks also feature high-strength, military-grade, Novelis aluminum alloys in the body and bed, reducing overall vehicle weight by up to 350 pounds. This weight reduction enables the use of tougher underbody components such as an all-new, fully boxed high-strength frame, stronger axles and springs, larger brakes and driveline parts for superior performance. The truck series will represent the second-highest volume aluminum application in automotive to date,...
Berkeley County lawmakers meet with Santee Cooper CEO over aluminum plant jobs
Berkeley County lawmakers are scheduled to meet Monday afternoon with Santee Cooper’s chief executive officer over the fate of the Century Aluminum plant in Mount Holly. The informational meeting between the legislative delegation and CEO Lonnie Carter starts at 5 p.m. at the state-owned utility headquarters in Moncks Corner. It is open to the public. It is not a board of directors meeting, so Santee Cooper cannot take any action. The discussion with lawmakers is part of an effort to avoid a complete Dec. 31 shutdown over electricity service at the Century smelter, which employs 600 workers and has an estimated annual economic impact of nearly $1 billion on the Charleston region. It is being hold the same day the company began shutting down one of it two main production lines in the...
Analysis: What will China’s bauxite mining deal mean for Guinea’s environment?
“The cooperation project not only created jobs for young people but brings business opportunities to Guineans,” chirped Kassory Fofana, Minister of State at the Chinese President’s office, as the first cargo ship containing 170,000 tons of bauxite arrived at China’s Yantai Port from Boke Port, Guinea. In March 2015, China’s second largest aluminum producer, China Hongqiao Group announced that it had secured a mining and port investment deal in Guinea to develop and ship the nation’s bauxite, the raw component of aluminum. Working in a joint consortium with Singapore-based Winning Shipping Co Ltd, Yantai Port and Boke Mining Co, China Hongqiao Group underscored that investment would equal less than $200 million with expected capacity set to reach 10 million tons of bauxite a year. Indeed,...
Chalco makes substantial progress in energy use reduction
Chalco has made substantial progress in its energy use reduction efforts, hexun.com reported. The Chinese aluminum giant has saved 3.65 million tonnes of coal equivalent (TCE) since 2011, the media added. So far, Chalco has reported a 28.35% decline in total energy consumption per tonne of alumina produced, and a 2.77% decline in AC power consumption per tonne of aluminum produced, the media said. These figures well beat the State Council’s requirements of a 2.5% cut and a 1.65% and reduction, respectively.
Inner Mongolia Liansheng puts online over $1.5 billion aluminum flat rolling project
Inner Mongolia Liansheng Light Alloy Co. put online first two casting & rolling lines of its 10 billion yuan ($1.55 billion) aluminum plate, strip and foil project several days ago, local media reported. Another two casting & rolling lines are scheduled to enter operations on December 15, 2015 and all cold-rolling lines will come on stream by January 10, 2016, the media added. The project will put into use the world’s leading Hazelett continuous casting line in June 2016. Once fully operational, the project will produce 2 million tonnes of aluminum plate, strip and foil annually, according to the media.
SHFE aluminum to continue outperforming LME aluminum on massive output cut plan
SHFE aluminum will continue faring better than LME aluminum next week on huge scale output cut plans in China, SMM expects. The announcement by 14 major Chinese aluminum smelters that aluminum capacity cuts in China will expand to 4.91 million-tpy in 2015 cheered market up. This will push SHFE aluminum up to 11,000 yuan per tonne. LME aluminum will find support from SHFE aluminum while facing selling pressure at highs from a firm dollar. LME aluminum should test resistance at $1,530/mt next week. In China’s spot market, supply will tighten further as no large arrivals are expected for the near future. Spot discounts should narrow to less than 100 yuan per tonne over SHFE front-month contract since delivery date is nearing.
The German aluminium packaging market: Beverage can industry grows in 2015
Suppliers of aluminium packaging can look back on a positive business year for 2015. In interviews conducted by EUWID at the end of November / beginning of December almost all packaging producers emphasised the positive development of the overall market. With a very few exceptions, where company-specific anomalies had had a negative impact, the aluminium packaging industry is optimistic: In terms of volumes 2015 had been a “very strong” year, order books had largely been more than satisfactory even if there had been the odd lean period here and there.
Ball wins Brazilian approval of proposed $8.2bn Rexam deal
Ball Corporation has won Brazilian approval of its proposed £5.4bn ($8.2bn) acquisition of Rexam. The tribunal of Brazil’s competition watchdog, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) approved the merger last week on condition it adopts structural and behavioural measures settled in a Merger Control Agreement. Speaking at the Tribunal’s judgment session on December 9, Commissioner for the case, Gilvandro Araújo said the deal would ‘tie-up of the two biggest producers of metal beverage cans in the country’ but certain plants will have to be divested. The ACC also settled the transfer of current contracts related to the unities to be sold to the eventual plants’ buyer. Ball and Rexam will also have to sign contracts for can ends supply with the assets buyer. Last month, Ball...
Amcor receives four WorldStar Awards for packaging design innovations
The World Packaging Organization (WPO) has selected four Amcor packaging solutions as winners of the WorldStar Awards 2016. From extending shelf life to reducing environmental footprint, all four of the winning Amcor solutions use technical advancements to improve packaging for both Amcor's customers and end consumers. Amcor's WorldStar Award winners for 2016 are: Dessiflex® is a desiccant impregnated film used for medical and pharmaceutical products. The film is extremely effective at both removing internal moisture and minimising moisture penetration through sealed edges of the package. It can even remove moisture following high humidity sterilization. The proprietary technology eliminates the need for sachets and other moisture scavengers, reducing the pack's environmental footprint by...
Common Cider expands into cans
Created to pair well with food and encourage family and friends to enjoy time together, Common Cider’s recipes start with fresh-pressed apples and include natural extracts of fruits and botanicals to create layers of flavor. Common Cider varieties are light and crisp, naturally low in sugar and gluten-free. “We don’t just brew ciders, we craft moments,” said Fran Toves, owner, Common Cider Company. “Our goal with our cider is to bring people together, spark conversation, bolster friendships and create memories. I got into the cider business in hopes of combining my passion for flavor experimentation and my love of shared times to create something rare and delicious. So far it seems to be working as more and more consumers embrace our unique blends. Our partnership with Rexam allows us to...
Government allocates Pottangi mines to Nalco, shares gain over 1%
Pottangi mines located in Odhisa has been allocated to state-run aluminium producer Nalco for manufacturing one MTPA alumina refinery by 2020. This was informed by Vishnu Deo Sai, Minister of State for Steel and Mines. The alumina refinery (stream-5) will come up at Damanjodi, Koraput district in Odisha. The total cost of the refnery is estimated at Rs. 5,540 crore. The government of Odisha has taken an in-principle decision in this regard, informed the minister. Regarding Utkal D & E coal blocks in Angul district of Odhisha, the minister stated in Parliament that Utkal D & E blocks has been awarded to NALCO and production from Utkal-D block is expected to commence in April, 2018 and production from Utkal-E block is expected to commence in April, 2019. Shares of Nalco are currently...
Brazil aluminum output slumps through November
Brazil's primary aluminum production fell 20.5% through November to 708,500t, local Aluminum Association Abal reported. Primary aluminum output in November dipped 11.5% year-on-year to 69,300t. Brazilian production of the metal began declining in March 2014 and has yet to bounce back. For full-year 2014, output totaled 962,000t. The latest production statistics reflect plant curtailments and shutdowns in Brazil, as the country shifts from being a leading aluminum exporter to a net importer of the metal. Aluminum's low price on the international market and Brazil's high energy costs are factors behind the trend. Abal comprises CBA, part of local conglomerate Votorantim; Alcoa; BHP Billiton; and aluminum producers Albras, Hindalco and Novelis.
