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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Outotec inaugurates dewatering technology centre in Finland
Outotec has established a dewatering technology centre in Lappeenranta, Finland to develop new products, processes and services for solid-liquid separation and raw material reuse for the entire life cycle of processing plants. Tailings are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the worthless fraction of an ore. The composition of tailings is directly dependent on the composition of the ore and the process of mineral extraction used on the ore. Dewatering is the process of removing some of the water from the tailings-water slurry following concentration. Both the procedures are integral to bauxite processing before the ore is sent to the refinery for alumina refining. With the new dewatering technology centre, Outotec can simulate and optimise...
TVS Motor, Sundaram Clayton to invest INR 800 crore; includes investment on aluminium casting
TVS Motor and Sundaram Clayton, India's two leading two-wheeler companies together announced plans to invest around INR 800 crore in Tamil Nadu. Speaking on the sidelines of Tamil Nadu Global Investors Meet at Chennai on Wednesday Venu Srinivasan, chairman and managing director, TVS Motor and Sundaram Clayton said that Tamil Nadu is the best place to invest as it boasts great business environment and infrastructure. Both the companies together would invest around INR 800 crore over the next three years. This will be increasing the two-wheeler capacity from 2 million to 2.5 million in Tamil Nadu. The investment will be on castings, plastic and aluminium casting and also on the BMW project.
LME aluminium to test support at $1,589
LME aluminium is expected to test a support at $1,589 per tonne, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci retracement analysis. A five-wave cycle from the Aug. 24 low of $1,506 has completed, causing the current drop, which may extend into a range of $1,558-$1,574, formed by the 61.8 percent and the 50 percent Fibonacci retracements on the cycle. The immediate support is at $1,589, the 38.2 percent level, only a break below which could confirm the target range. Resistance is at $1,609, the 23.6 percent level, a break above which could lead to a limited gain to $1,621, the 14.6 percent level.
Aluminium futures weaken on sluggish demand
Aluminium fell 0.14 per cent to INR 106.60 per kg in futures trade today after traders reduced their exposure due to sluggish demand at the domestic spot market amid drop in China exports. At Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), aluminium for delivery in September eased 15 paise or 0.14 per cent to INR 106.60 per kg in a business turnover of 86 lots. Similarly, the metal for delivery in October contracts traded lower by just five paise, or 0.05 per cent, to INR 107.90 per kg in 5 lots. The weakness in aluminium futures trading is mostly due to fall in demand from consuming industries at the domestic market and disappointing China's trade data.
Aremco introduces Aremcolox 502-1400-99% alumina
Aremco Products, Inc., a leading manufacturer of high reliability equipment for the electronics, ceramics and metallurgical industries, announced the introduction of Aremcolox™ 502-1400-99, a high density, full-fired, 99% pure alumina ceramic. Aremcolox™ 502-1400-99 provides exceptional abrasion and corrosion resistance as well as high mechanical strength and electrical resistance for continuous operating temperatures to 3000 ºF (1650 ºC). Properties include a compressive strength of 340,000 psi, flexural strength of 46,000 psi and dielectric strength of 225 volts/mil. Aremcolox™ 502-1400-99 demonstrates exceptional chemical and erosion resistance. It experiences no weight loss when exposed to high concentrations of sulphuric acid for extended periods of time and demonstrates a very low...
Ford Motor reports record sales of its aluminum F-series trucks
Ford Motor Company has reported record sales for its F-series trucks, a strong indication that Ford’s last year gamble is reaping benefits for the US auto-maker. The automaker introduced a massive implementation program in August last year, converting the steel-body-made popular F-150's to aluminum-coated body. However, the company faced hefty costs, in the process of shifting to aluminum-made trucks. Ford initially had to close the truck assembly plant at Dearborn, resulting in a fall in production. Ford had earlier on derived about 40% of the revenue from its Ford trucks according to marketwatch. Moving away from steel lead to high disruption costs and a fall in sales, as demand outstripped constrained production. The company estimates that due to production issues, it will not be able...
Novelis Kingston celebrates 75th anniversary
Novelis, the global leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its plant in Kingston, Ontario with a number of public activities taking place the week of Sept. 12 - 19. As an integral facility in Novelis’ North American operations, the plant produces aluminum for automotive, transportation and other industrial applications serving customers across the globe. “For 75 years, the employees of Novelis Kingston have built a legacy of leadership in the production of high quality aluminum material for our customers,” said Jacob Czyz, Plant Manager of Novelis Kingston. “I am honoured to lead our Kingston plant at this memorable time and know that we have a bright future ahead.” In honour of reaching this milestone, Novelis will host a series of celebratory...
Nalco may be taken out of disinvestment calendar
Government of India may take out state-owned aluminium major Nalco from the disinvestment calendar for the current fiscal over fears that a volatile capital market coupled with sluggish commodity prices may sharply erode the Centre’s earnings from the proposed 10 per cent stake sale in the company. Highly placed sources in the mines ministry said that the department of disinvestment has been told that the current conditions would not fetch a good valuation for the company and the issue should be deferred to next year. Government has included Nalco among a list of about 20 companies for disinvestment in current financial year to raise a targeted INR 41,000 crore.The decision to defer the issue has been taken in the wake of a sharp erosion in the value of shares on bourses. The company’s...
Aluminum premiums in Europe seen mired at low levels on big supply
Surcharges for physical aluminum in Europe are due to remain weak after retreating in recent weeks, weighed down by overproduction, new rules that force more outflows from warehouses and difficult conditions for financing. A constant flow of metal out of warehouses registered by the London Metal Exchange is due to increase after new LME rules designed to slash backlogs twice as quickly as under previous reforms took effect at the start of August. "There's good metal availability both as the result of the continued overproduction, but also as a result of the expected greater outflow from warehouses as the LME decay factor has increased," a trader said. "Premiums have come back down again after the temporary strength we saw in Europe." The surcharges, or premiums, which consumers pay on top...
"ARABAL 2015" attracts the attention of global aluminium companies
The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) announced the participation of 15 sponsors in the Arab International Aluminium Conference and Exhibition (ARABAL 2015), hosted by the company on November 15-17 in the Dhahran International Exhibition Center. Senior industry figures are scheduled to speak at this premier global aluminium event, the largest in the Gulf region. The conference will also include the participation of 35 exhibitors in the exhibition accompanying the conference which highlights the major developments in the global aluminium industry, with a review of the latest updates on regional aluminium sector investments. Ma'aden is currently doing intensive preparations to insure the success of this conference, which has broad interest to those involved in the aluminium industry,...
Indian govt. delegation visits Huntley’s bauxite mines, seeks Australian collaboration
Union Minister of Steel and Mines, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar met Western Australian Premier, Mr Colin Barnet in latter's office in West Perth, Australia, last week Friday. Tomar is leading a delegation of the Indian mining industry to Sydney for Asia Pacific Mining Exhibition (AIMEX) 2015, one of the world's largest mining event. Other members include Director General of Geological Survey of India, CMD NMDC, CMD MECL, and other senior officers from PSUs and Mines Ministry. The delegation also visited Huntley mines, the world's second largest bauxite mine with production of 25 million tones. There the delegation learnt about the state-of-the-art technology and automation being used. This was followed by a visit to the fully automated operational centre of Rio Tinto, where from the company...
Indonesia sticks to bauxite export ban to force develop smelters and create jobs
In an effort to add value to the country’s mineral resources and more importantly to create jobs Indonesian government has decided not to relax its ban on export of bauxite and other minerals in its upcoming stimulus policy package. This is significant because the ban has already cost Indonesia, the once world’s top nickel exporter and a major bauxite supplier, billions of dollars. Sticking to the decision of not doing away with the ban would mean more lost revenues. The slowing Indonesian economy can hardly afford to bear that and is eagerly awaiting government intervention for revival. Still, the government is in favour of sticking to the present regulations. Earlier, the government had said it was mulling the option of relaxing its bauxite and mineral export policy in order to prop up...
Aluminum exports from China slide to 14-month low as prices drop
China’s aluminum exports fell to the lowest level since June last year after a drop in domestic production and a plunge in global prices. Shipments of the metal used in everything from cars to window frames shrank 5 percent to 340,000 tons in August from the previous month and were down 12 percent from a year earlier, according to customs data. Production in China, the world’s biggest supplier, fell 1.3 percent in July from a record in June in a sign the lowest prices in six years were forcing some smelters to curb output. Global prices have lost about 13 percent this year and premiums, the amount customers have to pay on top of exchange prices, dropped to a three-year low in the U.S. last week. Smelters in China have proposed cuts by closing outdated, loss-making capacity and delaying...
Nalco's INR 30,000 cr investment plans include one million tonne alumina refinery in Odisha
Aluminium major National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) on Tuesday said it would invest INR 30,000 crore in Odisha over next few years to expand production capacity and create more job opportunities in the state. The announcement comes at a time when global metal market is witnessing a slowdown with sharp fall in prices while the domestic aluminium industry is witnessing erosion of margins in wake of an onslaught of cheap imports. Nalco’s investment plan encompasses expansion - both brownfield and greenfield, diversification into energy and non-ferrous metal sectors, backward integration, merger and acquisition. Out of the proposed investment, about INR 6000 crore will go towards capacity expansion that will involve setting up a one million tonne (mt) alumina refinery at Damanjodi in the...
Centrum Broking sees aluminium prices rising to 18 per cent
Centrum Broking said it expects aluminium prices to recover sharply to $2000 per tonne by first half of 2016 from $1700 per tonne price currently, citing expected supply cuts due to large unviable capacity at present prices and steady demand. The brokerage said 30-40 per cent of aluminium capacity was presently unviable and supply cuts would accelerate globally with China's smelter margins being at multi-year lows right now. "We believe that current depressed levels in aluminium are driven by a mix of speculation and unfavourable currency movements rather than demand-supply and ignore the support of current global cost curve which makes one-third of global capacity unviable and is triggering sharp supply cuts," said analyst Abhisar Jain at Centrum Broking. Indian aluminium producers like...
Aleris announces results of asset sale offer to purchase up to $125 million of senior notes
Aleris International, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Aleris Corporation, today announced the results of its asset sale offer to purchase, on a pro rata basis, up to $125 million of its 7?% Senior Notes due 2018 and its 7?% Senior Notes due 2020 at a cash purchase price of 100% of the aggregate principal amount of the Notes, plus accrued and unpaid interest to, but not including, the payment date. The Offer expired at 5:00 P.M., New York City time, on September 2, 2015. The table below sets forth the results of the Offer for the Notes, according to information provided by Global Bondholder Services Corporation, the depositary for the Offer, as of the expiration time. As the aggregate principal amount of the Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn exceeds the maximum offer...
Saudi unveils plans to develop bauxite mining projects with US mineral giants
Saudi government recently unveiled a series of giant investment and partnership plans in sectors including oil and gas, mining, civil infrastructure, and banking as a part of a 21st century vision of the cooperation with its long-term ally the United States of America. The vision was presented by Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammad bin Salman, who also heads the kingdom’s economic and development council. The list of investment proposals among other projects includes mining as a “promising” sector. The Sultanate plans to work in conjunction with the leading minerals and metals companies of the U.S. to extract vast deposits of bauxite and other ores. The news comes a day after a U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum was held in Washington. The Forum was a part of the series of...
SMM aluminium market morning review
LME aluminum hovered narrowly around the 40-day moving average after opening at USD 1,616/mt on Monday. The light metal fell below the 5-day moving average to USD 1,595/mt later in the day before ending down USD 12/mt at USD 1,598/mt. Trading volumes were down 2,353 lots to 6,948 lots, and positions were up 9,034 to 846,000. SHFE 1511 aluminum found support at the 10-day moving average during Monday’s night session thanks to exit of shorts. However, the 5-day and 10-day moving averages are pointing downward, meaning that the contract might drift lower to RMB 11,800-11,890/mt on Tuesday. In China’s spot market, poor consumption will widen spot discounts to RMB 70-30/mt over SHFE 1509 aluminum contract.
