Indonesian Aluminium: The shift from mining to smelting
Indonesia is pitched as the next big Asian aluminium hub as the country has released an expansive alumina and aluminium expansion plan, based on the abundant bauxite resource in the country. China has exhausted its aluminium capacity cap and is unlikely to raise installed capacity significantly in the coming years. Additionally, geopolitical conflicts, sanctions, and tariffs have made much of global aluminium capacity inaccessible and vulnerable. This includes Russian aluminium and the Gulf output, along with restricted and costly access to Canadian aluminium for the US smelters. The already tight supply conditions have been made worse after the Iran-Israel-US war that disrupted the Gulf aluminium capacity. Under current supply conditions, India and Indonesia will play a critical role in...
Germany’s automotive industry drives 32.8% of aluminium consumption as EV production rises 23%, led by Volkswagen, BMW & Mercedes-Benz
Germany’s automobile industry is a major part of the country’s aluminium story, with the metal used in everything from vehicle body panels and chassis components to battery enclosures and electric-drive systems. As automakers develop lighter vehicles and expand their electric models, aluminium has become an important material across the manufacturing process. Germany’s automotive industry consumes around 950,000 tonnes of aluminium annually, accounting for a substantial share of the wider transport sector’s demand. In 2025, Germany’s total aluminium consumption stood at approximately 2.9 million tonnes, with the transport sector accounting for 1.35 million tonnes, representing 46 per cent of the total. This extensive use of aluminium in transport mirrors its importance to the global...
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Chinalco delays closure of its Liancheng aluminium smelter
Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco) has delayed a planned shutdown of metal production at its Liancheng aluminium smelter after authorities agreed to offer electricity at a cheaper rate. Chinalco, China's biggest aluminium and alumina producer, had planned to shutdown its Gansu aluminium smelter two weeks ago due to high cost of production and low metal prices. But industry sources said, the local government and the state electricty authority have urged the aluminium manufacturer to keep producing, given the country's slowing growth scenario, and offered lower power tariffs so that it is easier to cope with the rising COP, which stands somewhere around 13,000 yuan a tonne. Nevertheless, the company would stop metal production, cheaper electricity or no electricity; but that would be...
Altech Chemicals finalises Kaolin mining rights agreement with Dana
Altech Chemicals Limited announced that it has reached agreement with Dana Shipping and Trading S.A. to grant Dana the exclusive right to mine up to 10Mt of kaolin from the company's Meckering kaolin deposit. The Meckering Deposit covers approximately 184km2 in area and contains indicated and inferred kaolin mineral resources estimated at 64Mt @ 83.4% brightness JORC (2004). Under the terms of the kaolin mineral rights agreement, Dana will pay Altech $1 million cash for the right to mine 10Mt of kaolin (First Transaction) upon either the grant of mining lease ML70/1334 or the grant of any alternate mining lease that provides Dana with mining access to kaolin within an area of the exploration lease containing the Meckering Deposit (EL70/3923). If the conditions of the First Transaction are...
Century Aluminum smelter closure seems unpreventable, says South Carolina governor
Governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina, said Wednesday, October 28, that the state has done all it can to keep Century Aluminum from closing its Berkeley County smelter and laying off 600 workers as a contractual impasse between the company and its power provider enters its final weeks. “The main thing we can’t do is choose one business over another or do special favors for anyone,” Haley said during a visit to Goose Creek. Haley and state Commerce Secretary Bobby Hitt “pushed as hard as we could” to strike a deal with Century Aluminum, she said, “but we can’t go beyond what’s fair.” Century Aluminum said last week it will close its Mount Holly plant by the end of this year if state-owned utility Santee Cooper does not agree to a plan in which Century would buy its electricity from an...
Century reports a net loss of $56.1 million for the third quarter of 2015
Century Aluminum Company reported a net loss of $56.1 million ($0.65 per common share) for the third quarter of 2015. Results were negatively impacted by a $5.3 million charge ($0.06 per common share) for lower of cost or market inventory adjustments, a $0.4 million charge ($0.01 per common share) related to the closure at Ravenswood, a $1.4 million charge ($0.02 per common share) related to the labor disruption at Hawesville, a $2.9 million charge ($0.04 per common share) related to the partial curtailment at Hawesville, and a $1.2 million charge ($0.01 per common share) related to severance primarily associated with cost reductions. Results were positively impacted by an $0.8 million purchase accounting gain ($0.01 per common share) related to Mt. Holly. After consideration of these...
The Aluminum Association announces membership growth and additions to its board
The Aluminum Association announced membership growth, additions to its board, and the election of a new Chairman on Thursday, October 29. In addition, the Association announced the winner of the 2015 Marlan A. Boultinghouse Award, the highest award given by the North American industry. The announcements were made during the Aluminum Association’s annual meeting - “Aluminum Country” - in Nashville, TN. “This is an exciting time for the North American aluminum industry with strong demand growth and domestic expansion,” said newly elected Association Chairman Garney Scott, President & CEO of Scepter, Inc. “But serious challenges remain and it will take the combined efforts of the membership, through the Aluminum Association, to seize the opportunity in North America.” Garney Scott, President...
LME aluminium to find fresh support at $1,462
Aluminium prices on London Metal Exchange (LME) may break support at $1,475 per tonne and slide to the next support at $1,462, to complete a downward wave (c). This is the third wave completed by LME aluminium of a three-wave cycle from the September 9 high of $1,655.50; it may eventually stand at around $1,462, the 161.8 percent projection level. The latest support at $1,475, the 150 percent level, could be transitory and will be broken in the short term. An increase over the October 27 high of $1,493.50 could be extended to the 123.6 percent projection level at $1,505.
Tesla unveils aluminium-skinned Model X SUV with falcon-wing doors
Tesla Motors, Inc, the American automotive and energy storage company, unveiled its latest aluminium bodied Model X SUV. The vehicle packs in a lot of innovative features, which include an exclusive aluminium built and Falcon-wing doors, equipped with sensors that prevent contact with other vehicles. According to the industry specialists, when it comes to designing a new SUV, most automakers would have designed in a couple new nifty features and called it a day, but Tesla proved to be an exception. Even though they will have to find new breakthroughs for succeeding generations, Tesla's designers put in a lot of innovations to bring out the Model X crossover. Lamborghinis too have upward opening doors, but they are a novelty and there are painfully few Lambos in this world. Tesla takes the...
In the US, commercial transportation focuses more on aluminium
The commercial transportation sector in the United States is demanding more aluminium. This includes increased use in trucks and trailers, and Sapa’s plant in California is becoming one of the key suppliers of extruded solutions. Sapa President & CEO Egil Hogna visited the City of Industry plant, near Los Angeles, to learn more about the requirements from the transportation sector and to get a closer look at the plant’s operations. The visit was part of Hogna’s 100-day program, in which he is traveling to company locations and meeting employees around the world. In addition to the California site, he spent several hours at Sapa’s extrusion plant in Oregon. He was joined by Patrick Lawlor, executive vice president responsible for extrusion operations in the Americas, and Rob Rubicky, vice...
China Zhongwang targets to top current aluminium flat rolling capacity
The world's second-largest industrial aluminum extrusion producer, China Zhongwang Holdings (1333), expects output at a new Tianjin plant to top current capacity to meet domestic demand. Phase one of the aluminum flat-rolled product project in Tianjin has a designed annual capacity of 1.8 million tonnes and actual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes. It will be fully operational by year's end, said chief financial officer Vincent Cheung Lap-kei, and then there will be a five-year investment payback period. The Liaoning-based firm has already sunk 22 billion yuan (HK$26.8 billion) into the first phase. And a further 10 billion yuan will be invested by Zhongwang by the end of next year, Cheung added. The demand for aluminum flat-rolled products is from industries such as aerospace and in making...
Increased aluminium recycling could reduce China's metal industry energy use
China produces more aluminum than any other country. Secondary production, or producing metal from recycled scrap metal, is the primary opportunity to reduce the country's energy intensity for both of these industries, because secondary production uses significantly less energy than primary production using raw material inputs. In 2012 the Chinese nonferrous metals industry (which includes aluminum and other metals) used 2.1 quadrillion British thermal unit (BTU or Btu) of energy. Secondary production of these metals is much less energy intensive. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, secondary aluminum production requires as little as 6% of the energy associated with primary production, when all manufacturing energy use is considered. Recyclable material includes both post-consumer...
ShredderSort to introduce new solutions for the aluminium recycling industry
Although the number of end of life vehicles (ELVs) needing recycling is growing, due to processing limitations aluminium recycling rates are being hindered. A European-funded project - ShredderSort - aims to contribute to new solutions to the aluminium recycling industry. More than 10 million tons of automotive waste from end of life vehicles (ELV) are generated yearly in the EU and the values are continuously increasing. ELV wastes are managed by the auto-shredder plants which process ELVs through a series of mechanical and physical operations in order to separate the materials into different streams: ferrous, non-ferrous, heavy non-metal and fluff. Ferrous materials, constituting more than 60wt% (percentage by weight), are sent to steel-making plants, while the non-ferrous (NF)...
AluSolutions announces two new feature areas
AluSolutions 2016, the only free exhibition and conference addressing sustainability challenges in aluminium production and processing, has just announced two new feature areas. The AluSolutions exhibition will now include a ‘Lightweight Vehicle Zone’ and ‘Aluminium in Architecture Area’. The dedicated zones will offer companies the opportunity to display aluminium applications and highlight how the metal’s environmental benefits continue into the use-phase. The two-day exhibition, being held on 10-11 May 2016 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, will host equipment OEMs, plant suppliers, smelters and recyclers, while the conference will invite speakers from around the world to discuss growing sustainability across the industry, recycling targets, case studies, technological...
Emirates Global Aluminium in talks for $5 billion loan to refinance debt
State-owned Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) is in talks with banks to raise a $5 billion loan, four banking sources aware of the matter said on Wednesday, to refinance debt taken on for some of its projects. EGA, created by the merger of two state-owned aluminium companies Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) and Abu Dhabi's Emirates Aluminium (Emal), is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi investment fund Mubadala [MUDEV.UL] and the state company which holds Dubai's most high-profile assets, Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD). The company is seeking funds to refinance loans taken for the Emal projects, the sources said. The $5.7 billion Emal Phase 1 project was commissioned in 2009 while the $4.5 billion phase two was commissioned in 2014. A significant part of the projects' funding was through bank loans...
Aluminium prices hit by mounting China demand concerns
Aluminium prices tumbled to six-year lows on Wednesday, October 28, as traders fretted about the likelihood of large surpluses this year and next and the lack of substantial output cuts to balance the market. Benchmark aluminium on the London Metal Exchange (LME) slumped to $US1460 a tonne in early trade, its lowest since June 2009. It later recovered to close at $US1484 on Tuesday. "Aluminium's fundamentals are extremely challenging, we haven't seen anyone really seriously cutting back production," observed an industry analyst. "Problem is they are all waiting for someone else to do the decent thing." A latest survey conducted earlier this month showed analysts on average expect the aluminium market to have a surplus of 815,000 tonnes this year. The range of forecasts was from 440,000...
Orbite provides update on patents related to alumina refining technology
Orbite Technologies Inc. announced that it has received patent titled "Methods for Separating Iron Ions from Aluminum Ions" from IP Australia. The company has also been notified of the following: • Patent application No. 14/005,885 titled "Processes for Recovering Rare Earth Elements from Aluminum-Bearing Materials" has been found allowable by the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO"); • Patent application No. 2,863,755 titled "Methods for preparing Hematite" has been found allowable by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office ("CIPO"); • The State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China ("SIPO") issued a Notification of Granting for patent application No. 201280044914.7 titled "Methods for Separating Iron Ions from Aluminum Ions". Fees will be paid...
Bauxite Resources reports reduced mining activities in quarter ended Sept 30
Bauxite Resources Limited has recently announced its September 2015 quarterly report. During the quarter, exploration activities were significantly reduced while the dispute with Yankuang was under mediation. The result of that mediation was announced to the market on 21 October 2015. Bauxite Resources Ltd, Yankuang Resources Pty Ltd and Yankuang Group Company Ltd had been engaged in a formal mediation in an effort to resolve the dispute between the parties regarding amongst other things the progress of the Refinery Bankable Feasibility Study. The mediation was conducted on 11 August 2015 and was adjourned to enable the parties to explore a proposal under which the joint ventures would be terminated with Yankuang acquiring BRL's interests in the joint ventures and in BRL's 100% owned...
Update: Logan Aluminum announces $240 million expansion plans
Logan Aluminum, the Delaware based maker of rolled sheets for the beverage industry, has announced its long awaited $240 million investment plans, which would add automotive industry among its customers. Earlier on October 28, Wednesday, Governor Steve Beshear brought the news to Warren County that would exectedly create significant employment opportunities. “Strong, lightweight materials are quickly becoming standard in vehicle production and Logan Aluminum’s expanded operations contribute to Kentucky’s position as a global leader in the aluminum industry,” Beshear said in a news release. “Logan Aluminum sets the example of how innovative Kentucky companies can add capacity, products and jobs by reacting to market forces.” Logan already employs more than 1,000 people. In addition to the...
Ball Corp. acquires remaining interest in Brazilian joint venture
Ball Corp. announced that it will acquire the minority interest owned by its joint-venture partners in Latapack-Ball that supplies cans and ends to the Brazilian market. Ball Corp. said it will acquire the remaining 39.9 percent minority interest in the Latapack-Ball beverage-can business in exchange for the issuance of 6 million Ball common shares, giving the Broomfield-based company full ownership of Latapack-Ball. Ball’s shares were trading at $66.90 Tuesday, which would give the deal an estimated value of $401 million. The joint venture was established in 1995. The operation supplies cans and ends to the Brazilian market from four manufacturing facilities. The local business has grown over the years as local customers’ packaging mix continues to shift to metal beverage cans, according...
