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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North American estimated aluminum demand up 2.9% YTD in February
Preliminary estimates indicate that aluminum demand in the United States and Canada (shipments by domestic producers plus imports) totaled an estimated 4,133 million pounds during the first two months of 2015, up 2.9 percent over a year ago. Demand for semi-fabricated (mill) products totaled 2,900 million pounds, up 11.8 percent. Apparent consumption (demand less exports) in domestic markets totaled an estimated 3,693 million pounds, increasing 8.1 percent year-to-date. Exports of aluminum ingot and mill products from the U.S. and Canada (excluding cross-border trade) totaled 440 million pounds through February, down 26.8 percent from the same period last year while imports were up 20.7 percent to 918 million pounds. Demand for aluminum semi-fabricated (mill) products in the United States...
Beck Aluminum Racine relocating, expanding in Mount Pleasant
Beck Aluminum Racine will relocate and expand to a former manufacturing plant at 7505 Durand Ave. and add 25 new jobs, the building owner has announced. Beck, 1349 23rd St., executed a long-term lease for the 192,000-square-foot building on Durand which was previously a Bosch Rexroth manufacturing plant. Bosch closed the plant in 2002 with the loss of more than 200 local jobs. The selection of the building, which is currently called the Mount Pleasant Complex, followed a search across the Midwest for a new plant to replace its current plant, according to Phoenix Investors, a Milwaukee-based commercial real estate firm. Beck settled on the Durand Avenue location based on several factors, Phoenix said in a news release, including support and financial assistance from Racine County Economic...
China aluminum semis exports rose 23.08% MoM in March
China exported 300,000 mt of aluminum semis in March, down 6.25% YoY and 23.08% MoM, customs data showed. The SHFE/LME aluminum price drifted higher, unfavorable for aluminum semis exports. Moreover, falling overseas aluminum premiums made Chinese aluminum semis less attractive, another drag on outbound shipment. Extrusion exports grew 9.1% YoY to 50,400 mt, and foil exports increased 8.55% YoY to 74,300 mt. However, exports of plate, sheet and strip dropped 9.97% YoY to 164,200 mt. A portion of the aluminum plate/sheet and strip exports are token exports, mostly subject to the changing SHFE/LME aluminum price ratio and overseas aluminum premiums.
Antam may receive financing from Chinese lenders
Antam may soon receive financial aid from China Development Bank (CDB) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) worth US$ 50 billion according to reports. The company is struggling with its finances and production maybe stalled in the absence of adequate funding sine the House has approved only half of the capital injection requested by the state-owned mining firm. State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Rini Soemarno apparently said on Friday that 20 percent of the lump sum will be invested in developing the state electricity firm allowing it to expand its power plants and transmission lines. The rest would be invested in other infrastructure projects with about $1 billion to be directly invested in Antam. Antam needs substantial funds to run its SGA plant which has an...
Fiji landowners accuse Aurum Exploration of not paying due royalties
The Chinese company Aurum Exploration Limited has secured its third bauxite mining site in Fiji after a great success with the first site at Nawailevu and starting processes for the second site at Letuku. However, the locals are not entirely happy with the company and there are complaints about the failure to pay the due royalties to the local landowners. Mosese Bulitavu, the SODELPA MP said that the company has till now paid only $600,000 in royalties to the Lands Department which has not yet reached the land owners and still owes an additional $1.5 million in terms of royalties. Bulitavu says that the Prime Minister, Commodore Bainimarama had promised the people of developments at the start of the first project, Nawailevu, including housing establishments which have not materialized...
Emirates Global Aluminium delivers strong results despite challenging global market conditions
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), jointly owned by Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala) and the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), concluded its first year of operations, as announced at its 2014 Annual General Meeting. In 2014, EGA delivered strong financial and operational performance, following the successful completion of the merger of its assets, and completion of its flagship project, EMAL Phase II. On this occasion, Abdulla Kalban (EGA Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer) stated, "We are extremely pleased with EGA's performance in its first year and the progress that has been made to integrate the businesses of DUBAL and EMAL. Through the year, the company has captured significant cost efficiencies and achieved economies of scale; and successfully delivered EMAL Phase...
National Aluminium Company declares 25% interim dividend for FY15
National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco), a navratna PSU under the ministry of mines, has declared an interim dividend of 25%, or INR1.25 per share of INR 5 each, amounting to INR 322.16 crore for the financial year 2014-15, on the paid-up equity share capital of INR1288.62 crore. On Monday, the company's chairman cum managing director Ansuman Das presented a cheque amounting to INR 260.72 crore to Narendra Singh Tomar, union minister of steel & mines, as interim dividend on the 80.93% shares held by the government of India. The interim dividend amount of INR 322.15 crore paid for 2014-15 equals the highest ever interim dividend paid during 2006-07. Senior mines ministry officials were present on the occasion included, Anup K Pujari, Secretary, R Sridharan, Additional Secretary, Arun...
European aluminium industry sets new objectives for the next decade
The Sustainability Roadmap to 2025 launched today by the European aluminium industry paves the way for the sector to maximise its contribution to a more sustainable future in Europe. Promoting a new and ambitious set of voluntary commitments, the Roadmap will drive the industry’s agenda to further enhance its commitment to environmental stewardship, promote innovative products for sustainable lifestyles and play an active role in economic growth and job creation. The aluminium sector is already at the forefront of industry efforts to promote sustainability and has a proven track record of improvements, having closely monitored its performance across a range of indicators since the late 1990s. Moreover, aluminium is increasingly seen as the material of choice in key markets, from light and...
Consider Utkal E coal block for Nalco: Parliamentary committee to government
A Parliamentary committee today asked the government to consider allocation of Utkal--E coal block in Odisha to aluminium major Nalco as "it is crucial for the company's expansion plans". "The committee feels that allocation of Utkal-E coal block for Nalco is very crucial for the company in carrying out its expansion plans. The committee, therefore, strongly urges the government to favourably consider...," Standing Committee on Coal and Steel chaired by Rakesh Singh said in a report. The Utkal--E coal block is among the 204 de-allocated by the Supreme Court in September last year. The company, which was earlier weighing filig a review petition for the block, is exploring options of getting it back on the provisions of the recently passed MMDRA Act, which empowers the government to...
LME moves to cut warehouse queues faster
New measures to increase the amount of metal withdrawn from warehouses, relative to material brought in, will help to reduce queues faster at London Metal Exchange (LME) registered warehouses, the exchange said on Monday. The LME, the world's oldest and biggest market for industrial metals which is now owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, oversees warehouses where companies that buy metals on its futures market can take delivery of quality-assured supplies if needed. Big banks and traders that own or owned warehouses and charge rent have profited from letting long queues build up. Some also keep huge stocks of aluminium tied up, unavailable to manufacturers, in long-term financing deals. Effective Aug. 1, the so-called decay factor under the Linked Load-In/Load-Out Rule (LILO)...
Aluminium collapse affects CSR Ltd's building boom
Despite surging new home building, tumbling aluminium premiums have cast doubts over CSR's earnings prospects ahead of the building products group's full-year result next month. As the Australian economy struggles to find growth to replace dwindling mining investment, new home building has been a rare bright spot with housing approvals and new starts soaring after years of underbuilding. Deustche Bank analyst Emily Smith expected 203,200 new homes will be started in fiscal 2015 and 205,600 new homes in fiscal 2016, ahead of consensus forecasts and well ahead of the historical average of 152,400 homes. "We remain optimistic on Australian housing demand on the basis of continued low interest rates, solid migration and reasonable employment," Ms Smith said. Ms Smith said that CSR had the...
Kawasaki to supply aluminium-bodied EMUs to Tobu Railway
Japan’s Tobu Railway has appointed Kawasaki Heavy Industries on April 22 to supply eight three-car 500 series EMUs with aluminium bodies to be used in the limited express services in the Tokyo region. The 1.5kV dc 1067mm-gauge trains will enter service in spring 2017, initially on the 41km Tobu Sky Tree Line from to Tokyo Asakusa to Miyashiro in Saitama prefecture. Styling of the 500 series has been supervised by industrial designer Mr Ken Okuyama and the exterior is intended to reflect the design of the world's tallest tower, the 634m Tokyo Sky Tree. Each three-car set will be formed of two powered driving vehicles and one unpowered intermediate trailer, seating a total of 161 passengers. The aluminium-bodied vehicles will be 20m long and 2.87m wide. The driving cars are equipped with...
AEC expresses concerns over Chinese Government’s change in export duties of downstream aluminum products
The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) released the following statement on China’s decision to remove export duties on several downstream aluminum products. Jeff Henderson, AEC Director of Operations, and director of the Council’s Fair Trade Committee remarked: “The decision by the Chinese Government to remove export duties on downstream aluminum products is troubling for the global aluminum market and is outside the scope of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) findings on rare earths, tungsten, and molybdenum. This action represents a targeted attempt to use foreign markets to relieve pressure on China’s struggling aluminum producers. Over the last decade, producers outside of China have made painful adjustments to market conditions by rationalizing operations – closing facilities, worker...
Hydro proceeds with new recycling line
Laying the foundation stone for the integrated recycling line for used beverage cans (UBC) at its Neuss plant in Germany, Hydro today marked another milestone in this EUR 45 million project. The recycling line, covering an area of some 20,000 square meters, will double our existing annual recycling capacity to around 100,000 tonnes and be able to process a wide range of can scrap. “We are installing world-leading technology to sort used products, which will make us a better recycler. The new facility, scaled to process 50,000 tonnes of used beverage cans, will make us a bigger recycler and a greener company, as we through recycling of aluminium avoid 95 percent of the energy needed to produce primary aluminium and bring the aluminium resources back to new life,” says Executive Vice...
China bauxite imports soared 144.07% in March, driven mainly by Malaysia
China imported 4.44 million tonnes of bauxite in March, up 46.91% from February and 144.07% from a year ago, customs data showed. Stockpiles of imported bauxite built up in 2013 are running out, which explains why March’s imports were such robust, SMM understands. Malaysia contributed the most to the growth in China’s imports, followed by India and Australia. Chinese alumina refineries reported more orders and the monsoon in Malaysia ended, boosting Malaysian bauxite shipment to China. China’s bauxite imports fell 21.74% year-on-year to 10.05 million tonnes in Q1, though, as Indonesian bauxite continued to arrive in the same period last year.
Kenanga maintains "Outperform" on Press Metal
China’s government would remove export taxes on bars and rods of primary aluminium and aluminium-alloy from May 1, 2015, according to China daily. Kenanga Research said this would have a negligible impact on Chinese exports and aluminium premiums in Europe and US in the near term. It explained that despite the removal of export tax, Chinese aluminium is still less attractive for its pricing compared to international aluminium prices. “We gather that the 3-year average aluminium price is USD1,900 per tonne while the average Japan premium is USD293 per tone. Thus, all-in international aluminium price is about USD2,190 per tonne, 4.8% cheaper than that of China Shanghai 3-year average of USD2,300 per tonne,” it said. The research house said that most of China’s production is for its own...
Aluminum falls most in 10 weeks as China signals higher exports
Aluminum fell the most in two months on concern more exports from China of products made from the metal will exacerbate a global glut. China plans to scrap a 15 percent export tax on rods and strips made from primary aluminum effective May 1. The move may send world prices lower amid ample supplies in the Asian nation, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. “China is going to ensure it can support its aluminum sector,” David Wilson, an analyst at Citigroup Inc. in London, said in a telephone interview. “It’s going to keep the market in oversupply. As long as they are still making a margin, they will continue to export, which is not positive for prices.” Aluminum for delivery in three months fell 1.6 percent to settle at $1,777.50 a metric ton at 5:50 p.m. on the London Metal Exchange, the...
Call made for mobile recycling collection
A Rathdowney councillor has appealed to the council to be the first local authority to run a recycling collection pilot scheme using a special collection lorry which could call to estates or particular area’s around the county. As last week’s meeting of the Borris-in-Ossory/Mountmellick area councillors, Cllr John King proposed that the council introduce a deposit and refund system for schools and clubs to encourage people to recycle cans and bottles in order to stop dumping in the countryside. Councillor King also introduced the concept of the specially adapted collection trucks to the council executive. “In England they have these trucks with separate compartments for plastic and cans, paper, food waste, glass and cardboard. They are bought by the different councils and go around...
