Impact Minerals plans staged 4,000-tpa HPA production in US
A NewPro study supports a staged 2,000-to-4,000-tonne-per-year high-purity alumina plant on the US Gulf Coast, with a post-tax NPV of about USD373 million and a 42.3 per cent IRR. Impact Minerals is advancing plans for a modular high-purity alumina (HPA) plant in the US after an independent scoping...
Ireland withholds Aughinish Alumina meeting notes amid Russia export review
Ireland’s Department of Enterprise has withheld the release records of discussions between its secretary general and Aughinish Alumina management, citing “highly confidential information” shared by the company. The decision comes as scrutiny intensifies over the Limerick refinery’s alumina exports...
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Alumina producers’ shares climb world-wide as a result of Hydro’s production shut
Alumina producers, including South 32 and Alumina Limited, on Thursday, October 4, reportedly experienced a sharp rise in shares post Norsk Hydro’s announcement of production shut at the world’s biggest alumina refinery Alunorte. Shares in Alumina Ltd rose as much as 11 percent on Thursday, October...
India’s alumina import expected to rise 26% in CY 2018
According to a report by CARE Ratings, India’s aluminium production, which was at 3.39 million tonnes in 2017-18, is forecast to remain stable or grow a little to 3.42 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2018-19. The giants like National Aluminium Company (Nalco), Bharat Aluminium (Balco), a...
Hydro Alunorte announces full curtailment of its refinery and mine operations
As announced by a press release from Norsk Hydro dated October 3, it’s alumina refinery Alunorte in Brazil is preparing for full curtailment of its operation. The decision, according to the press release was taken as the bauxite residue deposit area 1 (DRS1) is almost in its full capacity, due to...
NALCO discloses new business plan to increase profit and turn the firm into a hardcore business organisation
NALCO CMD Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand disclosed a new business plan on Monday, October 1, 2018, to increase company’s 3-digit profit figure to 4-digits and 4-digit turnover to 5-digits. Under the new business plan, the company intends to put a complete focus on business excellence so as to turn into a...
Anrak Aluminium optimistic about starting operations at its alumina refinery after a High Court order
Anrak Aluminium Limited (AAL), a joint venture of Penna Group and Ras Al Khaimah is optimistic about starting operations of its 1.5 million tonne alumina refinery in Visakhapatnam in the next few months after Hyderabad High Court passing a judgement in favour of it. The refinery is lying...
Saudi Arabia alumina exports drop YoY on growing domestic consumption; India remains key importer
Saudi Arabian aluminium industry is growing immensely in last few years after the country decided to venture into a parallel non-oil economy. A joint venture between the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) and Alcoa Ma’aden Aluminium (MA), Ma’aden Aluminium is a significant contributor to the...
Aughinish Alumina guarantees €28 million financial package to EPA in the event of its closure
The US-sanctioned Russian parent company of Aughinish Alumina, one of the major industrial employers in the mid-west, has reportedly guaranteed a €28 million financial package to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in case of its closure. There are fears that the US sanctions may lead to...
Union says meeting with Alcoa again over strike at Australian aluminium project
The union at Alcoa’s aluminium operations in the state of Western Australia said it was meeting with the company again on Wednesday to try to resolve a strike that has lasted more than six weeks, after the firm last week revised an earlier offer. Unionised workers at two alumina refineries and...
Aughinish alumina refinery secure temporary reprieve from US government
The owners of the Aughinish Alumina refinery in West Limerick have reportedly secured a temporary reprieve over threat to alumina jobs from the Trump administration. The news arrived after the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) granted a three-week extension until November 12 on...
Jamaica’s alumina export volume to see a YoY growth in 2018 along with a sweeping rise in revenue
The existence of aluminium ore in Jamaica was known by scientists from the beginning of the 19th Century and by 1957, the country became the leading bauxite producer in the world. The production of alumina also increased, especially after the mid-1960s. By 1968, Alcan had brought the capacity of...
US bauxite import in second quarter 2018 up QoQ and YoY; Jamaica continues as top bauxite supplier
According to the latest USGS release on Bauxite and Alumina in the Second Quarter 2018 , imports of crude and dried bauxite by the U.S. in Q2 2018 were 917,000 tonnes, 41% more than the volume of 651,000 tonnes in the first quarter of 2018. On a YoY basis, import of bauxite is up 13% from the...
Workers at Alcoa's Western Australian refineries vote against new proposed agreement
Workers at Alcoa’s Western Australia have voted to reject a new workplace agreement and continue their strike, according to Reuters reports. The Australian Workers Union (AWU) today said 80 percent of workers had voted against company’s new workplace agreement as it offered zero job security....
LME aluminium falls after Alunorte signs agreements towards resuming operations at Brazil alumina refinery
The US dollar index fell below 95, against a basket of six major currencies. Base metals saw mixed trades. LME aluminium contract fell and closed the day’s trading at US$ 2030.5 per tonne yesterday. The metal fell sharply to a low of US$2,035 per tonne, and closed at US$2,046 per tonne after...
Hydro striving to convince Brazil for full resumption at Alunorte refinery
Followed by the two deals pledging social and environmental action, Norsk Hydro is striving to convince Brazilian authorities to allow it to resume full production at Alunorte refinery, reported the company’s top executive. The deals, signed on September 5 in Brazil, were an important step but did...
Alunorte signs milestone agreements towards resumption of operations at the alumina refinery
Norsk Hydro confirms on a press release that on September 5, Alunorte signed two agreements which are considered as milestones towards resuming normal operations at the alumina refinery in Pará, Brazil which was operating at 50% capacity since March. The agreements include a technical Term of...
Vedanta for the first time receives bauxite from Kodingamali mines, hopes to get more
After managing to run 2 million tonnes per annum refinery for past 10 years with bauxite sourced from several parts of the state and abroad, the aluminium major The Vedanta Limited for the very first time received the raw material from OMC’s Kodingamali mines recently, reported Vedanta’s external...
650 Aughinish jobs are secured; hopeful Tánaiste Simon Coveney
According to a report, Tánaiste Simon Coveney is hopeful about the job security of more than 650 personnel at Aughinish Alumina refinery in Limerick, following crippling sanctions on its Russian owner by the United States. As per the source, The Minister for Foreign Affairs has accredited the US...
EGA receives first shipment of caustic soda for Al Taweelah alumina refinery
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has received the first shipment of caustic soda for its under-construction Al Taweelah alumina refinery. Caustic soda and bauxite are the two most important raw materials in alumina refining. The refinery will require some 130,000 tonnes of caustic soda each year,...
