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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Century Aluminum still in negotiations to buy electricity from Big Rivers
An update on the attempt to reach a compromise between Big Rivers Electric and Century Aluminum leaves continuing negotiations. A bill to allow Century Aluminum to buy electricity from the state is also in limbo in the Kentucky legislature with time running out. Big Rivers says the ball is now in...
Huge international aluminum companies pay no tax in Iceland
Two large aluminium companies, Alcoa and Norðurál, that have been operating in Iceland for years, have paid close to no corporate tax (sometimes referred to as income tax) over the past years. Alcoa for example has not paid a cent (or Icelandic króna) in corporate tax since the company was founded...
Public hearing over a contract for cheap power for BHP
BHP Billiton’s preferential arrangement with Eskom through which the company pays a fraction of the standard electricity tariff for its Richards Bay aluminium smelters will soon be a matter of public debate and discussion, when the National Energy Regulator of SA conducts public hearings over the...
Qatalum And Hydro celebrate the opening of Hydro Green Energy lab
Qatalum and Hydro , the Norwegian aluminium producer, have together unveiled Hydro’s newly established facility dedicated to researching and testing aluminium used in curtain wall solutions in support of creating energy, emission and carbon neutral buildings in the Middle East. The Zero Energy and...
Kentucky lawmaker to push for bill allowing aluminum producers to buy cheaper power
A Kentucky lawmaker on Thursday said he was prepared to ask Governor Steve Beshear to consider his bill to allow Century Aluminum and Rio Tinto Alcan to buy lower cost power for their smelters in the state from the open market rather than at locked-in costs from Big Rivers Electric. State...
Aluminum SA secures commercial license for power plant
Southeastern Europe?s largest aluminum producer Aluminum SA has secured a long-awaited commercial license for its cogeneration power plant, allowing it to sell electricity on the Greek market, the chairman of the conglomerate that owns the company said. "We have a license. It has taken us five...
Aluminij Mostar said it may have to close down due to weak market
Bosnia's sole aluminium smelter Aluminij Mostar said it may have to close down if it continues to make losses in a weak market beset with slumping demand and rising energy costs. The country's top exporter, which sells most of its aluminium into the depressed European construction and auto...
UC Rusal cuts capacity by 300kt
UC Rusal, billed as the world's largest producer of primary aluminium, has announced that it will be cutting production at its less efficient smelters by 300kt by the end of 2013. The planned cuts, which have now been approved by Rusal's board, are designed to maintain the company’s competitive...
Tiwai smelter cuts back on electricity
Production at the Tiwai Aluminium Smelter will be reduced by about 400 tonnes a week as the company starts to cut back on its electricity usage. The smelter is reducing its electricity load from 572MW to 540MW because of extremely low hydro lake levels. New Zealand Aluminium Smelter general manager...
Smelter worries 'dampen consumer spending'
Southland Chamber of Commerce says locals are spending less due to continuing uncertainty over the future of the Tiwai Point smelter. In August last year, owner New Zealand Aluminium Smelters said the plant was losing money and renegotiating the price it pays Meridian Energy for electricity was...
Kentucky aluminum smelters decision may have larger ramifications
A bid by Century Aluminum Co. to buy power on the open market in Kentucky could have larger implications for the troubled U.S. aluminum industry. Reuters reports that benchmark aluminum prices have dropped more than 30 percent in less than two years, and high-cost electricity is challenging the...
Century Aluminum takes power issue to Kentucky lawmakers
Kentucky state lawmakers are set to decide whether to let US aluminum producer Century Aluminum Co buy power on the open market in its bid to save its money-losing smelter in the Bluegrass state from closure. In its attempt to cope, Century has taken the dramatic step of pushing for legislation...
Aluminum processors in Henan lose advantage over rising production cost
Aluminum processors in China reported an increase in orders in March. However, orders at processors in Henan are poor this year, which is different from the past. Production costs at aluminum processing enterprises in Henan are higher compared with east and south China. First, equipment at...
Century Aluminum Workers Heading to Frankfort
Several Century Aluminum workers are on their way to Frankfort, where they will lobby for a bill that would allow the company to buy energy on the open market. Both Century and Alcan say if they can't get cheaper electric rates from Big Rivers and Kenergy, they may be forced to close. Eyewitness...
Supporters continue to push for Kentucky's smelter bill vote
Supporters of an endangered western Kentucky aluminum smelter are pushing for a House vote on a bill that would allow the plant to buy cheaper electricity. The group, from Hancock County where a Century Aluminum plant is located, visited the statehouse Wednesday to pressure lawmakers. Five days...
Norsk Hydro contemplates building new aluminium plant in Norway
Norwegian aluminium maker Norsk Hydro said on Thursday it may build a new test plant at its site in Karmoey in western Norway with a capacity of 70,000 tonnes per year. If built, the firm plans to test new, more energy-efficient production technology at the plant. It said conditions for producing...
Alro announced net loss for the year-end 2012
Alro, a subsidiary of Vimetco NV, a global, vertically-integrated primary and processed aluminium producer, has announced a net loss of US$50 million for the year-end 2012. Last year, the company posted a year-end 2011 profit of US$65 million. The company attributes the loss, or ‘main negative...
TMS and ASM International launch a new journal on Energy Materials
The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) and ASM International officially announced the launch of a new quarterly journal on energy materials, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions E: Materials for Energy Systems, this week at the TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition (TMS2013) in San Antonio,...
