Aluminum investment across North America and Asia: Who leads reshaping the next phase of growth?
Aluminum investment has been spreading across the entire value chain, from primary smelting and alumina refining to recycling, rolling, extrusion and battery foil, building more integrated and higher-value supply chains. During the past 5 years, the US and Canada in North America and China in Asia have been grabbing headlines pertaining to the aluminum industry. These updates have involved growth stories or have shed light on volatile market situations. How have these headlines contributed to a greater picture for the benefit of the aluminum industries of the two continents? Between 2021 and 2026, major projects across North America and Asia have targeted new primary capacity, lower-carbon production, recycled aluminum and higher-value downstream products. But the investment pattern is...
AL Circle Analysis: From 13% costlier cans to 317 GW solar, aluminium trade enters new territory
As aluminium continues to draw the spotlight as a strategic variable in global trade rather than a merely traded commodity. Tariffs imposed at the border are now showing up in the cost of cans, auto components and downstream products, while high copper prices are encouraging manufacturers to redesign products around aluminium. Meanwhile, India is tightening protection around selected aluminium products even as domestic downstream manufacturers question the cost of protecting primary metal. China’s extrusion industry is adjusting to weaker construction demand by moving towards solar, batteries and other clean-energy applications. In North America, deeply integrated supply chains are confronting the consequences of suddenly changing tariff economics. To know the global production, demand...
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Update: Bald Hill bauxite mine progressing well
Tasmania's struggling mining industry has received a boost, with civil construction work getting underway at a new bauxite mine in Tasmania's Midlands. There has not been a new bauxite mine in Australia for 35 years and the ore is in short supply worldwide. The mine's general manager, Rob Williams, said Australian Bauxite Limited plans to mine two million tonnes of the aluminium ore at its Bald Hill quarry near Campbell Town. "The mine itself will probably last three to four years but we have two other mines we're going to bring on-stream as soon as we get them through the approval process," he said. The company's chairman and former Labor premier, Paul Lennon, said international market conditions are perfect. "The price for bauxite is strong and that's what's given us as board the...
Orbite receives two new patents
Orbite Aluminae Inc. is pleased to announce that the Canadian Intellectual Property Office has granted and issued two new patents to Orbite. The two patents are Canadian patent 2,829,049, titled Processes for Recovering Rare Earth Elements from Aluminum-Bearing Materials, and Canadian patent 2,834,356, titled Methods for Preparing Hematite. Both patents give Orbite the exclusivity for the use of these inventions for a period of twenty (20) years following their respective filing date. "The two new patents demonstrate our ability to develop innovative technologies related to the extraction of valuable elements from a variety of feedstocks of low or negative value to their current owners," stated Glenn Kelly , CEO of Orbite. "We continue to strengthen our intellectual property portfolio and...
RPPML successfully develops indigenous agitator for pre-desilication tanks in alumina refinery of NALCO, Damanjodi
RPPML has successfully developed indigenous critical agitator for pre-desilication tank size 8000 mm dia X 14000 mm ht. and supplied to NALCO, Damanjodi vide their development Order No. REF /MMP /5000000015 /217/4500005442 dated 09.02.2011, imposing stringent criteria for performance test and for acceptance test. The agitator was designed, manufactured, installed, commissioned and is in operation since 08-08-2012. In view of this successful development, they are also in the process of developing an agitator for Precipitation tank having approx.. tank dia :14.0 mtrs. and tank height : 35.8 mtrs. They are confident of achieving similar result as the one for Pre-desilication tank. REMI PROCESS PLANT & MACHINERY LTD. (RPPML) is the leading manufacturer of agitators in INDIA with over 40 years...
Alcoa's Point Henry and Yennora rolling mills close down
Alcoa Australia Rolled Products permanently closed its Point Henry and Yennora rolling mills this week, after five decades of operation. “There is no doubt it is a sad week for our 430 employees, their families and the Geelong and Yennora communities,” said AARP Managing Director Malcolm Murphy. “I am thankful for the dedication that our people have shown across their Alcoa careers, particularly in recent months when the closure was imminent. A significant amount of change has occurred in our business this year, and our employees have responded in the best way they knew how; by working more safely than ever and delivering a high quality product to customers.” In February 2014 Alcoa announced it would permanently close its Point Henry and Yennora facilities. The two rolling mills serve the...
New high-entropy alloy light as aluminum, as strong as titanium
Researchers from North Carolina State University and Qatar University have developed a new "high-entropy" metal alloy that has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than any other existing metal material. High-entropy alloys are materials that consist of five or more metals in approximately equal amounts. These alloys are currently the focus of significant attention in materials science and engineering because they can have desirable properties. The NC State research team combined lithium, magnesium, titanium, aluminum and scandium to make a nanocrystalline high-entropy alloy that has low density, but very high strength. "The density is comparable to aluminum, but it is stronger than titanium alloys," says Dr. Carl Koch, Kobe Steel Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering...
Napco posts net profits of $1.2m
National Aluminium Products Company (Napco), a leading extruders of aluminum profiles in the GCC, has posted strong performance for the first three quarters of the year, with net profits worth more than RO486,000 ($1.2 million). Its revenues totalled to RO13.5 million, reflecting a continuing quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) growth over the last nine months, said a statement. According to the company’s senior executives, Napco’s continued growth and excellent market performance can be attributed to the continuously growing number of residential and commercial property developments in the region, which in turn has driven an increased demand for aluminium based building materials. The firm’s board also acknowledged the strong support and encouragement given by Qaboos Bin Said Al Said, Sultan of...
Aleris to sell its extrusions business to Sankyo Tateyama, Inc.
Aleris announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its aluminum extrusions business to Sankyo Tateyama, Inc., a Japanese building products and extrusions manufacturer. The sale includes four production facilities in Europe and one in China. The facilities specialize in the production of medium and hard alloy extrusions, serving the rail, automotive and aerospace industries. Sankyo Tateyama has agreed to pay a purchase price of €35.5 million for the business and assume approximately €46 million of pension liabilities. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015. "The sale of our extrusions business represents the last step in our strategy to position Aleris to become a pure global rolled products business focused on serving a diverse set of...
AMAG: 2014 is another year of record shipments
Highlights: • Rolling mill and casthouse in mid-December already exceed last year’s record shipments • Successful start of large-scale investment in hot-rolling mill and plate production center • Employees instrumental in ensuring success by submitting record number of suggested improvements (CIP) The ongoing year, 2014, was characterized by the prior year’s record shipments figures achieved at the Ranshofen location being exceeded yet again. For instance, the rolling mill’s shipment volumes of about 168,000 tons achieved to date are already well in excess of 2013’s record value of 157,600 tons. The main reason for this development is the growing demand for AMAG-produced special sheet and plate, which comes predominantly from the automotive and aircraft industries but also from the...
Anglo-African Minerals completes scoping study with positive results
Anglo-African Minerals completion of Scoping Study for FAR Bauxite Project, Guinea, West Africa Inferred Mineral Resource of 43 million tonnes Positive NPV of US$ 163 million Anglo-African Minerals Plc, the GXG quoted mineral exploration company focused on bauxite in West Africa is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Forward Africa Resources S.A. FAR S.A. has received positive results from its recently completed Scoping Study on its FAR Bauxite Project located in Guinea, West Africa. Highlights for the Base Case: • Development of a 3Mtpa bauxite export operation with a planned product specification of 41.9% Al2O3, 3.4% SiO2, and a planned moisture content of 11%; • Internationally compliant Inferred Mineral Resource, with opportunity to expand the current resource of...
Aluminium sector unveils new global sustainability standard
BMW Group and Nestlé Nespresso are among 28 organisations to have collaborated on a new standard to improve the environmental, social and governance performance of the aluminium industry. The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard, due to be released in early 2015, will address key issues around the production and maintenance of aluminium throughout its value chain and includes plans to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Standard uses detailed criteria to address 11 sustainability issues: business integrity; policy and management; transparency; material stewardship; greenhouse gas emissions; emissions; effluents and waste; water; biodiversity; human rights; labour rights; and occupational health and safety. Industry players along the aluminium value chain...
Alloy wire and cable to benefit from China’s “Golden Era” of HUV development
China will enter a “golden era” of HUV development in coming five years, which will allow the country’s wire and cable market to grow at 8-9% annual pace, CNMN reported on December 16. The boom in power transmission systems will be driven by increasing investment in smart power grid, ongoing power transmission from energy-rich western regions to electricity-hungry eastern coastal areas, accelerated urbanization, as well as power grid upgrades, it added. The market share of aluminum alloy wire and cable is expected to increase along with technological progress, it reported.
Study shows aluminum can continues to be sustainable beverage package of choice
Aluminum cans, already the most recycled and recyclable beverage container on the market, just got even more sustainable according to a report by environmental research firm PE International. The report, which updates a prior life cycle assessment study released in 2010, shows that an aluminum can made in the U.S. and Canada today: • Has improved its carbon footprint by 20 percent and requires 14 percent less energy to manufacture. • Contains 70 percent recycled content on average in every can produced in the US, at least three times U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates of the recycled content in glass (23 percent) and plastic/PET (3 percent) bottles.[i] • Is 2 percent lighter (13.34 grams --> 13.04 grams)[ii], and remains the lightest beverage package option available. Less...
Hindalco Industries shares slump over 5.6 per cent
Shares of Hindalco Industries today plunged over 5.6 per cent amid fresh concerns related to the case of Talabira II coal block allocation to the company. Hindalco's stock tumbled 5.67 per cent to settle at INR 144.70 on the BSE. In the intra-day trade, it had lost 7.49 per cent to a low of INR 141.90. At the NSE, it crashed 5.19 per cent to close at INR 145.25. On the volume front, 25.37 lakh shares of the company changed hands at the BSE, while over one crore shares were traded at the NSE during the day.
The LME queues are reducing across all registered warehouses
The backlog to remove aluminum from Detroit, the most acutely impacted location, shrank by 30 days to 641 days, while the wait to remove other metals stuck behind the wall of aluminum fell from 111 to 93 days. The reduction in waiting times was even sharper at the Dutch port of Vlissingen, a drop from 637 to 555 days, according to the LME's latest monthly report. All good news, it appears, for the LME, which has been lambasted by industrial users for its dysfunctional physical delivery system and its disputed part in fracturing the aluminum market's pricing model. True, the problem can hardly be described as fixed given you'd still have to wait well over a year to get aluminum out of either Detroit or Vlissingen, but at least things are moving in the right direction even before the...
Russia looks to strengthen aluminium trade and investment with Bahrain
Russia and Bahrain’s relationship is getting stronger as several areas of bilateral trade and investment have been put forth like aluminium, aircraft, chemicals, biotechnology, agriculture and pharmaceuticals. Denis Manturov, the Russian Minister of Industry and Trade said in an interview that discussions are on to set up a mechanism that will activate the Russian-Bahraini Business Council and preparations are being taken to allow a mutual visa-free travel for businessmen between the two countries. According to Mr. Manturov, there is a lot of potential for trade and investment in the aluminium industry, especially in the downstream sector which is weak in Russia and well developed in Bahrain. Russia’s strong upstream industry will facilitate strong joint ventures with Bahrain in the...
Aluminium market will balance out in 2015 say experts
Aluminium experts discussed that the aluminium market will balance out in 2015 during the metals market outlook review meeting held on 16th December by Chalco. The meeting was attended by eminent names in the aluminium industry which includes institutions like Commodity Research Unit (CRU), Beijing Antaike Information Development Co. and China International Capital Corporation Limited. The general belief at the meeting was that the aluminium market will perform better overseas while Chinese market goes through a slow phase. The transportation sector will push the medium-to-long term aluminium consumption prospects. In the meantime, China will continue to diversify its search for bauxite supply while their alumina supply continues to tighten. China’s perpetual aluminium surplus is also...
Dubal to pay 1.45% more interest on its recent loan of $1.8 billion
It is heard from reliable sources that Dubai Aluminium, a joint venture between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, will be paying 1.45% more interest over the London interbank offered rate on a loan worth $1.8 billion which is being jointly arranged by Citigroup, Emirates and Societe Generale SA. The sources, who did not wish to be identified as the information was classified, say that the company will pay a one time fee of 0.9% to those lenders committing to fund $200 million. The loan will be used to trigger expansion plans that are likely to close next year. Dubal had been merge with the Abu Dhabi-based smelter Emirates Aluminium Co. last year to form the Emirates Global Aluminium with an enterprise value of $15 million, as a part of the government’s plan to diversify and make use of the high...
The 32nd International Conference and Exhibition of ICSOBA drew focus on China
The 32nd International Conference and Exhibition of ICSOBA entitled "New Challenges of Bauxite Alumina & Aluminium Industry and Focus on China” was held from 12th to 15th October 2014 at the Zhengzhou Research Institute of CHALCO, in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China. The successful event was organized in co-operation with the host sponsor CHINALCO. The number of participants was about 275 from domestic and international organizations and companies. The Conference consisted of two days of lectures following a Workshop on the aluminium electrolysis. On the opening day there were seven plenary lectures on various focal points of the Chinese aluminium industry and other selectedsubjects, such as technological developments in Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), in Votorantim Metais and RUSAL...
