Coal-heavy Australian aluminium vs renewables-led New Zealand: How Oceania is balancing decarbonisation
Oceania’s primary aluminium industry is facing a fragmented energy transition. While Australia, the leading aluminium producer of the continent, has abundant renewable resources and a well-established aluminium value chain, its smelters remain significantly more dependent on fossil-fuel-based...
Can the US afford to cut Canada off? 75% aluminium and $100b energy tell the story
The US aluminium industry’s dependence on Canada extends far beyond primary aluminium imports. While Canada supplies around 75 per cent of US imported primary aluminium, covering roughly 60 per cent of the country’s annual aluminium usage, it is also a major supplier of crude oil, natural gas and...
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Smelters need support to survive
Smelters and foundries need support if they are to survive. As a start, Eskom has to sort out its electricity supply problems, and government’s R4-trillion infrastructure plan needs to get under way soon. Better still, the private sector should be encouraged to provide more traditionally sourced...
Trimet increases recycled content in aluminium production
Recycling is becoming increasingly important to Trimet Aluminium SE as it is being converted into primary aluminium for further use. Since aluminium does not lose any of its properties upon recycling, it is the best metal to be used multiple times. Trimet aluminium already melts down 200,000 tons...
Noranda Aluminum announces layoffs, other cutbacks after losing bid for lower power rates
Noranda Aluminum Inc. announced Tuesday that it is laying off up to 200 employees and suspending an expansion project at its southeast Missouri smelter because state regulators refused to lower its electricity rates. The cutbacks by Noranda come less than two weeks after the Missouri Public Service...
The Australian Aluminium Council urges full exemption from the RET
The Australian Aluminium Council has published a statement on the report by the Expert Panel for the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme and its impact & benefits on the renewable energy sector, the manufacturing sector and Australian households. “We welcome the acknowledgement by the Review Panel...
The Nigerian First Aluminium beats odds to secure 57% rise in profits
The Nigerian roofing sheets manufacturer, First Aluminium plc announced a surge in the profits by 57% in the first half of 2014 despite facing numerous obstacles that are also faced by other members of the industry. The net income for the half year was recorded at N21.32 million from N13.54 million...
Electric Boat Powered by Aluminum-air Battery demonstrated in Switzerland
Alcoa, clean technology company Phinergy and HEIG-VD University, today debuted a zero-emissions electric demo boat powered by an aluminum-air battery at Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland. Alcoa and Phinergy announced earlier this year that the companies are collaborating on new materials, processes and...
No clarity on Mahan pushes Hindalco to import coal
Hindalco Industries Ltd is importing coal for its aluminium plants amid lack of clarity on when the controversial Mahan coal project in Madhya Pradesh may be cleared, showing the government’s inability to fast track projects and pushing companies to resort to costly imports. “Our problem is that we...
Brazil’s aluminium smelter shuts down due to high electricity prices
An Alcoa Inc. smelter has been idled as producing aluminium in Brazil has become very expensive. The Pocos de Caldas smelter has stopped producing aluminium and selling the facility’s power instead to combat the high electricity prices. With the worst drought seen in decades, the water reservoirs...
Holsether to speak at ONS 2014
Sapa President & CEO Svein Tore Holsether will take part as one of the speakers at ONS Conference 2014 in Stavanger, Norway. He will discuss how aluminium solutions contribute to a more sustainable future with focus on energy-positive buildings. Holsether will take part in the featured event on...
Noranda announces electricity rate ruling by Missouri public service commission
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation reported today that the Missouri Public Service Commission has denied Noranda's request for a lower electricity rate at the Company's aluminum smelter in New Madrid, Missouri ("New Madrid"). The denial by the PSC does not increase New Madrid's electricity rate,...
Bridge Aluminium gets smart with energy use
An aluminium foundry is turning down the heat – fractionally – on its energy use to earn as much as £25,000 a year. Caparo Bridge Aluminium is installing smart software to adjust the aluminium holding pots to help balance the National Grid’s supply and demand. It will be paid for reducing energy...
AGL modelling says Hunter power plant and aluminium smelter could close
Gas giant AGL says it is basing forward modelling on conservative assumptions that a newly acquired Hunter Valley power plant and the Tomago Aluminium smelter near Newcastle could close within three years. AGL has finalised its $1.5 billion acquisition of Macquarie Generation, but highlights...
Aluminum supply tightens as production slumps in Brazil
Producing aluminum in Brazil got so expensive as electricity prices surged to records this year that Alcoa Inc. (AA) idled its Pocos de Caldas smelter and now sells the facility’s power instead of metal. The worst drought in decades drained reservoirs used to run hydroelectric generators that...
JDR in Nordsee One cable deal
UK energy technology developer JDR has inked a order with contractor Siem Offshore to deliver more than 70km of new-look aluminium core inter-array cabling for RWE Innogy's Nordsee One wind power development off Germany. Under the terms of the deal, JDR will supply two lengths of cable – one...
Romanian aluminum producer Alro posts EUR 18 mln loss in the first half
Romanian aluminum producer Alro S.A. recorded an adjusted net loss of RON 80 million (almost EUR 18 million) in the first six months of the year, over four times higher than the RON 17 million loss posted in the same period in 2013, according to the company’s financial results. The turnover also...
Nalco looking at Oman and Iran for $3bn smelter due to coal shortage in India
Domestic coal shortages are prompting India’s National Aluminium Co (Nalco) to plan construction of a US$3bn smelter complex abroad, possibly in Oman or Iran, underscoring the task Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces to boost energy output. Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and UAE are other potential...
JNARDDC sucessfully concludes national conference on “Energy Efficiency Opportunities and Challenges in Aluminium Industries" on 4th and 5th August,
The Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC), Nagpur which has recently completed 25 years of its existence has organized a national conference “Energy Efficiency Opportunities and Challenges in Aluminium Industries (NCEEOCAI)” on 4th and 5th August, 2014 in...
Aluminium industries to focus on reducing energy use
Deliberating on processes to reduce energy consumption by aluminium industries will be the focus of the national conference organized by the Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC) in Nagpur from Monday. A part of silver jubilee celebrations of JNARDDC, the...
