The Aluminum Association launched “America Needs Aluminum,” a new public awareness and advocacy campaign highlighting aluminum’s essential role in the US economy and calling for policies that help America make, recycle and build more with this critical material. The campaign centers on a straightforward message: America needs aluminum - let’s make more of it here. It builds on the association’s broader “all-of-the-above” strategy for aluminum supply, which calls for expanding both recycled and primary aluminum production, strengthening domestic manufacturing, improving energy availability and aggressively confronting unfair trade. “Aluminum is essential to nearly every part of modern American life - from our cars, homes and packaging to the power grid, fighter jets and advanced...
At ALUMINIUM 2026, taking place in Düsseldorf, October 6-8, ABB will showcase technologies designed to help aluminium producers improve process control, product quality and production efficiency. Visitors will be able to step inside a cold rolling mill through an immersive virtual reality experience to explore integrated automation, electrification, digital and measurement technologies in action. The showcase comes as aluminium producers face the dual challenge of meeting growing demand while reducing the environmental impact of production. The increasing shift towards secondary aluminium is creating new opportunities to decarbonize the industry, while maintaining precise process control remains critical. ABB will highlight AL-EMS electromagnetic stirring technology and its metallurgical...
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The share price of South32, BHP Billiton's spin-off, is the best performer on the ASX on its second day of life as a listed entity. South32 contains a bunch of assets and commodity exposures BHP considered to be "non-core". These include aluminium and manganese, as well as coal and nickel exposures, leaving "The Big Australian" to concentrate on its four pillars of iron ore, copper, petroleum and coking coal (and potash as a potential fifth). Monday marked the first day of trading for South32 as a separate entity, and it was a lacklustre debut. The stock opened at A$2.13, rose as high as A$2.22 and closed at A$2.05. That puts its toward the bottom end of most analysts' valuation range. The slimmed-down BHP closed 0.8 per cent lower on Monday to A$30.13, meaning the combined value of the...
Tasmania's major industrials have won a full exemption from the Renewable Energy Target (RET) under a deal struck between the major parties over the scheme's future. The Federal Government and Labor agreed to lower the target, meaning 33,000 gigawatt hours of Australia's electricity will be from renewable sources by 2020, down from the previous target of 41,000GWh. Under the deal, trade-exposed industries such as aluminium production are fully exempt from the target. Bell Bay Aluminium, in the state's north, estimated the agreement would save the company $8-10 million a year in energy costs. It estimated the scheme had cost more than $48 million since being introduced in 2001. The company urged Federal Parliament to quickly pass legislation enacting the agreement. Tasmania's Minerals and...
The recent rally in the price of aluminium has lost momentum as Chinese exports of the lightweight metal continue to hit the market. Aluminum for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange has fallen 5.7 per cent since it almost reached $2,000 a tonne at the start of the month. On Friday it was trading at $1,857 a tonne, down $11. The market is struggling to digest record production in China, the world’s largest producer. Data released this week showed exports of aluminium, used in everything from drinks cans to motor cars, rose 40 per cent in the first four months of this year, hitting a new record in April. That is putting pressure on producers such as Russia’s Rusal and Alcoa, which are cutting capacity. “The major western producers will need to continue efforts to ensure they...
JW Aluminum Company announced on Friday that they have posted their 2015 Quarterly Report for the three months ending April 4,2015 on their secure investor website at 3.40 PM Eastern Time on the same day. There will be a conference call hosted by JW Aluminum’s management on Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 11:00 AM Eastern Time to discuss the first quarter results. This will be a closed conference and access will be limited to holders and beneficial owners of the JW Aluminum’s Senior Secured Notes due 2017. Qualified prospective investors and selected security analysts and market makers will also be welcomed at the conference. Information about how to participation in the conference will be posted on the secure investor website and can be accessed only by certified users via Intralinks.
The UAE ranked top among Gulf countries for aluminium supply to Japan in 2014 and also got the second position after Saudi Arabia for total trade with the Asian country. Japan’s import of aluminium from GCC countries surged by 44.77 per cent to $1.1 billion in 2014 compared to $756.88 million in the previous year. Most of the additional supply came from the UAE, from where imports grew by 41.37 per cent in 2014. The UAE was the fourth-largest supplier in the world with a share of 8.28 per cent of Japan’s total aluminium imports. The value of Japan’s bilateral trade with GCC countries contracted 3.82 per cent in 2014 to $164.76 billion, compared to $171.31 billion in 2013. The decline was mainly attributed to an estimated 4.28 per cent average fall in the price of crude oils that Japan...
Rio Tinto is making a fresh attempt to sell unwanted aluminium assets in a potential $1bn deal, the latest sign of global miners’ attempts to restructure in the face of a commodities downturn. The Anglo-Australian company has engaged Credit Suisse to find a buyer for its Pacific Aluminium business, a group of smelters in Australia and New Zealand, according to people aware of Rio’s plans. The move is part of trend among mining groups, which are cutting back on non-core assets. BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, is spinning off a collection of assets into a separate company called South32, which is due to start trading Monday. Rio has not created a separate spinout vehicle but has sold $4bn of assets in the past two years, chief executive Sam Walsh said this month. The...
Romanian aluminum producer Alro Slatina, part of international group Vimetco, posted an adjusted net profit of some EUR 5.17 million in the first quarter of 2015, compared to an adjusted loss of EUR 10 million in the same period of last year. The company’s turnover went up by 20.5%, in local currency, to the equivalent of EUR 134 million. The sales increase was mainly supported by the stronger dollar, as the average USD/RON exchange rate was about 20% higher in Q1 2015 compared to Q1 2014. Alro also increased its production of primary aluminum and processed aluminum, and the average aluminum price on the London Metal Exchange went up by 5% compared to Q1 2014, to an average of USD 1,800 per ton. The stronger dollar also had a less favorable effect on the company’s results mainly due to...
The United Steelworkers union has rejected a pay deal from Century Aluminum for workers at the fourth-largest aluminium smelter in the US, the local branch said on Tuesday, and a lockout is now set to go ahead. Unionised workers at the Century Aluminum smelter in Hawesville, Kentucky, had voted on Monday on the revised labour deal after management agreed to postpone a lockout of staff to Tuesday. The rejection of the deal, which would replace the contract that expired at end-March, was posted on the website of the Hawesville branch. Century, which is controlled by Glencore, said it is prepared for a lockout which will start on Tuesday morning and is expected to continue to operate at full production. The smelter has a capacity of 244 000 t/y. The vote "leaves us with no choice but to lock...
Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium company, predicts that China’s overproducing trend in aluminium may finally come to an end. China saw a boom in exports by 49% in the first quarter but because the price arbitrage has become a lot less attractive, the exports are likely to fall soon according experts like Rusal and commodities correspondent Henry Sanderson. The constant flow of aluminium from China has been a point of concern for aluminium producers across the world. China has been shipping out aluminium thinly veiled as semi-fabricated aluminium products and receiving tax rebate from the government while the products are remelted and used as primary aluminium outside the country. Rusal along with its results has also reported a steady fall in China’s semi-fabricated aluminium from...
Aluminium had been mostly ignored through much of the commodities boom in the first decade of the 2000s, thanks mainly to high supply coming from China, aluminum had been performing strongly this year, along with other metals like copper, zinc and lead. But since hitting a 12-month high on May 5 at $1,886 a ton, prices for the benchmark three-month aluminum futures have slipped 4.7% while other commodities have continued strengthening. The fall in prices is rattling aluminum producers such as Russia’s United Co. Rusal, which this week warned of a “new turn” in the global market for the metal. One factor troubling Rusal is the rising tide of Chinese aluminum exports. That could gather pace after China this month removed a 15% export tax on aluminum products.
Aluminum producers are expected to be under increasing pressure as the aluminum ‘all-in’ price (London Metal Exchange cash price + premium) has fallen over the last few months on the back of lower global premia, while the LME aluminum cash price has largely remained unchanged. LME cash price has traded in a tight $180/mt range for most of this year — practically unchanged from levels seen back in mid-October and mid-December. At the same time, the Platts European duty-paid aluminum premium assessment has come off around $350 since mid-November when it peaked at a record high of $500-510/mt. Platts assessed duty-paid aluminum at $150-160/mt plus LME cash, in-warehouse Rotterdam May 11. In theory, the lower all-in price should start to eat into smelter margins and see producers under...
Spot import demand for primary aluminum ingot in Vietnam has picked up in the last month or so, as exports of Chinese remeltable semi-finished products decreased, trader and producer sources said Wednesday, May 13. Spot deals have closed this month at $200-$230/mt plus London Metal Exchange cash, CIF main Vietnam port, said Japanese and South Korean traders. The deals were for lots ranging 100-1,000 mt, mostly for June delivery, said traders. One lot of less than 300 mt was confirmed to be Middle Eastern in origin. Sources attributed the increases in the Vietnamese spot demand to Chinese supplies of remeltable semi-finished products, used as ingot substitute, decreasing. “Fake aluminum in Vietnam is not as visible as before,” said a producer source. The spread between Shanghai Futures...
Many aluminum smelters in China are suffering losses, while aluminum processors make big money, a local source reported. Chalco, China’s top aluminum producer, swung into its largest-ever net loss 16.2 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) in 2014. Yunnan Aluminum Co., another large aluminum smelter, also suffered a loss of 467 million yuan ($76 million) last year. China Zhongwang Holdings, the country’s leading industrial aluminum extrusion manufacturer, reported a net profit of 2.48 billion yuan ($410 million) last year, up 16.5% from a year ago. Xingfa Aluminum Co., one of China’s oldest construction aluminum extrusion producers, also posted a net profit of 224 million yuan ($37 billion). The aluminum industry has been mired in severe overcapacity for years, leaving aluminum prices sluggish....
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), one of the world’s leading aluminium smelters, was a key sponsor and participant in CRU’s 20th World Aluminium Conference, which took place from May 11 to 13, 2015 at Dubai. Alba’s participation in this event demonstrated its support for global initiatives that help in boosting interactions between members of the aluminium industry. Moreover, Alba’s exhibition stand at the sidelines of CRU’s 20th World Aluminium Conference provided a platform to interact with potential trade partners during the event. Speaking about Alba’s participation in this Conference, Acting Chief Marketing Officer, Khalid Abdul Latif said: “CRU’s World Aluminium Conference plays a pivotal role in bringing together some of the leading decision makers from around the world, and...
United Co. Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer, said increasing Chinese exports may eliminate a market deficit of the metal this year. “Rusal doesn’t see the aluminum market in deficit this year after April,” Chief Executive Officer Vladislav Soloviev said to reporters on Wednesday, after the Moscow-based company reviewed its forecast. “There is a possibility that China will cover the whole deficit on the market this year, although we don’t see a metal surplus either.” The average price for the metal used in cars, airplanes and drink cans dropped in the first quarter from the preceding three months on concern over a supply glut this year. Rusal said on April 27 that it was keeping its forecast deficit, excluding China, at about 1 million metric tons as new supplies are slow to...
At the Merrill Lynch global metals, mining and steel conference, Barcelona, Spain, Rio Tinto CEO, Sam Welsh, expressed his desire to continue pushing for growth despite the challenging environment. The tough environment for “subdued pricing and economic uncertainty” a lot of tough decisions had to be taken including job cuts for many able people, says Walsh. Rio Tinto has invested $4.8 billion for the modernization of its Kitimat aluminium smelter in British Columbia increasing its production capacity by 48% to around 420,000 tons/year. The modernization also allow 80% of Rio’s smelters to be in the first quartile backed by long-life, low-cost hydropower. “Our aluminium division has been working hard on productivity and cost for a number of years, delivering some low-cost creep tonnes...
CSR's building products arm reported an 18 per cent rise in revenue to $1.2 billion and a 31 per cent rise in earnings before interest and tax to $121 million. The struggling Viridian glass division returned to profitability with EBIT of $3.1 million compared with last year's EBIT loss of $14.9 million. However it was CSR's aluminium division, which owns a stake in the Tomago aluminium smelter, that was the standout achiever. Revenue in aluminium rose 17 per cent to $533 million while EBIT soared 101 per cent to $104.3 million on the back of record premiums for delivery of physical aluminium in Asia. "The building products business is starting to see some volume growth and there is pricing tension in the market, but it was actually aluminium that shot the lights out," Credit Suisse...
State-owned Emirates Global Aluminium said on Tuesday its exports would fall to 77 per cent of its production by 2017 as a result of a rise in local demand. "There will be five new plants in Abu Dhabi," chief executive Abdulla Kalban told the CRU Aluminium conference in Dubai. He said the new plants would be located in the capital's Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad). Emirates Global Aluminium, which now exports around 88 per cent of its production, was formed by the merger last year of Abu Dhabi's Emirates Aluminium (Emal) and Dubai Aluminium (Dubal). It produces about 2.4 million tonnes of aluminium products per year. Kalban said last September that the company would boost output by only about 200,000 tonnes over the next six years. The firm, which also owns bauxite producer...
