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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The Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) has initiated the investigation in alleged increased imports of unwrought aluminium for causing injury to the domestic aluminium industry. The period of investigation is 2011-12 onwards till 2015-16. This investigation came on the application filed by aluminium makers asking the government to “immediately impose a safeguard duty on the imports of unwrought aluminium for a period of four years.” The application was filed by Vedanta Limited, Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco) and Hindalco who have sought safeguard duty imposition on alloyed as well as non-alloyed wrought aluminium products. The domestic Aluminium industry has asked for increase to 10 per cent from current 7.5 per cent. It was 5 per cent earlier, when it was revised in this year’s...
China Aluminum International Trading Co. (Chalco Trading) hiked aluminium prices significantly in major markets this past week, it said through one of its online media handles. Chalco Trading is a full subsidiary under Chalco responsible for alumina and aluminium sales.
China’s State Council is urging for elimination of outdated and excess capacity in energy-intensive and highly-polluting industries, including aluminium, Shanghai Securities News reported. The State Council recently issued the 2016 Action Plan for Implementation of Outline for Quality Development. Under the Action Plan, China shall enhance work to weed out outdated and excessive capacity in strict compliance with production licenses and industry entrance system.
Aluminium hit a six-month peak on Wednesday as the appetite for risk increased among investors who took a more upbeat view on the Chinese economy and saw commodities as relatively cheap. Analysts attribute the buoyancy in metals markets to the bounce in oil prices. "I think there's some restocking coming through in China based on some stability in the economy and generally we're seeing some risk appetite coming back. There's a certain warming towards commodities in general," said Robin Bhar, head of metals research at Societe Generale in London. Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange climbed 2.2 per cent to close at $US1622.50 a tonne, the strongest since October 2015. Aluminium is the top gainer on the LME over the past month, up some 6 per cent after producers cut output,...
Bechtel, a global leader in engineering, procurement and construction, has been selected by Aluminium Bahrain, B.S.C. (Alba) to build the sixth potline for their Alba aluminium smelter in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Upon completion, Alba will become the world's largest single-site aluminium smelter. Bechtel will be responsible for designing and constructing the aluminum smelter's sixth potline and other related infrastructure. Line 6, which is expected to begin production by early 2019, will increase Alba's annual output by 540,000 tonnes, bringing total capacity to 1,500,000 tonnes. Bechtel has worked with Alba for more than 25 years, including previous work as EPCM contractor for the smelter's Line 4 and 5 expansions. "We are pleased to be working with Alba again to add Line 6, which marks...
The Technology Development & Transfer department at Emirates Global Aluminium (“EGA”), the largest primary aluminium producer in the GCC region and among the top five producers in the world, continues to focus its efforts on improving the operating performance of the proprietary reduction cell technologies at EGA’s midstream industry assets in the UAE so as to ensure ever more efficient, cost-effective operations. The practice is founded on a long history of successful technology development and industrial implementation that has positioned EGA as a respected competitor in this sector of the global aluminium industry. For example, EGA’s latest generation DX+ Ultra Technology – ranked among the most efficient reduction cell technologies currently available – has been selected by Aluminium...
UC RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, and PJSC TransContainer have announced the signing of a 3-year contract to ship RUSAL products in containers. TransContainer will be responsible for all of RUSAL’s shipments in containers within the territory of the Russian Federation from May 1, 2016 and, additionally, will be responsible for all sea containers to Asian markets (Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan) and other regions from August 1, 2016. “Containerization is one of the key priorities of RUSAL’s sales policy. The main advantages of this delivery method are that our goods are guaranteed safely as cargo and it is logistically cost efficient whilst working with the end-customer,” Vladislav Soloviev, RUSAL CEO, commented. “With a view to developing a long-term partnership,...
A new study released on April 20 shows the continued importance of the U.S. aluminum industry to the national economy. Research conducted by economic research firm John Dunham & Associates found that the domestic aluminum industry directly employs nearly 161,000 workers and contributes more than $75 billion to the national economy. When supplier and induced impacts are taken into consideration, the industry is responsible for nearly 713,000 jobs and $186 billion in economic impact – more than 1 percent of national GDP. According to the report, while certain segments of the domestic aluminum industry have struggled in recent years – with major job losses particularly in the upstream segment of the business – these losses have been offset by gains in downstream sectors like flat-roll...
Aiming to ramp up capacity of the idle aluminium smelter lying within its product specific Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Vedanta has sought extension of the formal approval for the SEZ beyond May 22 this year. The Board of Approvals (BoA) under Union commerce and industry ministry will consider Vedanta's case for extension at its ensuing meeting on April 28. The development commissioner at Falta SEZ has already recommended Vedanta's case for extension. The SEZ meant for manufacture and export of aluminium, is located at Bhurkamunda village near Jharsuguda, close to the site of its standalone aluminium smelting facility. Formal approval to the SEZ was granted on May 22, 2007 and since then, it has been granted six extensions. The board had approved the establishment of the 1.25 million...
The Aluminium International Today announced that the process of accepting applications from leading business entities in the aluminium industry for the European Aluminium Award 2016 has already started. Presented for the 10th time, the most important prize of the aluminium industry honours the sector’s innovations. The Award Ceremony will take place at ALUMINIUM 2016 in Düsseldorf on 29 November. The application deadline is 15 July 2016. Awards will be presented in the categories Automotive, Transportation (air, rail, road, water), Architecture & Construction, Production Techniques, Tools & Machinery and Design & Lifestyle (lighting & interior, sports & leisure, computers & electronics, art & fashion). In addition, the Young Talents Award for young designers and engineers aged 30 or under...
The fourth Iran International Aluminum Conference and Exhibition 2016 is all set to open its doors to a global congregation of companies in Tehran on May 11. More than 62 companies have announced their presence till now, out of which 23 are foreign and the rest are Iranian entities. Among these companies many familiar and famous names are seen such as: Rusal from Russia, Danieli from Italy, SMS Group from Germany, Fives from France, Outotec from Germany, NFC from China, SAT from Italy, Salico from Spain, Italtecno from Italy, NKM Noell from Germany, Sino Steel from China and Sermas from France. More information on the exhibition is available at http://iiac20.ir/en/?page_id=10 Prior to the conference a two-day workshop will be held followed by a one-day workshop after the conference, in...
Aluminium on London Metal Exchange (LME) gained 1.1 per cent to reach $1,587, its highest since March 8. But Chinese exports and oversupply are expected to weigh on prices over the coming weeks and months as recent gains entice Chinese smelters to restart aluminium output. That prospect has seen aluminium prices in Shanghai stall at about 12,000 yuan a tonne in recent days. "At these prices, we estimate less than 18 percent of Chinese capacity is facing real margin pressure," Citi said in a note. "We expect China to have an effective surplus of about 3 million tonnes this year, much of which we believe could be exported in the form of products."
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), a leading aluminium smelter in the world, welcomed on Thursday April 14, 2016 a high level delegation from the Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) led by the Vice Chairman and acting CEO Mr. Yousef Abdulla Al-Benyan, Alba Board member Mr. Abdul Aziz Al Humaid and other senior officials from SABIC. Alba Chief Financial Officer Ali Al Baqali and Chief Marketing Officer Khalid A. Latif along with other officials from Alba welcomed SABIC delegation and presented them with an overview about Alba full-fledged operations and Line 6 Expansion Project contribution to Bahrain’s economy. Upon welcoming the high delegation, Mr. Ali Al Baqali said: “We at Alba believe in the regional role that our company plays in spearheading the economic...
The Aluminum Association looks forward to carefully reviewing the Section 201 petition on primary aluminum filed by the United Steelworkers on 18th April. The Association assured to work with their membership to better understand the impacts of such an action on the entire aluminum value chain. The United Steelworkers files a petition to the association for relief pursuant to section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974. This is a petition under sections 201-202 of the Trade Act, 1974 and Subpart B of part 206 of the rules of practice and procedure of the United States International Trade Commission. The USW seeks a finding of critical circumstances and a recommendation to the President of provisional relief of an additional duty of 50 percentage points to be applied during the pendency of the...
Select base metals including aluminium weakened by INR 2 per kg in India's non-ferrous market (Multi Commodity Exchange) today following muted demand from the end user industries namely, transport, electricals, construction, packaging, and others. Following are today's metal rates (in INR per kg): • Aluminium ingots INR 154 • Aluminium sheet cutting INR 150 • Aluminium wire scrap INR 150 • Aluminium utensils scrap INR 148 Traders said low demand from consuming industries attributed the fall in aluminium prices.
Chinese aluminium smelters have posted better profit thanks to continuous aluminium price rise, SMM learned. Profit at those covered in SMM’s survey sample to 900-1,000 yuan per tonne in the week ending April 15. Raw material costs changed little. Smelters in southwest China told SMM that local governments might not offer additional power tariff subsidies now that rising aluminium prices have improved smelters’ profitability. As such, local smelters have no intention of increasing production for now. As of April 18, spot aluminium in Shanghai market traded at 11,940-11,950 yuan per tonne.
Rio Tinto released robust production results for first quarter of FY2016. Despite global slump in aluminium prices, the mining and metal major posted a significant ten per cent increase in aluminium production year-on-year for the period under review. Kitmat completed its ramp-up to an annualised rate of 420 thousand tonnes in March 2016. Production across the Saguenay smelter system increased by four per cent compared with the first quarter of 2015 as a result of ongoing productivity improvements. 2016 guidance Rio Tinto's expected share of production of aluminium remains unchanged at 3.6 million tonnes for 2016. Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh said “These results demonstrate our commitment to operational excellence in 2016, with notable improvements in several important areas,...
Aluminium stocks at three major Japanese ports stood at 345,600 tonnes at the end of March, down 5.5 per cent from a month earlier, trading house Marubeni Corp said on Friday, April 15. Marubeni collects data from the ports of Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka.
