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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BALCO’s 118 employees awarded
The Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) honoured as many as 118 employees with the “Excellent Production Award” for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2014-15. The employees of Human Resources Management (HRM)-3, Customer Relations Management (CRM)-2 and FLA-5 were honoured in the presence of their family members. BALCO’s Aluminium Business Head Deepak Prasad, Fabrication and Services Head PS Tur, Process Control (FLA) head Sanjay Agrawal and SRS head Ajay Sharma wished a very bright future to all the winners of the award. The officers asked the employees to have solidarity to reduce the production cost and to maintain high quality Aluminium production. The programme was organised in Alumina canteen. Rajesh Kumar Sahu, AS Sidar, Prateek Saraswat, KK Soni, RS Khar, BL Maitri, SK...
Global Aluminium output continues to grow: IAI
Global aluminium production continued its upward trend since the end of last year, according to statistics of the International Aluminium Institute (IAI). Even though the production slightly decreased in April, the output still grew since May. China and GCC are still the largest contributors to total global production, and they have an important role on the monthly and the annual world production of aluminium. The primary aluminium production in China almost accounts of the half of the global aluminium production, according to IAI.
Rusal opens office in Turkey
Global aluminium producer RUSAL, headquartered in Moscow, has opened a new office in Istanbul, according to a press release issued by the company. The office will be led by Ihsan Kösoglu, who joins RUSAL from the Turkish aluminum producer Assan Alüminyum, and brings more than 19 years of experience in the Turkish aluminum industry in various commercial roles. According to RUSAL, its metal now accounts for close to 50 percent of Turkey's aluminum imports. Steve Hodgson, RUSAL director for sales and marketing, comments, “Turkey has always been an important market for us and we are logistically ideally situated to service this region via our Black Sea ports. In 2014 approximately 500,000 metric tons of our total sales were consumed in Turkey where more than 25 percent of these sales were in...
Centre hikes bauxite output limit of only non-captive mine in Odisha
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has granted environmental clearances to KJST bauxite and iron ore mines situated in Koira mining circle of Sundergarh district to enhance mineral output. "I have got approval for extracting iron ore upto 2 million tonne, up from existing 0.7 million tonne (mt) per year, and for bauxite, the approval is for 130,000 tonne a year, up from 50,000 tonne clearance permitted earlier. The hike approval will surely help industries who depend upon these minerals," said Prabodh Mohanty, leaseholder of the mines. The KJST mines, although a smaller one, is the lone supplier from Odisha to Vedanta's one million tonne per annum (mtpa) alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district. The aluminium maker depends upon mines of Chattisgarh and...
Mubadala in joint venture with Trafigura to operate Spanish mines
Mubadala Development has bought a 50 per cent stake in a base metals mining interest held by the global trading house Trafigura as part of plans to expand its mining footprint. The Abu Dhabi investment fund will form a 50-50 joint venture with Trafigura to operate Minas de Aguas Tenidas (Matsa), which has three mines in southern Spain that produce copper, zinc and lead concentrates. Mubadala did not disclose the value of the deal. However, sources close to the contract said it valued the mines business at about $1.4 billion. “Matsa has a strong competitive position and excellent expansion potential, with capacity expected to more than double over the next two years,” said Ahmed Al Idrissi, chief executive of Mubadala Technology and Industry. “Investing in Matsa is a key step in growing...
BIR requests transition-period extension to India’s preshipment inspection certifications
The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR), Brussels, has requested a four-month extension to the transition period regarding preshipment inspection certification (PSIC) as required by India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry. In collaboration with the Metals Recycling Association of India (MRIA) and the U.S.-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), BIR expresses in a letter to the Minister that more time is needed for all inspection agencies (PSIAs) to be prepared to deal with the certification requests. Currently, the new rules laid out in Public Notice No. 12/2015-20 are set to take effect July 1, 2015. In its letter, BIR contends that most large shredder operators around the world are well-equipped to affirm the quality and safety of their own shredded scrap and either...
Aluminum joints help make complex composite structures
Rock West Composites (RWC) has launched a new system of aircraft-grade, aluminum connector joints that make it possible to construct an extensive variety of structures made of prefabricated carbon fiber composite tubes and plates. Structures made with Carbon Erector joints will be reportedly stronger and lighter in weight. The initial Carbon Erector product line comprises a series of 24 different connector kits, which include connectors made of CNC-machined, aircraft-grade 6061-T6 black anodized aluminum and screws with 170,000 PSI tensile strength. The construction method is mechanical and requires no adhesives or bonding. The product line currently supports construction using 1 inch, 1.5 inch and 2.0 inch interior diameter round carbon fiber composite tubing of varying thicknesses and...
Sapa Extrusion France invests in Puget
Sapa Extrusion France is investing EUR 2 million in casthouse and fabrication equipment at its extrusion plant in Puget-sur-Argens. At the same time, the plant will adjust production capacity to improve its efficiency in a competitive French market. “The new investment will help Sapa strengthen its position in the French market and add value for customers,” says Gilles Le Bouquin, general manager of Sapa’s extrusion operations in France. In addition to the new investment, the French operation is streamlining its management and reorganizing its sales force, to provide better customer service throughout the country. However, in order to be able to meet the market needs in an effective manner, an additional reorganization of operations will be needed. “We have examined all available options,...
Orbite receives Australian patent
Orbite Technologies Inc. today announced that the Company has received notification from IP Australia, the Australian Government agency that administers intellectual property (IP) rights, of the granting and the delivery of patent 2012308068 pertaining to Processes for preparing alumina and various other products. The new patent provides protection until September 16, 2032. The new patent covers the manufacturing of alumina from leaching an aluminum-containing material with hydrochloric acid (HCl), followed by multi-stage crystallization of the leachate obtained after filtration of the insoluble to obtain aluminum chloride hexahydrate which is subsequently converted into alumina using a two-stage calcination process. "With broadening geographic coverage of our chloride technology, we are...
China alumina imports Up 8.96% YoY in May
China imported 340,500 mt of alumina in May, up from 315,900 mt in April and up 8.96% YoY, customs data showed. YTD imports through May amounted to 1.59 million mt, down 33.55% from a year ago. Aluminum smelters preferred domestic alumina, whose prices fell due to high production during the first five months of the year. This caused imports to tumble January-May. China’s alumina imports are expected to continue growing in June and July as the price advantage of domestic alumina began to weaken. Prices for domestic alumina are likely to stop falling as inventories at alumina refineries are approaching normal levels in June, and prices for Australian alumina took a downward turn, offering incentive for imports.
Aziana Limited to bag US$2M from sale of bauxite project
Aziana Limited is close to bagging US$2 million (A$2.6 million) from the sale of its wholly-owned bauxite project in Madagascar. Aziana has granted the prospective buyer a one month extension. A team led by the prospective buyer is presently onsite and working towards the completion of the due diligence process. In March, Aziana signed a conditional agreement with India’s Thankys Exports Pvt. Ltd. The non-binding agreement includes a royalty of US$0.50 per tonne of bauxite mined. Manantenina currently has a resource of 10.09 million tonnes. Further high quality bauxite has been identified over more than 80 square kilometres of the project but is as yet unquantified. Thankys exports gibbsiferous bauxite from their existing mines in India and has been involved in the exploration for and...
Noranda names presidents for bauxite and alumina business and primary aluminum business
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation announced today the hiring of Julio Costa as President of the Company's Bauxite and Alumina business. Noranda also announced that Mike Griffin, the Company's Vice President of Manufacturing, has been named President of the Primary Aluminum business. Costa and Griffin join Scott Croft, who continues as President of the Flat-Rolled Products business, and who has also been named Noranda's Chief Commercial Officer, as the core of Noranda's senior operations management team. "Julio is an excellent operational leader with deep experience in bauxite mining and alumina refining. We are proud to add his talents to our team," said Layle K. "Kip" Smith, Noranda's President and Chief Executive Officer. "The appointment of Julio and Mike to their respective senior...
Rusal expects China to keep export tariff on raw aluminum
China is unlikely to relax its tariff policy on the export of raw aluminum, according to United Company Rusal Plc. Rusal chief executive Vladislav Soloviev said China wants to discourage the export of raw aluminum but has reduced tariffs on value-added downstream products of the metal, the Hong Kong Economic Journal reported Monday. He said such a policy, which is aimed at encouraging the export of value-added aluminum products, remains strong and sustainable. China currently charges a 15 percent tariff on raw aluminum exports but provides waivers for value-added products. About 40 percent of Chinese aluminum enterprises are operating inefficiently, while the sector is struggling with an oversupply, Soloviev said. Still, Soloviev sees rising demand for metal amid a rising trend among...
Surging aluminium output promises more pain ahead
The latest figures from the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) showed daily average output in May falling marginally from April's 158,100 tones to 157,800 tones. But that shouldn't distract from the underlying trend, which is rising and at an accelerating pace. The world's smelters produced 4.892 million tons of aluminium in May, up almost 12 per cent year-on-year. That was the fastest growth rate since 2011. May's output of 2.67 million tons represented a year-on-year growth of 22.3 per cent while showing a cumulative output of 12.46 million tons over the first five months of 2015 that shows a growth of 13.5 per cent. China's soaring production and its massive exports of semi-manufactured products are attracting ever more negative scrutiny from non-Chinese producers. But production...
CastAlum to process 700,000 castings per year for automotive customers
Aluminium diecaster CastAlum has invested in machining capability to process 700,000 castings a year for automotive customers. The contracts are for the supply of machined steering gear housings and transmission cases. It won the contracts shortly after a management buyout in 2009 and before that had supplied castings to customers in their raw state for machining further along the supply chain. To achieve the required machining volumes the company invested in a series of Heller twin-pallet, 4-axis, horizontal-spindle machining centres. These could be installed progressively as demand ramped up and, in contrast to a transfer line, could be reconfigured to produce almost any component in the future. The first two machines, installed in 2009, were the company’s first machine tools. There are...
China’s aluminum semis exports soared 43.7% year-on-year January-May
China’s aluminum semis exports soared 43.7% year-on-year January-May, despite high SHFE/LME aluminum price ratio in Q2. What’s behind the sustainable growth? SMM analyzes this divergence by export model. China’s exports of aluminum semis exports can be divided into “normal” and “masked” exports. Normal exports of high-end aluminum semis are mostly under long-term contracts and priced as the LME aluminum price + processing fees. High processing fees mean that the rise in SHFE/LME aluminum price ratio has little impact on short term profits. Such exports thus hold largely stable. Exports of low-end aluminum semis are priced as the SMM aluminum price + processing fees. A growing number of Chinese firms prefer this model, which insulates their margins from the changes in SHFE/LME aluminum...
South32 shares in red territory
BHP Billiton spinoff company South32 closed at R17.24 on Friday, dropping by 2.49%, down 10.3% on the week, and about 14.82% since it listed on the JSE over a month ago. Currently sitting a R17.20 per share, Troy Brady from NOAH Capital Markets says South32 has simply become a victim of the general negative sentiment towards resource stocks in recent times. Citing ArcelorMittal and African Rainbow Minerals as examples, both of which were down on Friday, Brady says it’s been a bad couple of months for everybody in the mining space, with the two stocks having lost 24% and 16% respectively in the last month. “It’s important to keep in mind that the resources sector as a whole is in trouble because of the slowdown in China,” says Brady. “It also doesn’t help that some South32 commodities –...
Philippe Couillard launches the first Québec Aluminium Development Strategy
Québec Premier Philippe Couillard, accompanied by Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Exports Jacques Daoust and the Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier for the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region and Member for Dubuc Serge Simard, has announced the launch of the Québec Aluminium Development Strategy to foster the industry’s growth and global reach. The Strategy’s objectives are to double aluminium processing in Québec by 2025, to support equipment manufacturers and specialized suppliers in export markets, and to consolidate Québec’s position as one of the world’s largest primary aluminium producers. “We owe Québec’s reputation for excellence in large part to the aluminium sector’s businesses and employees. No other state has developed a complete strategy to promote industry growth....
