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...
Grow with
AL Circle
Aluminum prices in China’s spot market will draw support from restocking activity before the upcoming three-day holiday, Shanghai Metals Market foresees. Spot aluminum should trade at discounts of 50-90 yuan per tonne over SHFE 1509 aluminum contract. SHFE 1511 aluminum might continue testing resistance at the 10-day moving average, namely 11,950 yuan per tonne. LME aluminum should hover around $ 1,550 per tonne if it fails to break through the 20-day moving average. China has set September 3 as a public holiday in celebration of Victory against Japanese Aggression.
Local furnace and industrial services company Dickinson Group last month delivered its new MegaVac cyclone loader to resources company South 32, where the machine will be used for a large basement cleaning project for the company’s Mozal aluminium smelter, in Mozambique. Dickinson Group CEO Trevor Dickinson tells, the company acquired the MegaVac from industrial cleaning equipment manufac- turer KOKS Group, in the Netherlands, earlier this year. KOKS’ MegaVac cyclone loader is a self-supporting vacuum, storage and bag-metering unit and will be used in South 32’s smelter for the recovery of 90 t/d of bath material. The unit, which has a large filter surface area of 40 m2, consists of a vacuum system and a silo. The bath material is sucked into the silo within a closed system and,...
Following the recent announcement by Century Aluminum of its plans to idle its aluminum smelter in Hawesville in October and lay off most of the plant's 565 employees, Brian Wright, president and CEO of the Owensboro Riverport Authority clarified the port's board that the acres of aluminum ingots stored on the property is not Century aluminum. More important, Wright said no correlation exists between Riverport's aluminum business and Century's situation in Hawesville, and the riverport's level of aluminum storage and handling is not expected to be affected by the production of aluminum or the lack of it by Century.
Alcoa yesterday announced $225,000 in grants to its long term community partners in Anglesea to help them transition to a future without Alcoa. Outgoing President Alcoa Refining and Managing Director, Alcoa of Australia, Mr Alan Cransberg, announced the grants to 14 local Anglesea organisations at a function held to thank community partners for their support and partnership. Mr Cransberg said the grants will help underline Alcoa’s proud 46 year history in Anglesea. “We have created some tremendous partnerships in the Anglesea community over nearly 50 years and we are very proud that our community partners have enabled us to live out our values in the community,” Mr Cransberg said. “Looking back across the years we are delighted with the contribution our employees and the company has made...
China is trying to push its two biggest aluminum businesses together as part of a planned shake-up of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), industry sources said, a move that would create the world's largest aluminum maker. Power company State Power Investment Corp (SPI) is in talks to hive off its aluminum assets to Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco), allowing SPI to focus on power construction and generation, three industry sources told Reuters. The consolidation is shaping up as a test of Beijing's ambitions to restructure its vast but underperforming state-owned sector, particularly at a time of slowing economic growth. If successful it would be a fillip for reform, but slow progress in what is seen as a relatively simple tie-up underscores the problems China faces in more challenging SOE...
Aluminium maker Hindalco Industries seeks its shareholders' approval to raise up to INR 6,000 crore through issuance of non convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement basis. "Consent is sought to offer or invite subscription to non convertible debentures up to an amount not exceeding INR 6,000 crore on private placement basis from time to time until September 15, 2016," Hindalco said in a BSE filing. Hindalco said its Board will consider raising funds in one or more series/ tranches. The company's AGM will be held on September 16. Shares of Hindalco were trading at INR 80.15, down 0.68 per cent, on the BSE in the morning trade.
LME aluminium is expected to fall towards a support at $1,504 per tonne, as it may have completed a bounce caused by this level. The support is provided by the 200 percent Fibonacci projection level of a downward wave C, which developed from the July 15 high of $1,729.50. This wave has been travelling within a falling channel, and the lower channel suggests a target at $1,487, the 214.6 percent level. A further gain from the current level may be limited to $1,560, the 150 percent level, around which, the upper channel line has established a resistance as well.
United States' domestic primary aluminium production in June 2015 was 133,000 metric tons, according to latest data released by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The average daily production was 4,450 tons, 3% less than the daily production during the preceding month and 4% less than that in June 2014. Primary aluminium production during the first half of 2015 was 5% less than that of the same period in 2014. Total aluminium recovered from scrap in June 2015 was 308,000 tons, 8% more than that recovered in May and slightly more than that in June 2014. Of this, 174,000 tons of aluminium was recovered from new scrap, 13% more than the amount during the preceding month and 6% more than the amount recovered in June 2014. The amount of aluminium recovered from old scrap was 134,000 tons, slightly...
China’s aluminum market is in surplus by approximately 5.5 million tonnes at present, and this situation will only get worse in H1 2015 as more capacity come on stream. About 1.8 million-tpy aluminum capacity is expected to enter into service in the second half of the year. New aluminum capacity concentrates in west China, where over 2 million tonnes capacity was newly built in H1 2015 alone. West China contributes to about 60% of the country’s aluminum production, and local operating rate is as high as over 90%. Most smelters there have captive power plants and enjoy lower power tariffs, allowing their production costs to stay low at 8,000-9,000 yuan per tonne. High-cost smelters in other parts of the country have cut or ceased production against falling aluminum prices. However, the...
Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (Chalco) posted a first-half net profit of 27.6 million yuan ($4.31 million), helped by lower production costs and rising sale prices of alumina products. Chalco swung to a net profit in the first quarter of this year after having posted a record loss in 2014 that was partly due to huge writedowns. The first-half profit compared with a net loss of 4.12 billion yuan in the six months through June 2014. The company, China's top integrated aluminium group, sells its product mainly in the domestic market. The front-month aluminium contract in Shanghai fell about 4 percent in the first half of this year as overcapacity weighed on prices amid the slow economic growth in China. The contract price, typically reflects domestic demand for spot primary aluminium, has...
Aditya Birla Group-promoted Hindalco Industries has said it would attain its full capacity at its Mahan aluminium smelter in Madhya Pradesh soon. The investment project faced a few road-blocks earlier pertaining to coal procurement apart from protests from environmentalists, but went on stream in mid-2013. Hindalco said: "Its (Mahan aluminium smelter project) final production capacity will be 3.6 lakh tonnes of aluminium metal per year. Currently, the unit is producing close to 95% of this capacity and is ramping up towards its full capacity, which is expected to be hit soon." In May 2006, Hindalco had signed a deal with state government and had proposed a sector specific special economic zone (SEZ) to attract an investment of more than INR 20,000 crore of which it had proposed to invest...
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation announced today that it has effected a 1-for-7 reverse stock split of its common stock (the "reverse stock split") and a reduction in the number of authorized shares of its common stock from 200 million shares to 30 million shares (the "authorized share reduction"). The reverse stock split and authorized share reduction are addressed in an amendment to the company's amended and restated certificate of incorporation that was approved by the company's stockholders at a special meeting of stockholders held on August 24, 2015 and became effective on August 25, 2015. The company's stock will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis at the market open on August 26, 2015. The company's common stock will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under...
A stronger US dollar weighed on base metals overnight. LME aluminum fell to as low as USD 1,525/mt on Wednesday and continued meeting resistance at the 5-day moving average. Finally, the light metal ended down USD 24/mt or 1.54% at USD 1,532/mt. Trading volumes were down 3,244 lots to 13,175 lots, and positions were up 8,207 to 855,000. SHFE 1511 aluminum opened lower at RMB 11,810/mt on Wednesday night. The contract fell back after a brief touch at RMB 11,855/mt. SHFE 1511 aluminum should move at RMB 11,800-11,870/mt on Thursday. In China’s spot market, ample supply against poor demand will leave spot discounts at RMB 100-60/mt over SHFE 1509 aluminum contract.
Prices for aluminum and other base metals drifted higher overnight after the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) unexpectedly cut interest rate and reserve requirement ratio (RRR) on Tuesday. The rally in SHFE aluminum will be fleeting, Shanghai Metals Market understands. Three major US stock markets dived before the closing bell rang overnight after opening higher. Meanwhile, China’s A-share market also moved lower after a high opening today. These suggest that market sentiment remains fragile, which will act as a drag on base metals, including aluminum. Besides, poor market fundamentals will be a great concern. Production cuts by Chinese aluminum smelters are far from enough to reverse supply glut, given massive commissioning of new capacity. SHFE 1510 aluminum, the most active one, dipped to...
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), owner of one of the world's largest smelters of the lightweight metal, is seeking a credit rating ahead of talks with banks about fundraising for its $3.5 billion Line 6 expansion, a company official to the media. Alba in June secured government approval for a larger-than-planned expansion of its proposed sixth "potline", or facility in which aluminium is made, which would boost annual output by 514,000 tonnes to 1.45 million tonnes. The company was considering a range of options to fund the scheme, including loans, export credit agency finance and a capital markets transaction. "We will be looking at the funding mix in conversations with our financial advisers, but no decisions have yet been made on how this important project for Alba and Bahrain will be...
UC RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, announced its results for the three and six months ended 30 June 2015. Key highlights • A record low London Metal Exchange (“LME”) aluminium price driven by growing exports from China and oversupply in different regions exerted further pressure on the aluminium industry throughout the first half of 2015. The average LME aluminium price decreased by 10.1% from USD1,968 per tonne for the last quarter of 2014 to USD1,769 per tonne for the three months ended 30 June 2015. • A significant drop in premiums over the LME aluminium price in different geographical regions resulted in a decrease in average realised price by 7.8% to USD2,119 per tonne for the second quarter of 2015 from USD2,299 per tonne for the preceding quarter of the year. • Revenue...
The Aluminum Association, in cooperation with the Aluminum Association of Canada, reported primary aluminum production in North America (U.S. and Canada) was at an annual rate of 4,404,055 tonnes during July 2015, down 41,098 tpy (-0.9%) from the previous month's rate of 4,445,153 tonnes. The annual rate of production has decreased in four of the last five months. Compared to a year ago, the annual rate of production was 2.5 percent below the July 2014 rate of 4,519,242 tonnes. Through July 2015, actual production totaled 2,604,941 tonnes, 3.0 percent below the 2014 total of 2,686,090. Producer inventories totaled 2,977.3 million pounds in June, down 1.5 percent from the May 2015 level of 3,023 million pounds. Compared to a year ago, producer inventories were up 6.7 percent.
Century Aluminum of Kentucky, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Century Aluminum Company, today issued a notice to employees at its Hawesville, Kentucky aluminum smelter of its intent to curtail its plant operations beginning on October 24, 2015 unless the current pricing environment substantially changes. The announcement was made pursuant to the federal Working Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). "We regret the need to issue this notice at this time and fully understand the impact it will have on our employees, in our community and with our customers," commented Michael Bless, President and CEO. "The simple fact is that the recent significant decline in the aluminum price is being driven by unfair trade behavior over which our industry has no control. Chinese overcapacity and...
