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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Alumina stock rating upgraded by Macquarie
Macquarie upgraded shares of Alumina (AWC) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Analyst Ratings Net reports. Several other analysts also recently weighed in on AWC. Credit Suisse reiterated a neutral rating on shares of Alumina in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut Alumina from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Alumina Limited is an Australia-based mining company. Alumina Limited’s sole business undertaking is in the global alumina and aluminum industry, which it conducts primarily through bauxite mining and alumina refining, with some minor alumina based chemicals businesses, aluminum smelting and the marketing of those products. All of those business...
ATDC launches new aluminium scissor doors and gates
The Australian Trellis Door Company (ATDC) announces the release of an extensive range of world-class aluminium scissor doors and gates delivering immense strength, stylish design and excellent corrosion resistance. Suitable for securing residential, commercial and industrial premises including beachside and coastal homes, cafés, restaurants, alfresco areas, pubs, clubs, reception counters, serveries, shopfronts, warehouses and showrooms among many more, ATDC’s precision engineered aluminium scissor doors and gates are manufactured from marine grade aluminium and can be colour matched to suit almost any environment. An ideal choice for discerning homeowners and business owners, ATDC’s aluminium scissor doors retract sideways almost completely out of the way when not in use, folding back...
Sims Metal Management earnings up in fiscal 2015
Australia’s Sims Metal Management (SMM), one of the world’s largest recycling companie, has reported lower revenue but increased profits in its annual financial report for its fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2015. In a presentation delivered Aug. 21 and posted on the company’s website, the company says it recorded higher earnings for the year despite lower sales volumes. The company cites strong growth in Europe and growth in global electronics recycling operations as factors in the company’s performance for the year. Revenue fell 11 percent to AU$6.3 billion (US$4.6 billion), while underlying earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased 19 percent to AU$142 million (US$104 million). The company also says its volume of materials sold fell to a level of 10.5 million metric tons....
Aluminum Recycle Scholarships awarded
The First Baptist Church of McConnell Richard Smith Memorial Men’s Fellowship Scholarships were awarded Sun., Aug. 9, during the morning service. The church has given this award since 1987. There has been more than $40,000 given to the different college-bound members of the church the past 26 years. The funds that are collected for the scholarship come from a variety of ways. The major project of the men’s group of the church is to finance the scholarship. This is done by collecting aluminum cans for recycling. Everyone that attends the church is asked to save their aluminum. Some businesses and neighborhood friends of the church assist in the activity. The aluminum is stored in a church storage building adjacent to the church until it is taken to the recycler. Memorial offerings and love...
SMM market review: LME aluminium opens at USD 1,543/mt
LME aluminum opened at USD 1,566.5/mt last Friday. The light metal climbed to USD 1,581/mt, but immediately moved all the way down to a six-year low of USD 1,541/mt. Finally, LME aluminum ended down USD 23/mt at USD 1,545/mt. Trading volumes were up 2,403 lots to 12,354 lots, and positions were down 3,181 to 845,000. European and US stock market fell last Friday. Investors fled from risky assets, causing LME aluminum and the US dollar index to fall together. LME aluminum opened at USD 1,543/mt on Monday, and met strong resistance at the 5-day moving average. SHFE 1510 aluminum should fall to RMB 11,900-11,990/mt on Monday as base metals market will be shadowed by bearish sentiment. In China’s spot market, consumption will remain poor, with spot discounts of RMB 110-70/mt expected over...
Anglesea station powers down
Last night Alcoa powered down the Anglesea Power Station for the final time, after 46 years of operation. At 8:48pm, long term employees joined Power Station supervisor Bryce Hutton to shut down the station’s boiler, which produces steam to drive the turbine and produce power. “We were planning to power down on Tuesday 25 August, but a mechanical failure in our coal delivery system brought that date forward,” Power Station Manager Warren Sharp said. “It was repairable, however it would have meant a high level of activity at a difficult time for our people, and after considering all factors it was decided to end power generation last night.” “There is no doubt that this is a very sad day. For 46 years this has been a very well run and well maintained facility. Its success as a reliable...
Inner Mongolia Huolingol to expand aluminum capacity to 4 mln-tpy by 2018
Huolingol, Inner Mongolia, has set an ambitious goal of expanding local aluminum capacity to 4 million-tpy by 2018 to support aluminum processing industry in the city. The local government aims at brining local aluminum capacity to 2 million tonnes this year, powered by cheap electricity thanks to abundant coal resources there. The city is on its way to building itself into China’s high-end aluminum semis production base.
Zhuzhou Smelter posts 109 million yuan losses in H1
Zhuzhou Smelter Group reported losses of 109 million yuan in the first half of 2015 due mainly to tumbling indium prices, which slumped some 43%, according to the company’s mid-year report. Indium selling prices fell 42.79% year-on-year, affecting the company’s indium output by 24.48% year-on-year. The company’s gross margins from precious metals dropped 4.3%, down 21.7 percentage points year-on-year. Zhuzhou Smelter’s profit fell as much as 1268%, compared to the profit of 9.37 million yuan in the same period last year. Its income from major businesses was 6.74 billion yuan, down 7.2% year-on-year. Gross margins from major businesses were 263 million yuan or 3.93%, down 90.82 million yuan or 0.98 percentage point year-on-year. Gross margins from zinc products were 6.75%, up 0.64...
Early clearances must before auctioning of mines: FIMI
With mineral-producing states expected to start auction of mines bearing minerals such as iron ore, bauxite and limestone by October and November, Federation of Indian Mineral Industries ( FIMI) urged the Centre to ensure that all approvals including forest and environment clearances should be put in place before the bidding. Expressing apprehensions about the auction route for mines given the states capacity, mining lobby said that the Union Ministry of Mines should ensure that all approvals from various authorities should be sanctioned in a time-bound manner. “Our major concern is the quantum of contribution to district mineral fund (DMF) which is linked to royalty. The quantum of contribution by the mining owner needs to be much lower than the maximum limit allowed as per the amended...
India's total mineral production valued at INR 18194 crore; Gujarat- largest bauxite producer
As per the annual report of the Union Ministry of Mines, Gujarat has the largest 32.41 per cent share in bauxite production followed by Jharkhand which has 10.53 percent share and Maharashtra standing at 9.51 per cent. Chhattisgarh is accounted for 6.07 per cent of the total Bauxite production in the country in 2013-14. The remaining Bauxite production was reported from Goa, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Incidentally, the total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during June 2015 was INR 18194 crore. The contribution of coal was the highest at INR 6662 crore (37%). Next in the order of importance were-- petroleum (crude) INR 5636 crore, iron ore INR 1847 crore, natural gas (utilized) INR 2164 crore, lignite INR 516 crore and limestone INR 490 crore....
CMS boosts aluminium division- becomes a member of Centre for Window Cladding Technology
Window, door and curtain walling manufacturer and installer, CMS Window Systems, says it has boosted its aluminium division by adding one of the world’s leading systems to its portfolio and obtaining CWCT membership. The company, which employs more than 200 people at its HQ and main manufacturing facility near Glasgow, has joined forces with Kawneer to become an authorised partner in a move which gives customers access to an even greater range of fenestration and building envelope solutions. Since its launch almost a decade ago, CMS says it has enjoyed continued growth as one of Scotland’s market leading design manufacturers and installers of aluminium, PVC-U and timber hybrid, window, door and curtain walling systems. The company works with a wide variety of commercial developers and...
WVEDA approves partial financing for Constellium's investment at its Ravenswood plant
Constellium N. V. announced that the West Virginia Economic Development Authority (WVEDA) has approved partial financing of Constellium’s previously communicated investment of $35 million at its Ravenswood plant. The $15 million, 15-year loan financing will contribute to the installation of a new, state-of-the-art 800 Kt furnace, primarily dedicated to the manufacturing of advanced aluminium alloys. The new equipment is due to start production mid-2016 and is expected to significantly expand the plant’s ability to support the growth ambitions of Constellium’s aerospace customers. “This new pusher furnace is expected to enhance our high-quality service and product offering to aerospace customers,” stated Ingrid Joerg, President of Constellium’s Aerospace and Transportation business unit....
WBMS: primary aluminum market in deficit during Jan - June 2015
The latest report published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) indicates that global primary aluminum market has recorded a deficit during the initial six months of the year. As per the report, the market turned into a deficit of 380,000 tons when matched with the deficit of 716,000 reported during entire year 2014. The production of primary aluminum was up by 4,084 kt during the six-month period from January to June this year. The total reported stock of metal has declined further by 148,000 tonnes during the month of June. The stocks at the end of the initial six-month period stood at 4,549 kt, which is sufficient to meet 33 days demand. It must be noted that the stock levels at the end of 2014 had stood at 5,020 kt. The combined stocks held in London, Shanghai, USA and...
All four units of Vedanta’s aluminium business slip into operational losses
With an almost 18% fall in aluminium prices in the past six months on the benchmark London Metal Exchange (LME), all four aluminium smelting units of Vedanta Ltd have slipped into operational losses. Abhijit Pati, chief executive officer of Vedanta Aluminium, said there are chances that the firm’s operating profit will slip into the red this quarter. The company has four aluminium smelting units—two at Jharsuguda in Odisha with an installed capacity of 500,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) and 1.1 million tpa, and two units at Korba in Chhattisgarh with an installed capacity of 245,000 tpa and 345,000 tpa. It is currently operating at a little less than 50% capacity utilization and there is a possibility of a further cut in production if LME prices keep falling. Vedanta Ltd, which has a...
LME aluminium may test support at $1,547
LME aluminium may test a support at $1,547 per tonne, as suggested by a Fibonacci projection analysis and a falling channel. The support is provided by the 161.8 percent Fibonacci projection level of a downward wave C, which developed from the July 15 high of 1,729.50. From Aug. 13, this wave has been travelling in a small channel, the upper channel line of which provides a resistance around $1,560, the 150 percent level. The lower channel suggests a target at $1,530, the 176.4 percent level, which will be confirmed when the metal breaks $1,547.
Marcello Boldrini of Momentive joins Houghton International executive leadership
Houghton International Inc., a global leader in metalworking fluids and services, announced the appointment of Marcello Boldrini as senior vice president of Houghton International and president of Global Metals. In this newly created position, he will assume the global leadership of Houghton specialty product lines for the major metal industries, including steel and aluminum. He will report directly to Mike Shannon, Houghton chief operating officer. Mr. Boldrini brings decades of experience in the global chemical industry to Houghton, where he will be responsible for leading all global commercial activities to drive growth in the company’s metals businesses. He will be a member of the company’s Executive Committee and also join the boards of Houghton Japan and Korea Houghton. “Marcello...
Alufoil Trophy 2016 - Search for the best innovations in aluminium foil and closures begins
EAFA, the European Aluminium Foil Association has announced that entries for the 2016 Alufoil Trophy competition are now open and will be accepted until 20 November 2015. The Alufoil Trophy is now recognised as the most highly valued award in the sector, with categories covering every aspect of aluminium foil and closures use. Applications include packaging, construction and automotive, as well as industrial and decorative applications. Entries are accepted from packaging designers, brand owners, foil rollers, foil converters, foil container manufacturers, closure manufacturers, household foil manufacturers, retailers, and industrial solution providers; including combined entries from any of these disciplines. Interested consumers and consumer groups or associations may also enter. The...
China Zhongwang 1H 2015 net profit rises17.9% to RMB1.5 billion
China Zhongwang Holdings Limited, the world's second largest industrial aluminium extrusion product developer and manufacturer, announced its unaudited results for the six months ended 30 June 2015. During the review period, the Group’s total revenue stood at approximately RMB 7.89 billion, roughly the same level for the corresponding period of last year. Benefitted from the optimisation of the product structure, gross profit margin rose from 28.2% in the corresponding period of 2014 to 32.2%. Profit attributable to equity shareholders increased by 17.9% year on year to approximately RMB1.5 billion. Basic earnings per share also rose by 13.2% to approximately RMB0.21. To reward shareholders’ support, the Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend of HK$0.11 (approximately...
