Bell Bay Aluminium (BBA), Australia's oldest aluminium smelter, is reviewing its workforce and offering redundancies for a small number of positions, just over a month after receiving an AUD 200 million (USD 137.52 million) government support package aimed at securing the facility's future until at least 2031. Up to 10 roles are understood to have been affected by the review, although the smelter is expected to retain its existing workforce of approximately 550 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. Some redeployment opportunities will also be available, while the positions identified are not understood to involve frontline services. The changes reportedly include some former participants in Bell Bay Aluminium's graduate programme. Rio Tinto, which operates the smelter near George Town in...
South32 expects the sale of its aluminium value chain assets to Alcoa to be completed in the six months ending June 2027. The proposed transaction covers its aluminium operations and related bauxite and alumina assets in South Africa, Australia and Brazil. The sale follows a binding conditional agreement signed by the two companies, under which Alcoa agreed to acquire the assets for up to USD 5.6 billion . The assets include South32's Hillside Aluminium smelter and the idled Bayside smelter in South Africa, its interests in the Boddington bauxite mine and Worsley alumina refinery in Australia, and the Mineração Rio do Norte bauxite mine and Alumar alumina refinery and aluminium smelter in Brazil. Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our...
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Consumers in the upper North Island would face the biggest increase in national electricity grid charges under the Electricity Authority's proposed changes to transmission pricing while the Rio Tinto-controlled aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point would get less than half the benefit it may have hoped for. The authority released a consultation paper on transmission pricing that proposes replacing the current two main charges - $150 million a year for the HVDC link between the North and South islands and an interconnection charge of $639 million a year, with two new charges: an area-of-benefit (AoB) charge of $296 million and a residual charge for Transpower's costs of $500 million a year, spread across the country. Because consumers in Auckland and the Far North have received the biggest...
SHFE 1607 aluminium will struggle around the 5-day moving average and move at RMB 12,050-12,200/mt on Monday. LME aluminium will remain weak at USD 1,530-1,550/mt. In China’s spot aluminium market, spot discounts of RMB 0-10/mt and spot premiums of RMB 0-30/mt are expected over SHFE 1605 aluminium contract. Key macroeconomic indicators for base metal prices Base metals may enter downside track this week due to poor reading of economic figures from China released last weekend. US April new home starts are expected to fall slightly to 1 million units as March building permits have posted losses for four weeks in a row on the monthly basis. But US April home sales remained red-hot thanks to expectation for low interest rates. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) slipped from above 4 per...
Aluminium stocks in China’s five major markets fell at a much faster pace last week as demand has picked up, SMM says. Warehouse withdrawals recovered markedly, but arrivals did not keep up pace, SMM learned. Downstream buyers returned to the market as their panic eased after aluminium prices fell slower. Processors that chose to work through stocks on hand two weeks ago also entered the market. SMM expects aluminium destocking to continue this week. The table below shows details of aluminium stocks at China’s five major markets: Unit: 1,000 tonne
Researchers from the University at Buffalo have developed a method of making ultrathin semiconducting materials using aluminium oxide (Al2SO4) and aluminium. According to researchers, laying a layer of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) molecules atop an optical nanocavity made from aluminium oxide and aluminium can increase the amount of light the semiconducting material is able to absorb. A nanocavity is a mirror structure that routes light in a closed circuit. Nanocavities are key to assembling lasers and fiber optics, among other light applications. “The nanocavity we have developed has many potential applications,” explained University at Buffalo’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences assistant professor of electrical engineering Qiaoqiang Gan, Ph.D. “It could potentially be used to...
Russian aluminium giant Rusal Plc expects 2016 production to be in line with 2015, it said on Friday, after reporting signs of improvement in the market. Rusal, which last year was overtaken by China's Hongqiao as the world's biggest aluminium producer, has been hit by weak prices. It expects output in 2016 to match 2015, when it produced 3.6 million tonnes of aluminium, according to three analysts who listened to Rusal's conference call on Friday. Rusal officials also told analysts it was still considering a plan to reduce its total output capacity by 200,000 tonnes but has not yet made any decisions. Earlier on Friday, Rusal reported a 57 percent slump in first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) compared with the same period a year ago...
Despite optimism over a rebound in the U.S. economic growth that overshadowed a stronger dollar resulting in slight uptick in commodity prices, aluminium extended its slide, touching its lowest level in a month on persistent worries about oversupply. "We should see a bit more caution setting in. We are testing longer-term moving average support for many of the metals, particularly copper. So we're at a critical juncture and from here it is very much data dependent," said Robin Bhar, head of metals research at Societe Generale in London. More data from top metals consumer China, including industrial production, is due next week. April retail sales recorded their biggest increase in a year, suggesting the economy is regaining momentum, and U.S. consumer sentiment rose to the highest levels...
China Aluminium International Trading Co. (Chalco Trading) cut aluminium prices again in major markets this past week, it said online. For details, please see the table below: Unit: yuan/tonne Note: Chalco Trading is a full subsidiary under Chalco responsible for alumina and aluminium sales.
LME aluminium has fallen below all moving averages, and will trade in a narrow range of USD 1,540-1,560/mt on Friday. SHFE 1607 aluminium will range RMB 11,900-12,100/mt. In China’s spot aluminium market, spot discounts of RMB 0-20/mt and spot premiums of RMB 0-20/mt are expected over SHFE 1605 aluminium contract. Key Macroeconomic Indicators for Base Metal Prices Market will eye US April PPI and retail sales data on Friday. US retail sales are expected to improve in April, mainly because wholesales in March beat February’s levels. US PPI is also likely to improve in April. US import price index, though pointing to limited improvement in April, sent signals of stabilizing inflation. The IBD consumer confidence index for May, released earlier this month, rose markedly from April. This...
UC RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, announced its results for the three months ended 31 March 2016. Total revenue decreased by USD563 million, or by 22.7 per cent, to USD1,914 million in the first quarter of 2016, as compared to USD2,477 million for the corresponding period of 2015. The company's revenue from sales of primary aluminium and alloys decreased by USD556 million, or by 25.9 per cent, to USD1,594 million in the first quarter of 2016, as compared to USD2,150 million in the first quarter of 2015, primarily due to 27.5 per cent decrease in the weighted-average realized aluminium price per tonne driven by a decrease in the LME aluminium price, as well as a decrease in premiums above the LME prices in the different geographical segments. Revenue from sales of primary...
State-run aluminium maker National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, for Research and Development (R&D) in fields of mutual interest. Extraction of Gallium from Bayer Liquor will be NALCO's first R&D project with BARC with an objective to develop indigenous technology for this strategic metal. The news perked up the sentiment on bourses. Nalco is currently trading at INR 42.90, up by 0.50 points or 1.18 per cent from its previous closing of INR 42.40 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The scrip opened at INR 42.60 and has touched a high and low of INR 43.40 and INR 42.60 respectively. So far 35709 shares were traded on the counter. Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at INR 45.40 and...
Indian steel companies have seen their fortunes swing back after implementation of the minimum import price but aluminium majors await similar triggers. The recommendation of the Directorate General of Safeguards for a provisional safeguard duty of five per cent ad valorem for 200 days had lifted sentiment but this has subsided, with the Street cautious on implementation and its benefits. Prices on the London Metal Exchange had touched $1,660 a tonne in end-April and are now about $100 less. Thus, it is not surprising that Hindalco, National Aluminium and Vedanta’s stocks have fallen by nine to 13 per cent in the past fortnight. Analysts believe the respite and benefits from imposition of the safeguard duty will be limited. For one, even if it is imposed, price rises in the domestic arena...
Aluminium prices edged up by 0.68 per cent to INR 104.40 per kg in futures trade yesterday, May 11, as participants enlarged positions amid a firming trend overseas. Moreover, strong demand in spot markets influenced metal prices. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in the current month inched up 0.68 per cent, to INR 104.40 per kg, in a business turnover of 787 lots. Metal for delivery in June also rose by 70 paise, or 0.67 per cent, to trade at INR 105.30 per kg in four lots. Traders said that apart from increased domestic demand, a firming global trend as data showing firming inflation eased demand concerns in China, the world's biggest user, helped aluminium futures trade higher.
PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum), Indonesia's state-owned aluminium producer, has announced plans to increase its aluminium smelting output to 500,000 tonnes a year by 2020. The current production level of the aluminium producer stands at 260,000 tonnes per annum, said Dante Sinaga, who heads the firm's coal power station development project. Inalum also plans to increase its output to 1 million tonnes per year by 2025 as demand for aluminium having a wide range of applications from foils to aerospace is projected to more than double from current levels in nine years, he added.
LME aluminium has found support at the 40-day and 60-day moving averages and will consolidate at USD 1,560-1,580/mt on Thursday. SHFE 1607 aluminium will range RMB 12,000-12,200/mt, with support at the 40-day moving average. In China’s spot aluminium market, spot discounts of RMB 0-20/mt and spot premiums of RMB 0-20/mt are expected over SHFE 1605 aluminium contract. Key Macroeconomic Indicators for Base Metal Prices Market attention will focus on US initial jobless claims and April import price index on Thursday. Despite disappointing US April non-farm payrolls, US initial jobless claims for last week remained below 300,000 for 61 weeks in a row, which will have limited impact on market. Rising crude oil prices will potentially improve US inflation in April. US import price index is...
Diversified metals and mining major Vedanta Resources has pegged its aluminium production cost below the level of $1400 a tonne in this financial year, aiming to close in on the gap with global producers like Rusal, Rio Tinto Alcan and Norsk Hydro. For Vedanta, keeping to its projected cost seems a challenge tough to negotiate given its dependence on coal-based power. This is unlike global peers such as Rusal, Rio Tinto Alcan and Norsk Hydro, who exploit cheap hydro power to prune production cost. Aluminium smelters with the lowest production cost are concentrated in the Persian Gulf, Russia, Canada, Iceland and South Africa where manufacturing cost is in the range of $1,100-1,450 a tonne.The Maaden smelter in Saudi Arabia, where Alcoa holds 25 per cent stake is the most cost effective...
Iranian miners are seeking $10 billion to develop a domestic aluminum industry that could serve to export 60 percent of production to meet growing demand for the metal used in cars to jets and beverage cans. The raw material bauxite needed to achieve that goal is proving hard to find. Iran’s aluminum production of 350,000 metric tons a year is below capacity of 470,000 tons because of a shortage of bauxite and insufficient electricity generation, Mehdi Karbasian, managing director of state-owned Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, said at a conference in Tehran Wednesday. With additional investment, Iran could boost output to 1.5 million tons by 2025, he said. Unlike Iran’s oil industry which was crippled because of international sanctions, the...
Russian aluminium giant Rusal warned against Chinese smelters restarting plants to keep from undermining prices that have retreated from 2016 highs as Chinese producers consider launching a fund to deal with the layoffs from closures. Global aluminium prices that rebounded to nine-month highs last month have enticed some Chinese smelters that closed in the past year amid overcapacity in the sector to resume production. But, while analysts say the restarts have been slow, producers fear they could weigh on prices again. China is the world's top consumer and maker of aluminium. Chinese producers should continue to keep their discipline towards production to "ensure gradual improvement in prices and profitability," Rusal's Deputy Chief Executive Oleg Mukhamedshin told an industry conference...
Aluminium maker national Aluminium Corporation (Nalco) is also scouting for locations in Indonesia to set up a five lakh tonnes per annum smelter as it eyes to rationalise cost of operations and cater to the expected rise in demand. The government had earlier hired consultants to scout for locations for establishing a five lakh tonnes greenfield aluminium smelter and a power plant, where energy is available at competitive prices, a source said. "Based on the study conducted by the consultants, Nalco has identified Oman and Indonesia. Iran is another country that has come up after the US lifted sanctions against it. Nalco CMD T K Chand also met top Iranian officials last month over this," the source added. A senior government official confirmed the development, saying the government has...
