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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Century Aluminum of South Carolina, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Century Aluminum Company today issued a notice to employees at its Mt. Holly, South Carolina aluminum smelter of its intent to curtail plant operations if the smelter is unable to secure a competitively priced power arrangement to deliver energy to the plant. The announcement was made pursuant to the federal Working Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). If a competitively priced power arrangement cannot be secured, Century Aluminum of South Carolina will curtail 100% of smelter operations by no later than December 31, 2015, when its current power contract with the South Carolina Public Service Authority, also known as Santee Cooper, to produce and deliver the required power expires. Santee Cooper's current rate...
Aluminum fell for a sixth day, the longest slump in three months, on concern that a glut will worsen amid weakening demand in China, the world’s biggest metals consumer. The Asian nation is boosting aluminum production at the same time that economic growth is expected to be the slowest in decades, adding to the outlook for a global surplus. Dwight Anderson, the founder of hedge fund Ospraie Management, said he saw little reason for short-term optimism on industrial metals. “Aluminum is miserable and is going to stay miserable and will have to force closures and bankruptcies,” said Anderson said. Chinese shares retreated from a two-month high as weak trade data from Japan underscored sliding global demand. BNP Paribas SA expects global output of aluminum to exceed demand by 1 million...
Aluminium prices fell 0.35 per cent to INR 99.60 per kg in futures trading today, tracking weak cues from global markets. Subdued demand in the domestic spot markets also weighed on the metal prices. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in November shed 35 paise, or 0.35 per cent, to INR 99.60 per kg in business turnover of 69 lots. Similarly, the metal for delivery in current month contracts traded lower by 30 paise, or 0.31 per cent, to INR 97.85 per kg in 338 lots. Market analysts said the weakness in aluminium at futures trade was mostly in tune with a downtrend in select base metals at the London Metal Exchange (LME) on concern that demand was weakening in China, the biggest consumer. The light metal used in everything from aircraft to window frames dropped 0.5 per...
Norway's Norsk Hydro, one of the world's largest makers of aluminium, does not expect the price of the metal to rebound in the short term, Chief Executive Svein Richard Brandtzaeg told Reuters on Wednesday. "When you evaluate the development in the market I think one of the most important factors in all commodities markets is the supply-demand balance. And as we now have a one million tonnes surplus in the world, we are not expecting short-terms improvements in prices," Brandtzaeg said. "I think we will still face challenging markets in the coming quarter, but at the same time we should not forget that aluminium is the fastest-growing metal in the world. The world will need much more aluminium than what we see today," he added.
Aluminum dropped to the lowest in almost eight weeks as other industrial metals retreated amid mounting concerns about demand in China, the world’s biggest raw-materials consumer. China Electricity Council cut its estimate on power-consumption growth this year after third-quarter usage failed to meet expectations, the Shanghai Securities News reported Tuesday. A looming bond default by Sinosteel Co., a Chinese state-owned steel trader, is highlighting the nation’s worsening corporate finances as an economic slowdown deepens. The country reported Monday the slowest quarterly growth since 2009, while its industrial output last month climbed less than the gain in August and the market consensus. “It certainly paints a picture of weaker demand,” Mike Dragosits, a senior commodity strategist...
China's primary aluminum surplus will fall in 2016 as some higher-cost smelters shut down, though new additions of lower-cost capacity will result in growing production and capacity, CRU Group's aluminum manager Paul Williams said on Tuesday. China will produce 1.8 million more tonnes of aluminum than it will consume in 2016, down from a surplus of 2.4 million tonnes in 2015, Williams said in a presentation at the Aluminum Association's annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.
Hydro has entered into a binding agreement to sell its aluminium rolling mill in Cisterna di Latina, Italy, to Rolling Mills International GmbH. Hydro's rolling mill in Cisterna di Latina produces aluminium rolled products, mainly standard strip and sheet, as well as plain foil. Through the agreement, Rolling Mills International GmbH will acquire 100 percent of the shares in Hydro Aluminium Slim S.p.A. Rolling Mills International GmbH is controlled by Quantum Capital Partners AG, a Munich-based investment company. The transaction is expected to close by end 2015. Hydro Aluminium Slim S.p.A has around 430 employees and a production capacity of around 92,000 metric tonnes rolled products per year. The plant was established in 1964, and Hydro took over the plant in 2002 as part of the...
Vedanta has described recent media speculation about senior management changes as completely baseless. It says that Tom Albanese will continue to drive the Vedanta business and serve as the group CEO. Cynthia Carroll, who joined the group in September this year, will advise the chairman's office on matters of strategic importance to the company. Metal stocks decline from a two-month high Indian stocks declined after a three-day rally pushed the benchmark gauge to a two-month high. Metalmakers were among the worst performers. Vedanta Ltd. plunged the most in two months as the company refuted a report that Chief Executive Officer Tom Albanese would stand down. Hindalco Industries Ltd tumbled at least 2.7 percent, while Coal India Ltd., the world’s top producer of the fuel, fell for a third...
State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) Minister Rini Soemarno is set to encourage state-owned aluminum maker PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) and state-owned diversified miner PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) to purchase shares as part of PT Freeport Indonesia's upcoming share divestment. “The ministry is currently conducting detailed calculations and analysis to see how Inalum should join in Freeport’s share divestment," said Rini in Jakarta on Monday as quoted by Antara news agency. According to Rini, the BUMNs were financially ready to increase the government's shares in Freeport thanks to the full support of state-owned banks such as Bank Mandiri, BRI and BNI. "We feel that Inalum should join in since it doesn’t yet own any mines and thus can hopefully serve as an effective Freeport...
Saudi Arabian Mining Co (Ma'aden), the Gulf's largest miner, posted an 83.5 percent fall in third-quarter net profit on lower prices for its products. Ma'aden made a net profit of 79.9 million riyals ($21.3 million) in the three months to September 30, versus 485.4 million riyals in the corresponding period of 2014, it said in a bourse statement on Sunday, October 18. Two analysts had forecast a quarterly profit of 209 million and 265 million riyals respectively. Ma'aden, which operates in gold, aluminium and phosphates, is a key pillar in Saudi Arabia's plan to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons. It said earnings had suffered from a fall in average prices for all of its products, and a fall in the volume of ammonia sales. Aluminium prices have come under pressure from a global...
Brazil’s Federal and State Public Attorneys in Pará and the State Public Defender has requested that the Brazilian federal court halt activities at the Vila do Conde port to clean up after a ship, carrying cattle, capsized in the port on October 6. Hydro’s operations at the nearby Albras and Alunorte plants are so far unaffected. The capsizing happened at one of several quays at Vila do Conde, which is Pará’s biggest port and also the location of the quay that Hydro uses to load and unload finished goods and certain raw materials for Alunorte and Albras. Any possible future closure of the port would not immediately impact Hydro’s operations, however, a longer-term closure could eventually impact operations. Hydro is following the situation closely and is actively assisting authorities in...
LME aluminium will be vulnerable to losses this week on negative news from China, SMM says. Bearish sentiment is strong in China. The US dollar index found strong support near 94. LME aluminium has lost support at all moving averages. All these factors will push LME aluminium down below $1,550 per million tonne. SHFE 1512 aluminium will range 11,000-11,200 yuan per tonne, dragged by lower production costs. Spot discounts in China will widen to 100 yuan per tonne due to high inventories. According to the analysts, LME aluminium may break a support at $1,563 per tonne. It fall to the next support at $1,552, as indicated by a Fibonacci projection analysis. The support is provided by the 14.6 percent Fibonacci projection level of an upward wave C, the third wave of a three-wave cycle from the...
Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (INALUM) has allocated up to US$2.5 billion to finance a number of projects in order to help achieve a target of producing 500,000 tons of aluminum by 2020. Among the projects are a new 200,000 ton capacity aluminum smelter and a steam-fueled power plant (PLTU) as well as the expansion of Inalum’s designated port at Kuala Tanjung in North Sumatra. Inalum president director Winardi Sunoto said that in order to accomplish the production target, Inalum would need a minimum of 1 million tons of raw aluminum material to process. Currently, the state-owned aluminum maker's top production capacity is at 250,000 tons. “With our expansions and our projects, we expect to be able to double our production by 2020,” Winardi said on Thursday. Regarding the projects, Winardi...
Workers at Alcoa's Intalco Works aluminum smelter voted to accept the company's final contract offer, staving off a second labor dispute at a U.S. smelter this year as prices tumble below production costs. "The Contract was accepted," The international Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers said on its website. Contract negotiations began on Oct. 1 between Alcoa and the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers Local 2379, which represents 500 of the 560 workers at the 230,000 tonne-per-year smelter in Ferndale, Washington. The vote prevented any industrial action at the plant, as aluminum prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) languish near 6-year lows and after the Midwest premium AL-PREM paid on top of futures for physical delivery fell an unprecedented 66...
LME aluminium looks neutral in a range of $1,577-$1,599 per tonne, and an escape will point a direction. The range is formed by the 23.6 percent and the 38.2 percent Fibonacci projection levels of an upward wave C, the third wave of a three-wave cycle from the August 24 low of $1,506. A break above $1,599 could lead to a gain to $1,616, the 50 percent level, while a break below $1,577 could cause a loss to the range of $1,552-$1,563, formed by the 7 percent and the 14.6 percent levels.
Aluminium prices were up by 0.15% to INR 101.60 per kg in futures trade on October 15 as speculators enlarged positions even as metal weakened overseas. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in October rose 15 paise, or 0.15%, to INR 101.60 per kg, in a business turnover of 406 lots. The metal for delivery in November traded higher by 10 paise, or 0.10%, to INR 103.15 per kg in eight lots. Analysts said the rise in aluminium prices at futures trade was mostly attributed to a firming trend at the spot markets on the back of rising industrial demand but metals weakness overseas, limited the gains.
LME aluminum hovered around USD 1,595/mt after opening at USD 1,593.5/mt on Thursday, October 15. But LME aluminum fell to USD 1,564/mt later as the US dollar index rose while gold and crude oil prices dropped. Finally, the light metal ended down USD 16/mt or 1% at USD 1,579/mt. Trading volumes were up 4,324 lots to 13,158 lots, and positions were up 7,584 to 834,000. On Thursday night, SHFE 1512 aluminum opened lower at RMB 11,250/mt due to falling LME aluminum and other base metals. The most active contract should remain weak between RMB 11,200-11,300/mt on Friday on risk aversion before the weekend. In China’s spot market, sellers will rush to sell, and spot discounts will widen to RMB 80-40/mt over SHFE 1511 aluminum contract.
Mecfor Inc. announced the acquisition of the intellectual property of the Brochot SA, France. Until recently, Brochot specialized in the design and manufacturing of equipment for various metal industries, in particular primary aluminium smelters worldwide. Following the acquisition process that began in February, the order for the transfer of intangible assets to Mecfor Inc. was handed down on June 2nd by the Bobigny commercial court in France. Mecfor Inc. is taking control effective immediately and will be in a position to supply equipment, technical support, replacement parts, and service for Brochot products worldwide in accordance with Mecfor’s high quality standards. Highlights: • The intellectual property acquired includes all models, technologies, designs, technical specifications,...
