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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UC RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, announced its operating results for the second quarter 2015. Key highlights: Total aluminium output amounted to 908 thousand tonnes (+0.8% QoQ and +1.1% YoY in 2Q15). The company maintains production discipline in accordance with the previously provided guidance. Sales volumes in 2Q15 amounted to 880 thousand tonnes (-5.1 % QoQ). Decrease in sales volumes in 2Q15 resulted from the higher than normal sales in 1Q15 when shipment delays caused by port weather conditions in October to November 2014 were compensated. The average realized price went down 7.7% QoQ to USD2,124/tonne in 2Q15 driven by lower London Metal Exchange (“LME”) cash price and declining physical premium across key export markets. RUSAL volume of alumina production remained...
Senior managers at Vedanta have been meeting every quarter over the past one year to discuss new ideas and exchange notes with chief executive Tom Albanese on the next possible big innovation at the natural resources conglomerate. The executives are members of the 'innovation task force' which has a clear brief to increase the number of patent filings and bring down the cost of production by using disruptive technology. The task force, chaired by Albanese and comprising of five other senior officials, is supported by a dedicated team working at each location to promote creative and innovative culture across the group, the company said. "Anil Agarwal is very focused on the importance of exciting young engineers thinking outside the box and be seen to be using disruptive technology,"...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C (Alba), one of the world’s leading aluminium smelters, underlined its long-standing commitment to employees’ safety with the launch of its new campaign titled “Together we can beat the heat” on Thursday, July 23, 2015. The campaign’s opening ceremony was attended by Alba’s CEO - Tim Murray, other Executive Management and Chairman of Alba Labour Union - Ali Al Binali along with other representatives of Alba Labour Union. An initiative by Alba’s Management, this campaign aims to improve safety awareness amongst the employees and minimise heat stress related injuries by focusing on four main steps: know the symptoms, drink water regularly, use the cooling cloth and take frequent breaks. This campaign will include several visits in the coming few weeks by members of...
"More aluminum smelters have joined recent wave of production cuts, bringing total idled aluminum capacity in China to 1.83 million tonnes since late last year, SMM’s latest statistics showed. Will aluminum prices draw support? Capacity expansions and slowing consumption will pressure aluminum prices for the rest of the year, SMM’s aluminum research team said. Another 1 million tonnes of aluminum capacity might be shut down later this year, SMM estimates. The lost production, however, will be more than offset by coming online of over 2 million tonnes of capacity in H2. Besides, aluminum consumption in H2 is expected to be weaker than in H1 since aluminum semis exports might not be as strong as in H1, another drag on the light metal. " Aluminium fell 0.14 per cent to Rs 104.80 per kg in...
Ending a years-long battle with public officials, former employees and utility companies, Century Aluminum announced at 8 p.m. July 27 it will permanently close its Ravenswood, WV plant, effective immediately. The Ravenswood smelter had been idled since February 2009, putting 650 employees out of work. The company eventually eliminated health insurance coverage for its retirees after the closure. “The decision to permanently close the Ravenswood plant is based on the inability to secure a competitive power contract for the smelter, compounded by challenging aluminum market conditions largely driven by increased exports of aluminum from China,” Century’s statement reads. “As a result, the economics of restarting and operating the facility are unfavorable.” WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued a...
The Saudi Arabian Mining Company, Ma'aden, which owns the largest and most efficient vertically integrated aluminium complex in the world, is hosting the 19th International Arab Aluminium Conference, ARABAL in November 2015. Featuring international participation, the conference is scheduled to take place from 15-17 November 2015 at the Dhahran International Exhibitions Center in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While the conference will focus on" the integration of the upstream and downstream aluminium industry across the GCC", it will also discuss topics related to the future of the global aluminium industry, promoting cooperation between producers and consumers, in order to achieve the common objectives of the participants in this gathering and the aluminium industry...
With domestic and global market for metal witnessing sluggishness, National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), a Navaratna central public sector unit, is looking at exploring virgin markets for its products on foreign soil, besides attempting to increase its footprint in mining sector. “It is difficult period for ferrous and non-ferrous industries. As high as 60 per cent of these industries have reported loss worldwide. Despite prevailing unfavourable conditions, NALCO has been maintaining profitability. We need to tide over the situation by way of reaching out to new and virgin markets,” said T. K. Chand, who took as the full-time Chairman and Managing Director of NALCO, here on Monday. “The domestic aluminium market appears to be saturated. Expanding market network involves high cost....
Vedanta Ltd has said it stands by the share swap ratio, proposed as part of the plan to merge Cairn India Ltd with itself, despite a near 30% fall in the share of Vedanta since the merger was announced last month. “Swap ratio is not only based on the market prices of the shares but it also take into consideration various other factors such as intrinsic value of the companies taking into account the long term assessment of the business. Nothing has changed on those factors post announcement for valuers to change their report,” said Tom Albanese, chief executive officer of Vedanta, in an emailed reply to Mint. Since the announcement of the proposed merger on 14 June, Vedanta shares have fallen 27% due to concerns over its aluminium business. Cairn shares have done relatively better and...
Emirates Global Aluminium, the world’s fourth-largest maker of the metal, reported a 75 per cent rise in net income last year amid rising aluminium prices and cost cuts. EGA, created by the merger of Dubai Aluminium and Emirates Aluminium, did not specify its net income for last year or 2013. It said, however, that gross revenue rose 30 per cent to US$5.4 billion last year, without giving a corresponding figure for 2013. “Sustained focus on reducing costs resulted in a drop in controllable costs,” said the company, which did not reply to a request for more details. The price of the metal last year rose 2.9 per cent. EGA, which has an annual production capacity of 2.4 million tonnes, said last month that it had cut 250 jobs, or 4 per cent of its workforce, as a result of the merger of its...
UC RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, announces the appointment of Bob Katsiouleris as Director of European Sales. Bob Katsiouleris will join RUSAL on 1st August 2015 following a successful period as Senior Vice President for Marketing, Sourcing and Sales at Nyrstar, where he was accountable for the company’s global commercial activities and supply chain management. At RUSAL, he will be responsible for leading and developing the Company’s European sales portfolio, reporting to Steve Hodgson, RUSAL’s Sales & Marketing Director. Bob will replace Ulli Schridde, who has successfully lead the company’s sales activities in Europe over the last five years. ‘Europe has been a cornerstone market for RUSAL over many years, driven by a number of deep relationships across all consuming...
LME aluminium is headed for further decline. It will fall to $ 1,620-1,660 per tonne next week, foresees Shanghai Metals Market. Given the negative technical indicators and strong bearishness in commodity market there is no possibility that the metal will rebound in the short term. But the downside space will be limited since it is already in oversold territory. SHFE 1510 aluminum contract should drop to 12,150-12,350 yuan per tonne, due to pessimism over aluminum consumption in China and growing expectations for interest rate in the US. In China’s spot market, moth-end cash crunch and weak demand in summer will leave spot discounts high at 90-130 yuan per tonne over SHFE 1508 contract.
Aluminium producers in India seem to be worried with the slump in metal’s price. The aluminum arm of India’s Vendanta Ltd is just about scrambling to keep its business viable. Underutilized capacity is already adding to their cost; sources say any further fall in the metal prices would likely force the company to scale down its production. Meanwhile, with smelters becoming economically unviable, the company is seeking access to other raw materials like power, bauxite and coal. Last week, the Aluminium Association of India (of which Vedanta, Hindalco and others are part of) met the Mining Secretary, as well as Chairman of Excise and Customs seeking import duty hike of 10 percent from current 5 percent. The Association cited that imports have surged to a whopping 159 percent between FY11...
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited director (Commercial) TK Chand is all set to take charge as the new chairman-cum-managing director of National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) on July 27. The Department of Personnel in the Union government issued the appointment order to this effect Tuesday evening. Chand who began his career as a management trainee at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in 1983, went on to become the director (commercial) in September 2010. He played a key role in marketing various products of the Steel Plant and spread its operations abroad by opening the company’s international marketing office in Colombo. He was also instrumental in increasing the RINL sales in the domestic market. He also worked as the Vizag zonal chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry and also headed...
BHP Billiton owned South32 anticipates declaring a dividend at the end of next year.This was revealed in the company’s third quarterly report, which it issued to shareholders yesterday. In the statement, South32 notes it has hit four annual production records including saleable alumina at Brazil Aluminium, coal at Illawarra, alloy at Australia Manganese and ore at SA Manganese. It also experienced a “substantial” increase in annual exports from SA Energy Coal, although aluminium production at Hillside and Mozal were “broadly unchanged” as efficiency gains offset a “significant” increase in load-shedding. CEO Graham Kerr says: “We have the right balance sheet for the times and intend to distribute a minimum 40% of underlying earnings to our shareholders from next year.” Kerr adds the...
Noranda Aluminum Holding Co has delayed efforts to ramp up production at its New Madrid, Missouri, smelter due to a sharp decline in aluminum prices, said President and CEO Kip Smith, as the company's quarterly losses widened. The company had previously expected the 253,000 tonne-per-year smelter to reach full capacity by the third quarter. It is currently operating at about 85 percent of capacity, down from 90 percent in May, Smith said on a conference call to discuss the company's second-quarter earnings. "The economics of ramping up production changed," Smith said, noting that the company would focus on achieving "operating stability" and "prudently" increasing production at the smelter through the fourth quarter of 2015. The company announced a loss of 25 cents a share for the second...
Industrial metals from copper to zinc fell again on Wednesday, buffeted by a strengthening US dollar and nagging concerns about China. Aluminium, a lightweight metal used in everything from aeroplane bodies to drinks cans, was among the fallers. It dropped to a fresh six-year low after the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said China would deal with excess capacity in its aluminium industry by exporting it to the rest of the world. On Wednesday, aluminium for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange hit $1,651 a tonne before recovering to end $4 lower at $1,658. Although Chinese aluminium consumption is forecast to grow by more than 9 per cent, this output is growing at a faster pace, according to Alcoa, one of the world’s biggest producers. Data from China’s...
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 five months of the year. As per the report, the market turned into a deficit of 261,000 tons when matched with the deficit of 723,000 reported during entire year 2014. The production of primary aluminum was up by 3,288 kt during the four-month period from January to May this year. The total reported stock of metal has declined further by 32000 tonnes during the month of May. The stocks at the end of the initial five-month period stood at 4,697 kt. 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 Tokyo exchanges totaled 4,033 kt at the end of...
Aluminium Powder Company (Alpoco), Holyhead has been reported to be making around 10 redundancies. This led to fears of more than a quarter of workforce reduction in its Anglesey aluminium plant. The GMB union said it was dealing with a redundancy issue at the company. Holyhead mayor JV Owen said any loss of jobs was a massive blow to the town of Holyhead. He added: "I would be happy to meet the company to discuss if the council can assist in any way to help secure jobs." Alpoco is among the world’s largest manufacturers of aluminium powders and granules. They are exported around the globe and used in pastes, pigments, chemicals, metallurgy, refractory, propulsion, pyrotechnics, spray deposition and powder metallurgy. Last month an explosion at the plant caused the A55 to be closed for a...
