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...
Grow with
AL Circle
South Carolina smelter shutdown seems imminent as stalemate goes on
The Mount Holly aluminum smelter in Goose Creek may shut down at the end of this year after owner Century Aluminum and electric utility Santee Cooper failed to reach an agreement on a new power contract for the plant. Michael Bless, Century’s president and CEO, said the closure “would be a tragedy” and that he remains hopeful for a last-minute reprieve. The current contract expires Dec. 31. “We want in the worst way to find a way to keep that plant running,” Bless said of the smelter, which employs about 600 workers. The stalemate between Century and Santee Cooper intensified Monday as the utility’s board of directors voted 10-0 to reject the company’s contract proposal. Bless said Monday that Century cannot operate under Santee Cooper’s counter-offer. Century has been buying 75 percent...
The Aluminum Association and Aluminium Association of Canada release joint letter before COP 21 Climate Summit
The Aluminum Association and the Aluminium Association of Canada released an open letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Canadian Minister of Environment & Climate Change Catherine McKenna in advance of the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) meeting in Paris this week. In the letter, they expressed their concern about China’s state-planned and carbon intensive aluminum industry which has amassed considerable overproduction. They said it is leading to a distortion of international trade impacting the entire value chain and undermining global efforts to decarbonize the economy. They highlighted the consistent improvement they made in their production processes over the past two decades as measured by primary energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions per...
TasRail missing out on revenue due to bauxite mine's slow start
Tasmania's state-owned rail operator is missing out on revenue as the operator of a new bauxite mine near Campbell Town fails to find buyers. During government business scrutiny hearings, TasRail management revealed Australian Bauxite had fallen far short of supplying its contracted volumes for transport. The mining company, chaired by former premier Paul Lennon, opened the mine earlier this year with plans to produce about 400,000 tonnes of ore a year. TasRail chairman Bob Annells said TasRail has carted just 35,000 tonnes, which remained sitting at Bell Bay. Despite breaches of the contract Mr Annells said TasRail had told Australian Bauxite it was prepared to "cut you some slack up front" because it supported the project. "It has not started as we would've wanted or they would've...
Orbite receives notice of allowance for Red Mud monetization patent in Australia
Orbite Technologies Inc. announced that the company has received notification from IP Australia, the Australian Government agency that administers intellectual property (IP) rights, that its patent application No. 2013202318 titled "Processes for Treating Red Mud" has been found allowable. Consequently, the Company anticipates patent issuance within IP Australia's usual timeframe of 3-4 months. "This allowance expands our intellectual property portfolio into a key market with a large alumina industry, and hence substantial red mud liabilities," stated Glenn Kelly, CEO of Orbite. "Having our processes also protected in Australia under patent law, is a key element in our global waste monetization strategy, and puts us in a strong position to deepen our engagement with potential partners for...
Altech Chemicals Ltd signs mandate with German KfW Ipex-Bank for project financing
Altech Chemicals Limited is pleased to advise that it has executed an exclusive mandate with German KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the promotional bank KfW, to provide advisory and structuring services in relation to the provision of senior debt project financing for the Company's proposed high purity alumina (HPA) project. Execution of the mandate comes after an initial evaluation of the project by KfW IPEX-Bank following its recent submission to the Company of a Letter of Interest (LOI) for project financing. Highlights: - Exclusive project finance mandate executed with German KfW IPEX-Bank - Mandate for senior debt, including German Export Credit Agency (ECA) insured debt - Approximately US$40 million of project debt estimated to qualify for ECA cover KfW IPEX-Bank is...
TSW introduces a distinctive new 5-spoke aluminium alloy design
TSW Alloy Wheels, the noted innovator in wheel upgrades for imported and domestic cars and trucks, has introduced a new style of wheels, named Ascent. The new wheels are noteworthy for, among other things, the new finish technology the company has pioneered, facilitating dramatic dual finishes. Available finishes are as differentiated as they are durable, including titanium matte silver and matte gunmetal with a gloss black face. Ascent wheels feature a muscular channeled 5-spoke design, cast in a single piece from TSW's proprietary, rock-hard aluminum alloy, a classic look right at home on each of the luxury/performance vehicles the new wheels are engineered to fit. "A continuous pursuit of excellence, and design breakthroughs such as our new dual finish technology, have been important...
EGA migrates successfully to ISO 27001:2013
Emirates Global Aluminium announced that it has obtained initial certification to the ISO 27001:2005 ISMS standard in 2006 (in DUBAL) and in 2012 (in EMAL) as a part of its corporate information security compliance programme, which aims to reduce the threat and vulnerability posed to the business continuity by information security risks. Excellent work done in the interim by the Information Technology department has led to the development of an integrated information security system at EGA , which was certified to the more stringent ISO 27001:2013 ISMS standard (an upgraded version of the 2005 edition) on 12 July 2015. Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance ("LRQA", an internationally renowned third-party certification body) issued the certificate to EGA after conducting a comprehensive...
EPA, Glencore to study Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. site contamination
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Glencore announced an agreement signed on November 30 to study the level of contamination at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company site. Senator Tester and Governor Bullock have been urging Glencore for long to come up with acton plans to clean up the plant after discussing the matter with local stakeholders. In January this year, after Glencore walked away from negotiations, Senator Tester sent a letter to the EPA asking them to list CFAC as a superfund site. “I’m pleased Glencore has finally realized it has an obligation to the people of Columbia Falls,” Tester said. “As this process moves forward, I will continue to hold the company and the EPA responsible for ensuring this site is cleaned up and revitalized so we can continue to...
66% of Chinese aluminium smelters bearish toward aluminium prices, SMM survey
66% of the 38 Chinese aluminium smelters surveyed by SMM are bearish toward this week’s aluminium prices . Another 21% expect prices to stabilize, while the rest 13% see a rally. Those pessimists see LME aluminium falling below USD 1,450/mt and SHFE 1602 aluminium down below RMB 10,000/mt. Domestic aluminium processors will show lower buying interest, due to poor end-user demand, tightening year-end liquidity and recent volatility in SHFE aluminium . Moreover, suppliers will rush to sell to raise cash, another drag on the light metal. Those neutralists see SHFE 1602 aluminium hovering around RMB 10,000/mt. Short-covering will occur once SHFE aluminium retreat from RMB 10,000/mt, but longs will take profit after SHFE aluminium return to near RMB 10,500/mt. The rest expect LME aluminium to...
Aluminium Can Industry Challenge raises $85,000 by recycling more than 193,000 pounds of cans
Rexam's North American Corporate Office in Chicago, IL, received top honors in the 2015 Great American Can Roundup (GACR) Industry Challenge by recycling more than 61,000 pounds of aluminum beverage cans. The GACR Industry Challenge, sponsored by the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI), collected and recycled 193,213 pounds of beverage cans, raising more than $85,000 for local charities across the United States. Rexam's recycling efforts raised nearly $24,500 for various local charities. As the winner of the challenge, the company receives an additional $2,000 to donate to charity. "The Great American Can Roundup recycling contest continues to be a great opportunity for our industry to show our local communities how easy it is to recycle and the inherent value in aluminum," said Claude...
Nanoceramic aluminium Nanotherm scoops Elektra ‘LED Product of the Year’ award
Cambridge Nanotherm, a producer of thermal management technology, has won the “LED Lighting Product of the Year” award at the 2015 Elektra Awards for its “Nanotherm DM” product. The industry’s largest technology and business awards, the Elektras is in its 13th year of celebrating the best the electronics industry has achieved. Cambridge Nanotherm beat stiff competition from NASDAQ listed ON Semiconductor, Khatod Optoelectronics and Zeta Specialist Lighting to win the LED Lighting Product of the Year category. Commenting on the award the judges noted that Nanotherm DM is uniquely compatible with standard manufacturing processes and picked up on the fact that the company manufactures Nanotherm DM at its facility near Cambridge and exports to customers in the US and Asia. Nanotherm DM is a...
Alumina price slump eases losses at Chinese aluminium smelters
Chinese aluminium smelters suffered fewer losses thanks to a slump in alumina prices, SMM found. The average loss at Chinese aluminium smelters surveyed by SMM shrank to less than 1,000 yuan ($156) per tonne in the week ending November 30. This is mainly contributed by an almost 100 yuan per tonne drop in alumina prices. Spot aluminium prices in China fell early last week, but then rebounded. SMM spot aluminum average price slipped 4 yuan per tonne on a weekly basis to 9,948 yuan per tonne.
Bauxite Resources signs final agreements with Yankuang for sale of JV interest
Bauxite Resources Limited (BRL) advises the final agreements were signed with Yankuang Resources Pty Ltd and Yankuang Group Company Ltd on Monday, November 30th for the sale of Bauxite's interest in the Bauxite-Alumina Joint Venture, and the buy-back of Yankuang's shares. The transaction is conditional on BRL Shareholder approval and State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the Peoples Republic of China ("SASAC") approvals. Key Terms of the Transaction: - The joint ventures with Yankuang will be terminated; - Yankuang will pay BRL the sum of A$7.15 million for its interests in the assets of the joint ventures, including its shareholding in Bauxite Alumina Joint Ventures Pty Ltd ('BAJV'), and for its interests in the Fortuna bauxite rights; - BRL will buy back...
Ball to sell €1.5bn of bonds to fund Rexam deal
Ball Corporation could be forced to sell off more assets than originally anticipated to satisfy competition concerns over its £4.3bn takeover of Rexam, the UK drinks can maker. US-based Ball announced on Monday that it would sell approximately €1.5bn of bonds denominated in euros and dollars to partly fund the cash portion of the deal. But the company also said that antitrust authorities from the EU, US and Brazil were pushing for it to divest can production facilities with total annual revenues of about $2.5bn. Both companies made clear from the outset that the creation of the world’s biggest drinks can manufacturer with $15bn in annual revenues would raise regulatory issues and likely require disposals in some regions. But a question mark hung over exactly where those disposals would...
Midas Holdings to acquire Hong Kong-based firm for $264 million
Chinese railway firm Midas Holdings has entered into an agreement to purchase Hong Kong-based Huicheng Capital for $264 million. Huicheng Capital owns Dalian Huicheng, a company based in Dalian, China, which specialises in aluminium products. Midas will be buying the company from seven individuals who currently hold stakes in it. The acquisition offers opportunities for Midas to acquire a profitable business and further expand its core business, it said in an exchange filing on Nov 30. After the acquisition is complete, Midas' range of products and services will be expand to include aluminium alloy stretched plates and hot-rolled aluminium alloy plates and coils, in addition to its existing aluminium alloy extrusion and cold-rolled plates and sheets product offerings. It will also benefit...
Nalco trades higher on the bourses
National Aluminium Company (Nalco) is currently trading at INR 40.60, up by 0.80 points or 2.01% from its previous closing of INR 39.80 on the BSE. The scrip opened at INR 39.80 and has touched a high and low of INR 40.70 and INR 39.50 respectively. So far 171445 shares were traded on the counter. The BSE group 'A' stock of face value INR 5 has touched a 52 week high of INR 61.65 on 28-Nov-2014 and a 52 week low of INR 28.00 on 25-Aug-2015. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at INR 40.70 and INR 37.10 respectively. The current market cap of the company is INR 10463.59 crore. The promoters holding in the company stood at 80.93% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 12.42% and 6.65% respectively. Nalco has received USD 8.05 million towards an out of court settlement from...
IBAAS 2015 concludes pinning hopes on the Asian aluminium industry
The 4th IBAAS Symposium ended successfully at Suzhou, China. On 27th November, the 3rd and final day, about 12 papers in 2 parallel sessions, 6 on alumina and 6 on downstream operations were presented. Topics covered were mainly on technological and process improvements in alumina refining, bauxite residue utilization and downstream operations. Papers were presented by the representatives from JNARDDC, IBAAS, PRIMA RESOURCES, CHALIEACO etc. The papers presented revealed the wide knowledge base in the aluminium field and the environmental concerns and potential of improvements. Many Chinese presentations showed continuous efforts that are being made in this country to reduce the cost of production and to keep adding values to downstream products. The organising committee then had a closing...
Constellium appoints Martha Brooks as Advisor to the Board of Directors
Constellium N. V. announced today that Ms. Martha Brooks has been appointed as a Special Advisor to the Board of Directors. The Board expects to put forward the nomination of Ms. Brooks as a Non-Executive Director at the Company’s Annual General meeting to be held in June 2016. The company also announced the resignation of Mathew Nord from the Constellium Board. “I warmly thank Matt Nord for his continuous support over the years. As a partner with Apollo, Matt has played an important role in Constellium’s transformation since 2011,” stated Pierre Vareille, Chief Executive Officer of Constellium. “I welcome Martha Brooks whose long track record in and extensive knowledge of the aluminium industry will be a key asset in Constellium’s future development,” he added. Ms. Martha Finn Brooks was...
