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 company that plans to build an aluminium plant in Pineville that could employ more than 1,000 people has bought property for the project. Revolution Aluminum Propco LLC secured the property that formerly housed Pineville's International Paper mill. The startup plans to build its own mill on the property. Several other partner companies that will support the mill's operations are also expected to locate to the complex, which has been named Innovation Park. Together, the companies are expected to spend more than $1.5 billion and employ more than 1,000 people. "The hard work over the last year to make this day happen will pay off in huge opportunities for all of Central Louisiana," said Pineville Mayor Clarence Fields. "Revolution Aluminum and the other tenants of the park have the...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), one of the world’s leading aluminium producers, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on March 16, 2016 at Al Dana Hall, Aluminium Bahrain, Askar, during which approval was given to the distribution of cash dividends related to the fiscal year 2015. The total dividend for the fiscal year 2015 amounted BD 15.5 million (US$ 41.3 million), equivalent to 11 per cent of the nominal value of the company’s shares - which is 11 fils per share, of which 5.5 fils (interim dividend) has already been distributed to the shareholders in September 2015. The final dividend for 2015, equivalent to BD 7.8 million (US$ 20.6 million), will be payable from April 3, 2016 to Alba's shareholders of record as of March 16, 2016. In addition, audited financial statements for the...
Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Zayed R. Al Zayani met a number of representatives of the manufacturing sector in the aluminium industry. They reviewed the latest developments related to this vital sector and its future developmental aspirations, especially in light of the facilities offered by the government to promote economic and industrial activities in particular. The minister expressed pride in the Bahraini private sector's support and considered it as a major partner in the national economy's progress and growth, adding that the ministry exert efforts in cooperation with the related authorities in order to facilitate the establishment of local or global investment projects, which will serve the national economy's best interest. The minister underscored the importance of...
Vedanta Limited, India’s only diversified natural resources company continues its effort to promote and inculcate safety consciousness among the plant personnel. The company observed the 45th National Safety week from 4th - 14th Mar’ 2016 at its Jharsuguda operations. The theme of this year was “Strengthen safety movement to achieve zero harm” and various activities were conducted from 26th February 2016. On 4th March 2016, a Safety Flag was hoisted and Safety Pledge was administered by Sr. Management and employees. Various contests such as the identification of best First Aiders through Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) competition, Best Safety conscious Operation and Maintenance employees through ‘Safety Buddy’ competition, Hazard identification skills through ‘Hunt the Hazard’...
Since mid-January, aluminium prices have grown 7.8 per cent. Even though the recent recovery in prices of metals is largely a technically driven move and not in line with demand fundamentals, a part of the aluminium price performance is more fundamentally driven as the markets have gone through a more significant supply response. There was a similar supply-driven rebound in aluminium price in the Q3 2014. The price had rallied from $1,756/t at the end of May to $2,115 by September, gain of 20 per cent, boosting by capacity closures in the world ex-China. Nevertheless, this rally sputtered by the end of 2014 as the market was saturated with aluminium again due to inventory profit taking and capacity restarts. As it happened in 2014, the current rally’s sustainability is dependent on...
A first glance at aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange yields few surprises, yet a closer look often reveals anomalies caused by one market participant holding large amounts of metal. Sources at commodity trading houses, warehouses, producers, brokers and banks say recently one such company is U.S. bank JPMorgan. Others have done so in past. "There are no position limits (on aluminium contracts) as such on the LME, if you are financing physical material there are no limits," a metals analyst said. "The LME is a physical market, no rules have been broken." While allowed under LME rules, holding a large, sometimes dominant position can to an extent have an influence on prices in the short term for contracts that will soon reach maturity. The LME declined to name any dominant...
About 41 per cent of the 34 Chinese aluminium smelters surveyed by SMM expect aluminium prices to rise this week. Those optimists see SHFE 1605 aluminium rising above RMB 11,500/mt and LME aluminium advancing above all moving averages, citing positive factors. First, China’s aluminium output fell 5.8 per cent MoM in February. Aluminium stocks in Shanghai, Wuxi and Guangdong fell last Thursday from a week ago, with the decline three weeks earlier than in the same period last year. Second, spot prices will keep rising as delivery of SHFE 1603 aluminium is nearing, which will push SHFE aluminium up as well. Third, alumina prices rose for four weeks in a row and those in east China have risen to RMB 2,000/mt. Alumina capacity cuts in China have amounted to 4.4 million mt/yr so far this year,...
A firm dollar and weak Chinese industrial output weighed heavily upon aluminium causing it to hit a three-week low on Monday. Chinese factory output growth during the first two months of the year was the weakest since the global financial crisis, while retail sales rose by the least since May 2015. Fixed asset investment (FAI), however, was higher than expected and there were signs of recovery in the country's property sector. "The China data is a bit confusing because industrial production was a very weak number, but FAI was up," said Wiktor Bielski, head of commodities research at VTB Capital in London. Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange closed 1.2 per cent lower at $1,542.50 a tonne after touching $1,536, the weakest since Febuary 19. China Hongqiao Group Limited, the...
LME aluminium may approach a resistance at $1,582 per tonne, as it has found a support at $1,545. The resistance and the support are identified respectively as the 14.6 percent and the 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracements on the rise from the January 12 low of $1,449 to March 7 high of $1,605. The first leg of the drop from the March 7 high of $1,605 has completed. The second leg, driven by a wave b, is extending towards $1,582. The third leg may develop around $1,582.
Another government-owned aluminium producer in India has announced grand plans to increase investment in the renewable energy sector. Following a government push to increase investment in renewable energy and meet renewable energy procurement targets, the National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has announced plans to invest INR 700 crore (over $100 million) towards development and implementation of renewable energy projects this year. The company already has some renewable energy assets, mostly in the form of wind energy projects, and is now planning to add utility-scale as well as rooftop solar power projects to increase the share of renewable energy in its electricity consumption. NALCO currently has an operational wind energy capacity of 98 MW from wind energy projects in the states...
China Hongqiao, the world’s largest producer of aluminium, aims to raise the annual capacity of the lightweight industrial metal by around 15 per cent this year if the market recovery continues. The Shandong-based firm aims to spend up to 15 billion yuan this year on expanding its output capacity of aluminium, alumina, bauxite and electricity, besides retrofitting its coal-fired power plants to meet future carbon emission requirements. Last year’s spending totalled 14 billion yuan. Its debt-funded rapid capacity expansion in an industry afflicted with over-capacity has been a concern for investors, but the firm insists its expansion is rational since its production costs are much lower than its rivals because it has its own power plants and in-house upstream materials production...
China-based Sinosteel Company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) to implement alumina, aluminium and power house plans, said a report. The production plan capacity for Alumina Powder Company is 1.6 million tonnes, for aluminium ingot is 350,000 tonnes and for combined cycle power house plant is 1000 MW. Both companies have appointed an urgent work group to provide implementation steps of this MoU and aim at implementing the second phase of the plan with two-fold increase in capacity, said the report. The president of Sinosteel expressed his interest in boosting cooperation with Iran in post-sanction era. Referring to direct financing and investment of these three projects, Huang Tianwen...
SHFE aluminium will gather more steam on positive market fundamentals in China, while LME aluminium will face short selling pressure, SMM expects. Capacity restarts and new capacity release are still limited in domestic aluminium market. Consumption is still in recovery. As such, aluminium stocks in China’s major markets to fall this week. This will allow SHFE aluminium to challenge resistance at 11,500 yuan per tonne. LME aluminium, on the other hand, will drop to $1,550-1,580 per tonne, with strong resistance at the 5-day and 10-day moving averages. Spot discounts in China will narrow to 0-40 yuan per tonne over SHFE front-month aluminium contract due to nearing delivery date of SHFE 1603 aluminium.
Weak demand, import pressure and declining prices are impacting the non-ferrous metals market, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said adding the outlook for such metals is negative for the next fiscal. Ind-Ra has revised the outlook on the non-ferrous metals sector to negative for 2016-17, from stable for 2015-16, it said in a statement. "The agency has also revised outlook on sector companies to Negative for FY 2016-17, from Stable in FY 2015-16. It expects the sustained deterioration in metal prices from current levels to be the key driver of possible rating downgrades," it added. Although industry players have been maximising free cash flows with cost control and a reduction in working capital cycles, weak demand growth, import pressure, low physical premiums and sub-optimal capacity...
The inaugural Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Aluminium Stewardship Initiativ (ASI) will be held on Tuesday April 26, 2016 at the Audi Forum, Ingolstadt, Germany. More than 80 people have now registered to attend the AGM. The event is open to industry, civil society and all interested organisations, where they can learn more about ASI's work to develop sustainability standards for the aluminium value chain, the broader landscape of voluntary standards, and meet ASI members and stakeholders. The day's agenda includes: • Formal AGM proceedings (ASI members only) • Keynote speakers from ISEAL Alliance and WWF on sustainability and voluntary standards • Updates on ASI's work to develop a certification program covering sustainability performance and chain of custody for aluminium • Audi...
Glencore's head aluminium trader Andrew Caplan is due to leave at the end of the summer, the company said on Thursday, March 10. Caplan became head of the Swiss trading and mining group's aluminium division in 2013 after joining the group in 2007 from rival trading group Trafigura. Caplan has already handed over responsibility for Glencore's alumina and aluminium trading books ahead of his departure.
The Central European Aluminium Company (CEAC), a Cyprus-based major shareholder and one of the largest creditors of Montenegro’s Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica (KAP), today has welcomed the European Parliament’s strong-worded resolution on Montenegro with reference to the European Commission’s 2015 Progress Report. The European Parliament resolution slams Ðukanovic’s government for lack of progress in strengthening the rule of law and governance and fighting corruption and organised crime. It says “corruption remains a serious concern, particularly in […] privatisation” and “reiterates the need to eliminate corruption on all levels since it undermines democratic principles and negatively affects social and economic development”. It has criticised the government’s lacklustre approach to...
Aluminium on MCX settled up 0.75 per cent at 107.4 driven by expectations for demand recovery in Chinese aluminum market. The first half of the year will not see massive restarts of idled aluminum capacity and commissioning of new aluminum capacity in China. At its annual policy meeting over the weekend, China set a growth target of 6.5 percent as the baseline of a range through 2020, less than the 6.9 percent pace last year. Premier Li Keqiang acknowledged there would be some difficult battles ahead as he outlined plans to clean up the environment, boost innovation, further urbanize and cut excess capacity. Last week investors welcomed the move by China's central bank to reduce the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves for the fifth time since February last year. Some big...
