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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Anheuser-Busch plans boosting aluminum bottle production
Anheuser-Busch confirmed a $170 million project to expand aluminum bottle production for Budweiser and Bud Light at its Metal Container Corp. facility in Jacksonville, Florida. The project will create about 75 new jobs at the facility, officials said. The brewer had sought $15 million in state and city incentives for the project. The plan was revealed in May in a project summary for Jacksonville's Office of Economic Development. “The growing demand for our Budweiser and Bud Light aluminum bottles has helped drive growth and development in Jacksonville," Pete Kraemer, vice president of supply at Anheuser-Busch, said Tuesday in a statement. Anheuser-Busch also operates a brewery in Jacksonville. In December, Anheuser-Busch announced it would spend $150 million to expand its Metal Container...
Vedanta urges Odisha government to secure bauxite for refinery survival
Vedanta, on Thursday September 3, urged the Odisha government to secure bauxite in order to make its Kalahandi-based refinery survive against all odds in the international aluminium market. "Our submission before the state government is very clear. We have told them...Please secure bauxite as early as possible for survival," Vedanta Resource Plc. Tom Albanese told reporters after his team met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here this evening. The aluminium major which has a "world class" refinery and a "world class smelter" in Odisha, during discussion with the chief minister pointed out that they have no bauxite reserve to run the facilities. The company has already announced that it has started the process of closure of the refinery due to acute scarcity of the raw material though...
Alcoa expands R&D center to deepen additive manufacturing capabilities
Lightweight metals leader Alcoa is expanding its R&D center in Pennsylvania to accelerate the development of advanced 3D-printing materials and processes. Alcoa will produce materials designed specifically for a range of additive technologies to meet increasing demand for complex, high-performance 3D-printed parts for aerospace and other high-growth markets such as automotive, medical and building and construction. The $60 million expansion is under construction at the Alcoa Technical Center, the world’s largest light metals research center near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “Alcoa is investing in the next generation of 3D printing for aerospace and beyond,” said Alcoa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld. “Combining our expertise in metal alloys, manufacturing, design and...
Bell Bay Aluminium smelter marks highs and lows after six decades of operation
One of Tasmania's largest manufacturing employers says it has adapted to tough economic conditions to celebrate 60 years of operation. Bell Bay Aluminium smelter is the oldest in the Southern Hemisphere and was built in 1955, when importing aluminium became difficult. It was bought by Rio Tinto Aluminium in 1960 and now directly and indirectly employs about 1,500 people. Managing director Ray Mostogl said the company had to adjust to changing economic conditions to remain viable. "We've certainly learned how to take more risks with our operation in terms of the raw materials that we buy and the products that we try," he said. "We've chased different markets to sell metal, we send metal now to China," he added. But the global market has changed significantly. In 2011 the aluminium price...
Aluminium producers seek Q4 premium of $110/T from Japan buyers-sources
Some big aluminium producers have offered Japanese buyers a premium of $110 per tonne for October-December primary metal shipments, up 10 percent from the previous quarter, four sources involved in quarterly pricing talks said on Tuesday. Japan is Asia's biggest importer of the metal and the premiums for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price set the benchmark for the region. For the July-September quarter, Japanese buyers mostly agreed to pay a $100 per tonne PREM-ALUM-JP premium, a six-year low. The nearly $300 quarterly drop, the sharpest such decline ever, was driven by swelling Chinese exports that have piled pressure on an already swamped market. The latest quarterly pricing negotiations began last week between Japanese...
Hydro to investigate recycling viability of its closed aluminium smelter remains
Hydro is hoping to lodge an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the demolition of the Kurri Kurri aluminium smelter by the end of the year. Alongside, the company also plans to commence an investigation to study the viability of various options for recycling the pot lining of the idled aluminium smelter. Hydro shut the smelter three years ago, rendering 500 people jobless. In 2014, the company announced remediation plans, which included putting 350 thousand tonnes of contaminated waste in a containment cell on the smelter site. In a statement the company says site materials such as concrete, metal and pot lining will be recycled, wherever it is found reasonable and feasible. That would help reduce adverse environmental impact to a large extent.
Falling premiums hit big aluminium trading houses
More than the aluminium prices that have declined to six-year lows, it is the sharp fall in “premiums” that is hurting the big trading houses like Glencore and Noble Group. Commodities trader and miner Glencore recently cited the “tough metals trading conditions, particularly aluminium and nickel affected by the collapse in physical premiums” as the main causal factor behind the declining earnings of its marketing division. Noble Group’s metals division has been hit badly too. The Asian commodities trader’s profits before interest and tax in its metals and mining segment fell 98 per cent in the first half of the year. Company officials said the division “had a very difficult quarter as premiums for metals in key distribution locations weakened sharply, impacting the overall business and...
Success Aluminium collapses into voluntary administration
Success Aluminium, a manufacturer and supplier of aluminium products and systems with an estimated annual turnover of $39.4 million has collapsed into voluntary administration. The company has been operating for more than 30 years and employs 34 staff across its operations in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland. It manufactures and supplies aluminium extrusions, rolled products, fabricated materials and aluminium systems. Administrators Jirsch Sutherland was appointed to Success Aluminium on August 10, with Sule Arnautovic, Amanda Young and Glenn Crisp appointed to manage the administration. The appointment was made less than a month after an application to wind-up the company was filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission by a business called...
China Railway Corp orders Zefiro380 high speed trains
China Railway Corp has ordered a further 15 eight-car CRH380D high speed trainsets from Bombardier Sifang (Qingdao) Transportation for 2·4bn yuan. Announcing the order on September 2, the BST joint venture of Bombardier and CSR Sifang Rolling Stock Co said it had begun delivering an initial batch of 70 CRH380D trainsets in the first quarter of this year, and the early follow-on order showed CRC’s confidence in the product. The CRH380D has eight aluminium-bodied cars, with three classes of seating and a dining car. It is designed for a maximum operating speed of 380 km/h, with Bombardier Mitrac propulsion and control systems supplied by the Bombardier CPC Propulsion System Co joint venture.
HDDC process for aluminium heat sinks and liquid cold plates
Aavid Thermalloy has announced launch of its its High Density Die Cast (HDDC) heat sinks. These heat sinks are said to offer several advantages over their machined, die cast and extruded counterparts. They are claimed to offer increased thermal performance and uniform thermal distribution because of the ability of the HDDC process to expand the fin configurations, fin thickness and shapes of the heat sink producing, for example pin fins, oblique or elliptical fins and radial fin arrays. Many of these features cannot be achieved via extrusion or standard die casting techniques. Further, the process is said to allow fins to be formed on thinner and lighter wall electronics housings and enclosures with intricate features and low mass. Another advantage Aavid say its HDDC process has is that...
Emirates Extrusion to commission 3rd production line
Emirates Extrusion Factory (EEF), a leading aluminium extrusion company in UAE, plans to commission its third extrusion line at its plant in Techno Park, Dubai, which will increase its production capacity by 7,000 metric tonnes (MT) per annum. The company, a subsidiary of Masharie LLC - the private equity arm of Dubai Investments, has also announced plans to start a new powder coating plant with a capacity of 8,400 MT per annum, as demand for aluminium products surges amidst rampant construction projects in the UAE and region. EEF, which reported a total turnover of over 13,800 MT in 2014, is targeting growth of over 10 per cent growth in 2015 and bracing for increased demand in line with its expansion plans into Africa; including Algeria, Angola, Morocco, Tunisia and Kenya; and Europe,...
Chinalco on the way to become world’s biggest aluminum producing company
Following Beijing's initiatives that saw successful transfer of assets between a cash strapped power generation group, the State Power Investment Group (SPIC) and a loss-making alumina and aluminum smelting group Aluminum Corp of China Ltd., the latter is set to become the world’s biggest aluminum company by production, leap-frogging from third place over the US’s Alcoa, Inc.and Russia’s UC RUSAL Plc. According to a recently published report, Chinalco will add 2.7 million metric tons of annual smelting capacity to its present 3.8 million metric tons when it inherits SPIC’s smelters, easily pushing it ahead of Rusal and Alcoa. For state-sponsored and directed SPIC, the move makes good sense. The aluminum smelters were reported to be mostly loss-making and the group only owned them...
Nalco to visit Iran for talks on $2 billion smelter plan
India’s National Aluminium Co. Ltd (Nalco) executives plan to visit Iran this month for initial talks to build a $2 billion smelter in the Middle Eastern country, the first pick on its three-nation short list. The company will discuss forming a joint venture with the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, or IMIDRO, T.K. Chand, chairman and managing director of National Aluminium, or Nalco, said in an interview at his office in Bhubaneswar. “Our consultant has shortlisted Iran, Oman and Indonesia for the smelter,” Chand said. “We have started discussions in order of preference starting with Iran. We will take a view on all countries and shortlist one taking into account the availability of gas and energy for making cost competitive power.” Strong...
Alba opens state-of-the-art training centre
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C (Alba), one of the world’s largest smelters, opened a state-of-the-art training centre, which will focus on strengthening core skills of employees and contractors on. The opening ceremony of Alba’s new training centre was held amidst a host of dignitaries --- Subah Al Dosari, Ministry of Labour Undersecretary, Dr. Mohd Al Ansari, Labour Affairs Assistant Undersecretary - Ministry of Labour, and Alba’s Executive Management and managers, and three former training managers. The training centre consists of training administration building having four classrooms and administrative offices, and the Training Workshops Building -- a two-storey building spread over 2,500 sq.m -- which houses nine smart classrooms, and workshops dedicated to each of the five maintenance...
Metro Mining completes $3.6M entitlement issue
Metro Mining has closed a 3.6 million non-renounceable entitlement issue to complete the Bankable Feasibility Study for its Bauxite Hills Project at Cape York Queensland. It received subscriptions for 12670171 shares priced at 0.08 or 28.3% of all shares offered under the 1 for 7 offer. The remaining 32146686 shortfall shares will be taken up in full by the joint underwriters Argonaut Capital and GMP Securities or their nominees. In July the company raised 2 million through the placement of 25 million shares at 0.08. Besides completing the DFS proceeds will also be used for: - Complete authorities and licenses to operate the Bauxite Hills Project (environment approvals Native Title Agreements); - Secure pre-commitments for mining and transhipment contractors as required; - Exploration...
Odisha Mining Corporation to fast track bauxite mining to rescue Vedanta refinery
In its bid to rescue Vedanta's alumina refinery at Lanjigarh, the Odisha government has put its mining PSU Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) on the job to start mining from Karlapat mines at the earliest. Timelines have been set to achieve different critical milestones to commence bauxite mining from Karlapat which has 153 million tonne of proven reserve and 54 million tonne probable reserve. OMC aims to start mining activity from the mine from December 2016. "OMC has already applied for mining lease (ML) on 1800 hectares over Karlapat. The PSU has also set a mining plan of extracting five million tonne per annum of bauxite. The mining plan would soon be sent to the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) for approval.", said a senior government official. The Centre, in March this year, had decided to...
UL announces new testing services for building envelopes
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) launched new curtain wall mockup and field testing capabilities for building envelopes. The global safety science organization’s services provide performance testing to determine the rate of air infiltration, water penetration, structural, impact, and cyclical performance for windows, doors, and curtain walls. The testing can occur in the laboratory, field, or in curtain wall mockups. Evaluations of air and water resistance, as well as the structural integrity of a building envelope with mockup testing and onsite testing, provide architects, building owners, consultants, and contractors with critical information needed to assess performance and risk. “These new testing capabilities not only help validate the design and material selection of the building...
GM to invest $877 million to overhaul Flint, Michigan, truck plant
General Motors Co said it will spend $877 million to overhaul its pickup truck factory in Flint, Michigan, capping a series of investments to keep production of profitable large pickups and sport utility vehicles rolling through a significant model change expected in 2018. The Flint investment is part of a plan to expand three U.S. truck plants to install new assembly lines, body welding shops and paint operations for future generations of Silverado pickups and SUVs such as the Chevrolet Tahoe and Cadillac Escalade, while still running the operations that build current models. Company sources say GM's next-generation pickups and SUVs will make use of various materials, including aluminum to shed weight and gain fuel efficiency to meet tougher federal standards. Assembling the new vehicles...
