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...
Grow with
AL Circle
European Union to offer energy-hungry sectors guidance on long-term power deals
The European Union will help energy-hungry industries, such as aluminium smelters, clinch long-term electricity deals to lure back major employers that have quit the bloc partly because its power is so expensive. The offer of free guidance by the European Commission (EC) is part of a...
Norsk Hydro financicial result down on reduce aluminium prices and energy production
Hydro’s underlying gain before financial equipment and taxation was NOK 518 million in a second quarter, down from NOK 1,077 million in a initial entertain of 2013, as revoke aluminium and alumina prices and seasonally revoke appetite prolongation weighed on results. Bauxite and alumina...
Norsk Hydro's part-owned Slovalco smelter signs Letter of Intent for power supply
Norsk Hydro's part-owned aluminium smelter in Slovakia, Slovalco, has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) for power supply with Slovenské Elektrárne. The LoI covers electricity supply over an eight-year period from January 1, 2014, with a total delivery of 19 terawatt hours (TWh). Since entering into...
Montenegrin prime minister urged to save bankrupt aluminum plant, KAP
Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic on Tuesday blamed parliament for stalling the rescue of the bankrupt Podgorica Aluminum Plant, KAP. Djukanovic said owing to the lack of cooperation between parliament, the state run Power Industry and the factory, the government had been forced to halt...
CONTACT and GENESIS Energy eat greatest risk from Tiwai closure
Contact Energy and state-owned Genesis Energy are the two power companies most at risk if the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter closes, says a senior Standard & Poors analyst, Richard Creed. In an interview televised on the Reuters Insider programme, Creed, who is S&P's director of corporate and...
Rusal subsidiary's claim on wholesale energy market rules dismissed
The Supreme Commercial Court has rejected an appeal by Rusal's Krasnoyarsk aluminum smelter on the rules of the wholesale energy market, a court representative told RAPSI on Friday. The applicant requested the court to invalidate two paragraphs of the wholesale energy market regulations. The...
Northwest sign recycling embraces environmental stewardship
This stewardship goes hand in hand with Northwest Sign Recycling’s present day to day operations and future goals. When you consider the impact production of new aluminum has on our environment, you will see how Northwest Sign Recycling is part of the solution for sustainability. Environmental...
Insulating profiles for aluminum window systems
Producers of aluminum window systems can make more sustainable products by using insulating profiles made from its EcoPaXX® polyamide 410, a polymer with a bio-based content of 70%. Aluminum window suppliers are looking for new ways to bring more sustainable products to the market, and EcoPaXX...
Aluminum companies must support VALCO
Energy expert, Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, has said VALCO must not be shut down, but must be made to pay realistic tariffs. He said instead of subsidising VALCO’s energy tariffs, companies that benefit from the smelter’s operation must come together to contribute to the overall tariff of the company....
BHP Billiton, analyst differ on power pricing regime for aluminium smelters
Any major change to the electricity pricing regime for mining major BHP Billiton’s aluminium smelters in Richards Bay will have a severe impact on the smelters’ commercial viability and sustainability, which could cause significant job losses and, therefore, have a major impact on the South African...
World Bank advises Ghana to shut down VALCO
The World Bank has said that in the current context of load-shedding, it would be economically prudent decision for Government of Ghana to shut down the Volta Aluminum Company (VALCO), the state-owned aluminium smelter, and provide the power to other consumer segments that pay tariffs closer to the...
RHB cuts press metal profit forecast, TP
RHB Research Institute Sdn Bhd has cut its current year profit forecast for PRESS METAL BHD by 14.8%. This is in anticipation of a six-month operation halt which is expected to have a negative impact on the aluminium-processing entity’s earnings. The profit downgrade follows the recent...
Alro Slatina pays USD 70 million for green certificate and co-generation
Alro Slatina has to pay this year 70 million US dollars in co-generation and green certificate fees, an amount that could be used to make two industrial companies, Chairman of the Administration Board of Alro Slatina aluminium maker Marian Nastase recently told Agerpres. “This is a burdening fee...
Aluminum Association vows to create a cleaner aluminium industry
Aluminium Association has come up with its future policies in response to US President’s recent climate change plan. The aluminum industry is aggressively working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to Mr. Heidi Biggs Brock, President of the Aluminum Association, “The Industry has...
Aluminium plant close up influences Big Rivers power plants sale
Big Rivers Electric is looking to sell two of its western Kentucky coal-fired power plants, Coleman and D B Wilson, representing nearly 900 MW of generating capacity, and plans to idle both baseload facilities next winter if it has no buyers or long-term power purchase agreements in hand by then, a...
Eskom shuts BHP smelter to save power
South African power utility Eskom briefly cut supply to one of BHP Billiton’s aluminium smelters on Monday night after nation-wide demand outstripped supply, a company spokeswoman said on Tuesday. An agreement between state-run Eskom and BHP allow the utility to interrupt power to the latter's...
Alcoa and RUSNANO to produce drill pipe for oil and gas market
Alcoa and OJSC RUSNANO will produce technologically advanced oil and gas aluminum drill pipe finished with a life-extending antiwear coating under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the companies. With the help of the Alcoa Technical Center, the parties intend to pursue the potential...
Chinese aluminum smelters suffer overcapacity
According to China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA), aluminum capacity in China reached 26 million mt/yr in 2012, against 20.27 million mt in output. The capacity utilization rate was 78%, the highest level since 2008. Aluminum prices have been below production costs since August 2011....
