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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Japan’s spot aluminum import premiums were steady at $90-$100/mt plus London Metal Exchange (LME) cash CIF Japan Monday, unchanged since July 28, despite falling premiums in Europe. Spot import trade was absent in Japan despite the strong yen, as the fourth quarter contract negotiations are expected to start this week. Japanese buyers and overseas seller sources reported no deals, offers or bids over August 20-24. In Europe, spot premiums fell last week reacting to a tighter LME contango spread and global supply overhang and the seasonal demand slowdown. Assessment for duty-paid European premiums fell to $135-$150/mt plus LME cash in-warehouse Rotterdam last Friday from $150-$165/mt. Sumitomo Corp said it forecasts $100/mt contract premiums for Q4, in its note to customers. Platts’ Q3...
International Aluminium Institute (IAI) that measures the production trend in the world has come out with its latest numbers. IAI has mentioned that the trend of aluminium production again moved to higher side. In July 2015, world aluminium markets moved very close to the record production numbers. Data estimates from International Aluminium Institute (IAI) showed that the total primary aluminium production reached 4.92 million tonnes in July 2015 compared to 4.90 million tonnes in June 2015. This marks an increase of 0.41% on a monthly basis. The production of aluminium in July 2014 was 4.44 million. This means that aluminium production increased by 10.81% on a yearly basis. China remained the major contributor to the production along with the GCC nations and it did impact the increase...
Aluminium settled down -0.34% at 101.10 lost more ground on Monday with both markets dropping to the lowest levels since 2009 on concerns over slowing economic growth in China, the world's top consumer of industrial metals. Aluminium gave up 1.5 percent to $1,524.50 a tonne, its weakest since June 2009. Also activity in China's factory sector shrank at its fastest pace in almost 6-1/2 years in August as both domestic and export demand dwindled. Asian stocks slumped to 3-year lows as a slide in Chinese equities gathered pace, hastening an exodus from riskier assets as fears of a China-led global economic slowdown churned through markets. Also Loss-making aluminium smelters in China could idle another two to three million tonnes of annual capacity in coming months as metal prices trough at...
Aluminium may end its current bounce at London Metal Exchange (LME) around a resistance at $1,547 per tonne, as suggested by a Fibonacci projection analysis. The resistance is provided by the 161.8 percent Fibonacci projection level of a downward wave C, which developed from the July 15 high of 1,729.50. This wave does not seem to have completed, as it may eventually travel to $1,460, the 238.2 percent level. A break above $1,547 could lead to a limited gain to $1,560, the 150 percent level, while a drop below $1,530, the 176.4 percent level, could signal the completion of the bounce.
Gulf Industry Fair 2016 (GIF) will be unveiling a series of events and initiatives at the Fair to enhance its reputation for being the GCC's exclusive annual industrial promotion showcase championing economic diversification and industrialization across the GCC. The 2016 annual industrial event is scheduled to take place from February 9th - 11th 2016. Gulf Industry Fair provides a unique one-stop shop approach for the elements of industrial development across the Aluminium, Energy and Environmental Protection, Industrial Metals, Industrial Processes and Manufacturing, Logistics and Industrial Facilities, Industrial Security and Safety, Ports and Maritime Industries as well as Training for Industry . "The 2016 Exhibition takes place at a watershed period for the economies of the region "...
South32 Ltd., the miner spun out of BHP Billiton Ltd. in May, said full-year earnings rose 41 percent helped by its aluminum and alumina operations. Underlying earnings were $575 million in the year ended June 30, compared to a proforma $407 million a year earlier, the Perth-based miner said in a statement. South32, the world’s biggest manganese ore producer, had record output of alumina in Brazil, metallurgical coal and manganese alloy in Australia and manganese ore from South Africa. A cost-cutting program also boosted earnings, it said. The company will seek to reduce costs by at least $350 million a year for the next three years, and is continuing a review of South Africa manganese operations that may lead to a further reduction in planned production, it said. The producer declined...
Loss-making aluminium smelters in China could idle another two to three million tonnes of annual capacity in coming months as metal prices trough at 6 1/2 year-lows. The closures would trim a production surplus in the world's top aluminium producer and consumer, as well as support domestic prices, although any price gains may prompt some firms to revise their plans, they said. Chinese spot aluminium prices have held around six-year lows since last month, falling to 11,820 yuan ($1,848) a tonne on Monday, the lowest since February 2009. Capacity cuts by a group of large smelters so far this year would extend to about 2.4 million tonnes in coming months, the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association said in a statement on Monday, after meeting late last week with smelters. China...
Japanese trading firm Sumitomo Corp has cut its forecast of London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium prices to $1,800 in the October-December quarter from its January estimate of $2,000 due to rising exports from China and a stronger U.S. dollar. It also lowered its estimate of Japan's aluminium premiums, the surcharge for obtaining physical metal, for the quarter to $100 per tonne from its earlier prediction of $425. Japan is Asia's top aluminium importer and the premiums for primary metal shipments PREM-ALUM-JP it agrees to pay each quarter over the LME cash price set the benchmark for the region. "We had thought a combined price of the LME cash level and the premium would not slide much below $2,000. But it has fallen much more than anticipated," told Shingi Yamagiwa, manager of...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), one of the world’s leading aluminium smelters, recently marked the 10th year of operations of its Reduction Line 5. Inaugurated by His Royal Highness, The Prime Minister, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa in 2005, Line 5 was a historic milestone in the Middle East’s aluminium industry. It expanded Alba’s annual aluminium production by adding 307,000 metric tonnes per annum (mtpa), making it the largest aluminium smelter in the world outside of Eastern Europe with a total output of 827,000 mtpa. Line 5 set the world record for the fastest and safest start-up of an aluminium reduction line of 77 days without a single loss time injury (LTI). At 1.2 km, Line 5 was also the world's longest reduction lines back then, with 336 pots using one of the most...
LME aluminum opened at USD 1,566.5/mt last Friday. The light metal climbed to USD 1,581/mt, but immediately moved all the way down to a six-year low of USD 1,541/mt. Finally, LME aluminum ended down USD 23/mt at USD 1,545/mt. Trading volumes were up 2,403 lots to 12,354 lots, and positions were down 3,181 to 845,000. European and US stock market fell last Friday. Investors fled from risky assets, causing LME aluminum and the US dollar index to fall together. LME aluminum opened at USD 1,543/mt on Monday, and met strong resistance at the 5-day moving average. SHFE 1510 aluminum should fall to RMB 11,900-11,990/mt on Monday as base metals market will be shadowed by bearish sentiment. In China’s spot market, consumption will remain poor, with spot discounts of RMB 110-70/mt expected over...
Last night Alcoa powered down the Anglesea Power Station for the final time, after 46 years of operation. At 8:48pm, long term employees joined Power Station supervisor Bryce Hutton to shut down the station’s boiler, which produces steam to drive the turbine and produce power. “We were planning to power down on Tuesday 25 August, but a mechanical failure in our coal delivery system brought that date forward,” Power Station Manager Warren Sharp said. “It was repairable, however it would have meant a high level of activity at a difficult time for our people, and after considering all factors it was decided to end power generation last night.” “There is no doubt that this is a very sad day. For 46 years this has been a very well run and well maintained facility. Its success as a reliable...
Huolingol, Inner Mongolia, has set an ambitious goal of expanding local aluminum capacity to 4 million-tpy by 2018 to support aluminum processing industry in the city. The local government aims at brining local aluminum capacity to 2 million tonnes this year, powered by cheap electricity thanks to abundant coal resources there. The city is on its way to building itself into China’s high-end aluminum semis production base.
Zhuzhou Smelter Group reported losses of 109 million yuan in the first half of 2015 due mainly to tumbling indium prices, which slumped some 43%, according to the company’s mid-year report. Indium selling prices fell 42.79% year-on-year, affecting the company’s indium output by 24.48% year-on-year. The company’s gross margins from precious metals dropped 4.3%, down 21.7 percentage points year-on-year. Zhuzhou Smelter’s profit fell as much as 1268%, compared to the profit of 9.37 million yuan in the same period last year. Its income from major businesses was 6.74 billion yuan, down 7.2% year-on-year. Gross margins from major businesses were 263 million yuan or 3.93%, down 90.82 million yuan or 0.98 percentage point year-on-year. Gross margins from zinc products were 6.75%, up 0.64...
The latest report published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) indicates that global primary aluminum market has recorded a deficit during the initial six months of the year. As per the report, the market turned into a deficit of 380,000 tons when matched with the deficit of 716,000 reported during entire year 2014. The production of primary aluminum was up by 4,084 kt during the six-month period from January to June this year. The total reported stock of metal has declined further by 148,000 tonnes during the month of June. The stocks at the end of the initial six-month period stood at 4,549 kt, which is sufficient to meet 33 days demand. It must be noted that the stock levels at the end of 2014 had stood at 5,020 kt. The combined stocks held in London, Shanghai, USA and...
With an almost 18% fall in aluminium prices in the past six months on the benchmark London Metal Exchange (LME), all four aluminium smelting units of Vedanta Ltd have slipped into operational losses. Abhijit Pati, chief executive officer of Vedanta Aluminium, said there are chances that the firm’s operating profit will slip into the red this quarter. The company has four aluminium smelting units—two at Jharsuguda in Odisha with an installed capacity of 500,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) and 1.1 million tpa, and two units at Korba in Chhattisgarh with an installed capacity of 245,000 tpa and 345,000 tpa. It is currently operating at a little less than 50% capacity utilization and there is a possibility of a further cut in production if LME prices keep falling. Vedanta Ltd, which has a...
LME aluminium may test a support at $1,547 per tonne, as suggested by a Fibonacci projection analysis and a falling channel. The support is provided by the 161.8 percent Fibonacci projection level of a downward wave C, which developed from the July 15 high of 1,729.50. From Aug. 13, this wave has been travelling in a small channel, the upper channel line of which provides a resistance around $1,560, the 150 percent level. The lower channel suggests a target at $1,530, the 176.4 percent level, which will be confirmed when the metal breaks $1,547.
South Port, New Zealand's southernmost commercial deep water port, has announced a record $7.74 million profit for the 2014-15 year and plans for a $4.25m freight centre servicing road and rail in Invercargill. The Bluff-based company said busy seasonal freight activity had produced a record cargo volume in the year and the highest after-tax profit result in the port operator's history. South Port chairman Rex Chapman said stronger bulk volumes drove overall cargo throughput to the new record level of 2.86 million tonnes while the company's warehousing, container handling and marine functions provided support to core activity. South Port chief executive Mark O'Connor said the lift was largely driven by fertiliser, stock food and dairy-related product while other cargo categories held up...
The London Metal Exchange (LME) confirmed plans to waive fees for its new aluminium premium and steel contracts from launch on November 23 to December 31, a move the exchange hopes will help boost volumes and liquidity. "During that period the Exchange will not charge any trading or clearing fees in respect of any trading in the Aluminium Premium Contracts," the LME said in a note. Trading and clearing fees for the aluminium premium contract range between 50 and 90 U.S. cents. The clearing fee for delivery is 35 cents. Fee incentives and the launch of the new contracts are subject to final regulatory approval from the Financial Conduct Authority and rule change consultations for the Exchange. The exchanges is also planning fee rebates and stipends to cover operational costs for market...
