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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India & Middle East emerge as new aluminum hubs
China is still the big story in primary aluminum production on a global scale, but India and the Middle East are coming up as rival hubs, analysts and participants in the sector said. Lower energy costs and easier access to raw materials are the biggest attractions in India and the Middle East;...
Rio Tinto flags more job cuts
Rio Tinto Ltd boss Sam Walsh says more jobs will be shed in Australia as the global miner continues to make $US5 billion in savings by the end of 2014. Three months after the company announced its first full-year net loss of almost $US3 billion; Mr Walsh confirmed more local job cuts were on the...
Century Aluminum Company rating increased to Buy at Cowen
Cowen upgraded shares of Century Aluminum Company from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday. Cowen currently has $13.00 target price on the stock. “Century Aluminum announced a tentative agreement with Kenergy Corp and Big Rivers Electric Corp on the framework of a new...
ALPART to resume operations in first quarter of 2016
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, has announced that the bauxite and alumina company, Alpart, in Nain, St. Elizabeth, would resume operations in the first quarter of 2016, following completion of the refinery’s new energy infrastructure. The re-opening will...
Century Aluminium continues working on power arrangements for Ravenswood, Hawesville
The aluminum market continues to be volatile, and Century Aluminum continues to discuss power arrangements for its Hawesville, Ky. and Ravenswood plants, according to Century President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Bless. Century reported a net income of $8.3 million for the first quarter of...
Rusal to reopen Jamaican alumina plants with new energy source
The Jamaican government and Russian mining company Rusal have agreed to reopen two of the Caribbean island's alumina plants within three years, Jamaica's energy and mining minister, Phillip Paulwell, announced on Wednesday. Rusal, the world's largest aluminum producer, has been operating in Jamaica...
MIIT to release list of aluminum smelters meeting environmental protection requirement
A source said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will release the list of aluminum smelters meeting environmental protection requirement within this year. He added that aluminum smelters in the list will obtain support from the government in terms of power tariff and loans. Another...
Meridian and Rio smelter talks continue as Labour- Greens plan muddies water
Meridian Energy and the owners of its largest customer, the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, are continuing to talk after an intense three days' face to face negotiation last week, with parties in both Wellington and Sydney crunching numbers on possible new deals. Neither side will comment on the...
Century Aluminum warns of plant shutdown
Calif-based Century Aluminum may be forced to cease operations at its Hawesville aluminum smelter, the company warned on Tuesday. Citing the high price of power to keep the plant running, Century issued a federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notification to the effect that the...
Qatalum banks on high technology to protect local environment
Even though aluminium is perhaps the largest power-consuming industry, Qatar Aluminium Limited is doing whatever possible through the available solutions and technologies to minimise the damage to the environment in the country. Speaking to this newspaper at the company’s pavilion at the Qatar...
Deputy Minister assures the running of VALCO
Deputy Minister-designate for the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, John Abdulai Jinapor, yesterday, appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament, and told its members that the government would not sit idle and see the Volta Aluminum Company collapse. He said, as per the assessment...
DUBAL again endorses WETEX 2013 through strategic sponsorship
Committed to innovation through technology, yet equally dedicated to protecting the environment. This has been the approach taken by Dubai Aluminium to the establishment and advancement of its operations over the three decades since the company's inception in 1979. Indeed, by incorporating...
Energy Minister to update on Alpart and Kirkvine reopening
Energy Minister, Phillip Paulwell, is to report to the country on an energy solution to facilitate the reopening of the Alpart and Kirkvine bauxite plants when he speaks in the 2013-2014 Sectoral Debate. For months, the Government has been engaged in negotiations with Russian-based aluminium...
Eskom price deals hit investor confidence
The renegotiation of favourable special pricing agreements between BHP Billiton and Eskom will undermine investor confidence in commercial contracts in South Africa. The special pricing arrangement involves two contracts agreed on in 1995 and 2001, which essentially see BHP Billiton paying between...
Columbia Falls Aluminum's reopening increasingly uncertain
Despite occasional glimpses of hope that the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. plant would resume operations, the shuttered facility’s future is more uncertain than ever as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency begins investigating the site for hazardous pollutants and scepticism over the prospect of...
Rusal plans to buy Bogoslovsk power plant in 2013
Russian aluminum company UC Rusal plans to buy the Bogoslovsk Combined Heat and Power Plant from IES Holding in 2013, the Director of Natural Monopoly Relations at Rusal Maxim Balashov told reporters. "We plan to close the deal this year as soon as we agree on a price," he said. The asset was...
Pacific Aluminium asks council to hold off Tiwai ads
Pacific Aluminium has asked the Invercargill City Council to hold off running an advertising campaign about the Tiwai Point smelter, while talks continue with Meridian Energy for a long term electricity supply deal. The company believes an agreement can be reached. Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt...
Tiwai Point Smelter's crunch talks resume today
Crucial face-to-face talks between the owners of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter and its electricity supplier, Meridian Energy, resume in Wellington today, with both sides blocking out the rest of the week, if necessary, to try and nut out a new electricity contract. Representatives of the...
