Caustic soda plant setup in India: How aluminium growth is reshaping demand, costs and opportunities
Caustic soda may not be the most visible ingredient in aluminium production, but without it, the journey from bauxite to alumina would look very different. The chemical, also known as sodium hydroxide, is a crucial reagent in the Bayer process, where it helps dissolve alumina-bearing material in bauxite and separate it from impurities. The dissolved material is then processed to recover alumina, which ultimately feeds aluminium production. That makes caustic soda more than just another industrial chemical. Its availability, price and efficient use can influence the economics of alumina refining and, by extension, the wider aluminium value chain. As India expands its alumina and aluminium capacity, the requirement for this chemical is also becoming increasingly important. For companies...
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...
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Aleris Corporation today reported results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014.
Third Quarter Summary • Adjusted EBITDA of $83 million; Net income of $26 million • Sequential and year-over-year Adjusted EBITDA improvement of 28 percent and 22 percent, respectively • Higher volumes due to automotive, and building & construction volumes and the Nichols acquisition • Global aerospace volumes and margins negatively impacted by customer destocking • Improved metal spreads and scrap spreads • Liquidity of $390 million as of September 30, 2014 • Announced $350 million investment to add automotive body sheet capabilities in North America • Entered into definitive agreement to sell Recycling and Specification Alloy businesses Fourth Quarter Outlook • Year-over-year performance improvement expected • Automotive light weighting impact on aluminum demand expected to...
China’s Malaysian bauxite imports hit record high in Sep. 2014
China’s imports of Malaysian bauxite hit a record high of 566,000 tonnes in September 2014, China Customs data showed. Malaysia – accounting for 20% of China’s total imports in September – became China’s third largest supplier of bauxite, next only to Australia and India. This was driven largely by its price advantage (Malaysian ore ($ 50.94 per tonne, CIF), versus Australian bauxite ($ 60.8 per tonne, CIF), Indian bauxite ($ 59.2 per tonne, CIF). Year-to-date imports through September totaled 2.85 million tonnes, down 62.38% year-on-year, but up 14.40% month-on-month. Alumina refineries reopened or restarted idled capacity, boosting bauxite demand.
China aluminum semis exports rise to 340,000 mt in Sept. 2014
China exported 340,000 mt of aluminum semis in September, up 25.93% YoY and 6.25% MoM, customs data showed. Exports during January-September totaled 2.52 million mt, also up 9.57%. Extrusion exports soared 93.02% YoY to 96,000 mt in September. Exports of plate/sheet and strip also increased 9.21% YoY to 157,000 mt. Foil exports were up 15.65% from a year ago to 72,000 mt. Low SHFE/LME aluminum price ratio and weak Chinese yuan allowed Chinese processors and traders to lock in a sizable number of export contracts in Q2 and Q3. As a result, export volumes increased in September and will continue to grow in October. But export orders have dropped recently as Chinese yuan has strengthened. As such, China’s aluminum semis exports may drop slightly for the rest of the year.
Sapa sells paint operation in Finland
Sapa has sold its painting and aluminium fabrication operation in Finland to Salko Painting Oy. The sale of the Forssa-based plant is part of the restructuring within Sapa’s aluminium extrusion operations in the Nordic countries, following the merger of Sapa’s and Hydro’s extrusion activities in 2013. Sapa evaluated divestment as the best solution for the company, for its local customers and for the employees at the site. Divestment will allow Sapa to reorganize its business in Finland and will enable employees to continue in their jobs. Customer focus going forward The new owners have plans to invest in a new paintline at the site, and the company will act as a paint sub-contractor for Sapa in Finland. Increased production capacity will enable growing business in Finland and benefit...
Bauxite train derails in St Catherine
A West Indies Alumina Company (Windalco) train has derailed in the vicinity of Capture land and Tawes Meadows in St Catherine a short while ago. Information is sketchy at this point but OBSERVER ONLINE can report that no one was injured. The train is reported to have been heading to May Pen, Clarendon and upon reaching a corner in the Capture land community the train line went loose resulting in the derailment. The engineer who was the only person on board escaped unhurt.
Chalco sees full-year loss for 2014
Aluminum Corp. of China (Chalco) expects a full-year loss for 2014 after releasing its financial reports for 3rd quarter ending September. The company registered a loss of 1.29 billion yuan ($210 billion) or a loss of 0.10 yuan per share during the third quarter. That compared with a loss of 1.22 billion yuan a year earlier, it said.
Aluminum outperforms despite strong dollar and growing risks
Aluminum is expected to prove resistant to declines, and may rally this week, Shanghai Metals Market’s Xue foresees. A slew of risky events are going to be released this week, and the results are believed to put a downward pressure on base metals market, in addition to a strong dollar. “Aluminum, and zinc included, will outperform others thanks to the improvement in market fundamentals”, SMM’s Xue said. “The outlook for copper is not good, and the red metal will continue its downward trend”, he added. Sales at highs are advised for those bearish ones.
China aluminum glut to worsen on massive expansions
Aluminum oversupply in China will worsen in Q4 2014, and even more so into Q1 next year, as additional over 2 million-tpy new capacity will come on stream for the remainder of the year, Shanghai Metals Market foresees. Currently, over 80% of China’s aluminum capacity is operating in the black in terms of cash costs, thanks to growing use of captive power, direct power feeds from other power plants, and falling prices of raw and supplementary materials, SMM data showed. Hence, smelters are actively bringing cost-efficient new capacities online. For example, Baotou Aluminum Co., Gansu Dongxing Aluminum Co, and Inner Mongolia Jinlian Aluminum (Phase I) collectively put 700,000-tpy in new capacity into operations in H2. Moreover, other smelters, mainly in Xinjiang, are following suit, SMM’s...
Ford body shops gear up for aluminum
The first 2015 aluminum-body Ford F-150 pickup will hit the road in December, but Ron Needham and his crew of technicians at the Prestige Ford collision shop in Garland, Texas, expect to see their first repair job much sooner than that. That's because a few pickups will sustain minor damage en route to dealerships. And Needham's shop plans to be ready for them. All Ford vehicles destined for Ford's Southwest region come to a railyard in Mesquite, Texas, where they are transferred to trucks. Occasionally, vehicles get dinged coming off the trains. When that happens, they're trucked 12 miles to Prestige Ford, where collision technicians perform body and paint repairs for American Road, an insurance company that covers Ford vehicles against damage while they're in transit to dealerships....
Manaksia Ltd issues work suspension orders at Haldia aluminium unit
Manaksia Ltd which was formerly known as Hindusthan Seals Ltd. has issued a suspension order for the workers of the aluminium unit at Haldia for an indefinite period post agitation. According to the officials, the permanent workers were working slowly for the last couple of days as a sign of protest and demanding an immediate raise in salary, a hike of almost 50%. When the management stated that they would have to wait till the plant resumed operation after the maintenance closure, they got violent and stated assaulting the official. “We have been compelled to issue suspension of work notice in the aluminium unit at Haldia after attack on a company management official,” a senior Manaksia group official told The Statesman. The company also owns a steel division and it is working without...
Novelis to host second quarter fiscal year 2015 earnings conference call on Monday, November 10
Novelis Inc. will report its earnings for the second quarter of fiscal year 2015 on Monday, November 10, 2014. Following the release, President and Chief Executive Officer Philip Martens and Chief Financial Officer Steve Fisher will discuss the results via a live conference call for investors at 8:00 a.m. ET the same day. The conference call will also be webcast live via the Novelis website, with presentation materials available online at Novelis website. The audio portion of the meeting will be available via telephone at: U.S. and Canada Toll-Free Number: 800 749 1342 India Toll-Free Number: 0008001007929 International Toll Number: + 1 212 231 2908 Following the meeting, the webcast will be available for replay at Novelis' website.
Hindalco to revive its QIP plans
Hindalco Industries Ltd. limited is supposedly going ahead with their plan of raising funds by selling shares to institutional investors, said bank sources who are dealing directly with the case. Hindalco had planned to initiate the qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue long back but deterred the plans due to poor market sentiment post the cancellation their coal blocks by the Supreme Court. Now the company plans to launch the QIP in December or January after the coal matter is resolved. One of the bankers said that the company hopes to raise INR 3,000 crores in the first phase of the program. Company officials however declined to comment on the issue. Hindalco had informed the stock exchanges on 18 July that they would be raising INR 5,000 crore. Several banks have been hired by...
UK to strengthen homegrown automotive parts industry
More needs to be done to increase the amount of UK-produced components for the country’s burgeoning automotive sector. This was the message from the head of the Aluminium Federation (ALFED) ahead of the trade body’s annual Aluminium in Road Transport Conference. The two-day event, which brings together leading engineers and designers from the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, Morgan Motor Company, Lotus and others, takes place at the Thinktank Science Museum in Birmingham on November 11 and 12. Speaking ahead of the conference, ALFED CEO Will Savage said on average only around 35 per cent of parts used in British built cars were made in the UK. He said: “Clearly we have a lot to be proud of in our motor manufacturing industry, as over the past decade Britain has become a global leader in...
Alcoa announces investment to further aerospace manufacturing leadership
Lightweight metals leader Alcoa today announced a $190 million investment at its Davenport Works, Iowa, facility to expand its product offerings in the aerospace and industrial markets. Alcoa is installing manufacturing technology to enhance the performance of thick aluminum and aluminum-lithium plate in various applications, including wing ribs and fuselage frames. The investment in the Davenport rolling mill is the installation of a new ‘very thick plate stretcher’. The stretching process reduces stress introduced into the plate as part of the manufacturing process, resulting in a part that can more easily be machined and processed. This advancement will enable Davenport Works to produce the largest high-strength monolithic wing ribs in the industry. For example, as composite wings get...
Noranda reports third quarter results, sequential and year-over-year improvement in profitability on higher aluminum prices
Third Quarter 2014 Highlights and Recent Events • Excluding special items, earnings per share ("EPS") was a $0.04 loss in third quarter 2014 and reported EPS was a $0.06 loss compared to a $0.27 loss in the third quarter 2013 • Total segment profit was $36.6 million, compared to $30.4 million in second quarter 2014 and $11.0 million in third quarter 2013 • Average realized Midwest transaction price per pound shipped was $1.08, compared to $0.99 in second quarter 2014; $0.92 in third quarter 2013 • Net Cash Cost was $0.90 per pound, compared to $0.84 per pound in second quarter 2014; third quarter 2013 Net Cash Cost was $0.89 per pound • Cash and cash equivalents totaled $24.3 million and total available liquidity was $183.5 million as of September 30, 2014 Noranda Aluminum Holding...
Norsk Hydro: Hydro and RTA closes Søral deal
Aluminium company Hydro and Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA) have closed the deal for Hydro to take over RTA's shares in the aluminium smelter Sør-Norge Aluminium AS (Søral) in Norway. Hydro and RTA announced the plans for Hydro to take over Søral in July. Following approval from competition authorities in Norway and France, the companies closed the deal on the afternoon of Friday October 31, with effect as of November 1. "We welcome the 230 employees at Husnes into the Hydro family. As a fully-owned plant, we will now be able to contribute even stronger in strengthening operations at the plant and to serve our customers with value added aluminium products," says Hilde Merete Aasheim, Executive Vice President and head of Primary Metal in Hydro. With the deal completed, Søral's new plant name will be...
Norsk Hydro: Hydro and RTA closes Søral deal
Aluminium company Hydro and Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA) have closed the deal for Hydro to take over RTA's shares in the aluminium smelter Sør-Norge Aluminium AS (Søral) in Norway. Hydro and RTA announced the plans for Hydro to take over Søral in July. Following approval from competition authorities in Norway and France, the companies closed the deal on the afternoon of Friday October 31, with effect as of November 1. "We welcome the 230 employees at Husnes into the Hydro family. As a fully-owned plant, we will now be able to contribute even stronger in strengthening operations at the plant and to serve our customers with value added aluminium products," says Hilde Merete Aasheim, Executive Vice President and head of Primary Metal in Hydro. With the deal completed, Søral's new plant name will be...
Non-Ferrous World Mirror for October 2014 released
The Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) has released the Non-Ferrous World Mirror for October 2014, which states that geopolitical tensions and conflicts have continued to drag the non-ferrous metals markets worldwide. The protests in Hong Kong have aggravated the weak trade condition in China. Customs data points to sharp fall in imports of non-ferrous scrap by China. Shanghai reported nearly 28% decline in imports of aluminum scrap during the initial nine months of the year. Meantime, Tianjin's aluminum scrap import volumes tumbled 48% during this period. The country has announced that Category 6 import permits henceforth shall be issued by respective provincial authorities. The overall volume of secondary non-ferrous metals has declined sharply in India. The demand for aluminum...
