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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Coal shortage to hit Hindalco hard
Lack of adequate coal supply may hit Hindalco Industries’ expansion plans. In some locations, the company may have to pay $300 per tonne extra for acquiring coal from the open market resulting in erosion of its profits significantly. In some others, the company may have to re-evaluate its...
Aluminum giant Alcoa to close its three smelters in Canada
U.S. Aluminum giant Alcoa is threatening to close all three of its smelters in the province of Quebec, Canada, as electricity supply cost for the plants is expected to jump 60%, TVA network reported late Tuesday (in French). According the news outlet, Alcoa issued a 12-month notice to Hydro-Québec,...
Agency approves rate increases for western Kentucky utility that lost aluminum smelter
The Kentucky Public Service Commission has approved a rate increase for customers of a western Kentucky utility that sought the increase to absorb the loss of its biggest customer, an aluminum smelter. The PSC authorized Big Rivers Electric Corp. to seek an additional $54.2 million annually from...
AAMA's Aluminum Material Council publishes sustainability white paper
The Aluminum Material Council of the American Architectural Manufacturers Association has released a new white paper on aluminum’s sustainability, strength and efficiency, “Aluminum: The total Solution for Sustainable, Strong and Efficient Commercial Building Design.” “The overall goal of the AMC...
Iceland seeks UK funding for subsea cable project
Iceland's president Olafur Grimsson is expected this week to call on the British government to provide financial support for the construction of a £4.3bn subsea electricity cable – which will be the longest in the world – linking his country to the UK's electricity grid. The ambitious project,...
Meridian shares priced at $1.50 ahead of Oct 29 sharemarket float
Meridian shares will be issued at a listing price of $1.50, the bottom of the indicative range of $1.50 to $1.80 and with a much smaller investor pool than the government had hoped for. Some 62,000 New Zealand investors put their money into Meridian, despite huge efforts through advertising and the...
Aluminum can continues sustainability leadership as most recycled beverage container
Industry recycling of aluminum beverage containers in the United States continued its decade-long upward trend in 2012 with a rate of 67%, according to data released by the Aluminum Association, Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) and Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI). This is the...
Bosnia Aluminij seals debt-settlement deal to avoid closure
Aluminij Mostar, Bosnia's sole aluminium smelter, clinched a deal on Tuesday to settle its debt to state-run power company EPHZHB and stave off closure. Aluminij, a mainstay of Bosnia's economy, began a gradual shutdown of its smelter on Oct. 15 after EPHZHB froze its bank accounts in a dispute...
Nersa to deliberate on smelter's electricity supply contract review
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has confirmed that it received BHP Billiton’s official response this week to Eskom’s application for a review of the utility’s electricity supply contracts with the miner’s aluminium smelter in terms of Section 32 of the Electricity Regulation...
Bosnia government proposes to help Aluminij Mostar avoid closure
Bosnia's regional government said on Friday it had made proposals to help aluminium smelter Aluminij Mostar settle a debt to state-run power utility EPHZHB and stave off the company's closure. Aluminij, a mainstay of Bosnia's economy, began to shut down its smelter on Tuesday after Mostar-based...
Ormet gets bankruptcy plan filing extension
US aluminum producer Ormet has been given a three-month extension -- until February 20, 2014 -- to file a Chapter 11 reorganization plan by a federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. In a Tuesday order, US Bankruptcy Court Judge Mary Walrath also gave the Hannibal, Ohio-based company until April 22,...
Bosnia's Aluminij smelter starts shutdown over bankruptcy
The aluminium maker Aluminij Mostar, a crucial pillar of Bosnia's economy, began shutting down its smelter on Tuesday and said it would be forced into bankruptcy unless the government helped it settle a debt to the state-owned power company. The company, EPHZHB, succeeded on Monday in freezing...
China’s power rate cuts pose downside pressure on aluminium price
China’s power rate cuts from this month pose further downside pressure on aluminium prices, Shanghai Metals Market foresees. China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) cut on-grid power tariffs – prices paid to power producers by the State Grid Corp. of China, effective from this...
ALSCON requests government to release its excess electricity
The Management of Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) at Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom state has pleaded with the Federal Government to link its internally generated gas fired electric power plant to the national grid as it could serve as an important backup of electricity supply to the smelter...
Voerde Aluminium's creditors agree to continue production till 2014 end
Creditors of insolvent German aluminium plant Voerde Aluminium voted to extend production to the end of next year while the search for a buyer continues, a spokesman for Voerde's insolvency administrator said on Monday. The Voerde smelter, which makes about 10 percent - or 115,000 tonnes - of...
Slovalco signs a contract on electricity supply until 2021
Slovalco has signed a long-term electricity supply contract with power utility Slovenské Elektrárne (SE). Slovalco, the Slovak aluminium producer, wants to achieve such total price of electricity which is its most important expenses item that would equal the level of other European producers....
Brazil’s aluminium output down 7.8% in August
Brazil’s aluminium output fell 7.8% year-on-year in August with high domestic energy costs and low metal prices discouraging new investments in primary production. Production stood at 111,600 tonnes in August, compared with 121,000 tonnes in the same month in 2012, according to figures released by...
Norsk Hydro's part-owned smelter Slovalco signs power contract
Norsk Hydro ASA's part-owned aluminium smelter in Slovakia, Slovalco, has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for power supply with Slovenské Elektrárne. Following signing of a Letter of Intent for power supply, announced on July 18, Slovalco has entered into a PPA for electricity supply in the...
