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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Australian aluminium industry under threat
A high dollar, low prices and Asian competition are threatening the industry with older plants in New South Wales and Victoria under threat of closure. The debate about the future of the industry often concentrates on the high energy usage associated with aluminium production. The joke description...
High electricity cost a major issue in the closure of Kuri Kuri smelter
Almost 350 workers at the Kurri?Kurri aluminium smelter in NSW have become pawns in the shouting that masquerades as public policy debate in Australia in 2012. The facts of the smelter’s closure and the cost pressures that this and other Australian businesses face are reasonably clear....
Electricity subsidy is the key to revive Australia’s struggling aluminium industry
The deregulation of the electricity industry is emerging as an increasingly important factor in the future of Australia’s struggling aluminium industry. Power prices were named as a second-tier issue last week when Norwegian firm Norsk Hydro said low metal prices and the high Australian dollar were...
Insolvent Voerde Aluminium continues operation with the help of power deal
Insolvent German aluminium plant Voerde Aluminium has agreed a deal to maintain power supplies and is continuing production as the search goes on for a buyer, its provisional administrator said on Friday. The Voerde smelter, which produces 115,000 tonnes of aluminium annually, declared insolvency...
Uncertain future for Aluminium recycling plant in Kuri Kuri
A plant that recycles waste product from the Kurri Kurri Aluminium smelter is one of many downstream industries that will be affected by its closure. While 344 full-time jobs will be lost at the smelter, it is believed hundreds of other indirect jobs will also go. Weston Aluminium has operated...
Alcoa smelter near Ferndale gets short-term power contract extension
The Bonneville Power Administration has given the Alcoa Intalco Works aluminum smelter west of Ferndale a 35-day extension on its electricity supply contract, just three days before its existing contract was scheduled to expire. BPA spokesman Mike Hansen said the extension, announced Wednesday, May...
Australian Workers' Union to take a five-point plan for saving jobs in aluminium sector
AWU National Secretary Paul Howes today said the Australian aluminium sector was in crisis as it struggled to deal with the impact of the high exchange rate and low global price for aluminium. "These two factors have been exacerbated by the failure of State Governments to finalise competitive,...
Hydro to stop operation in Kurri Kurri aluminium plant
The future of Kuri Kuri smelter is decided as Hydro is initiating the closure of the plant entirely. After curtailing one of three pot lines at its Kurri Kurri aluminium plant in January, Norsk Hydro ASA is initiating consultation with the plant's workforce with a view to curtailing the remaining...
SDK Group Recycles Six Million Aluminum Cans in Fiscal Year 2011
Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) and its Group companies continued to perform their aluminum can recycling activities in fiscal 2011 (April 2011 - March 2012), collecting approximately 6 million cans: equivalent to around 97 tons of aluminum when converted atthe rate of 16.2 grams of aluminum per can. Showa...
General Cable To Acquire Alcan Cable For $185 Million
General Cable Corp. (BGC) agreed to acquire Alcan Cable, the wire and aluminum cable business of mining company Rio Tinto PLC (RIO, RIO.LN), for roughly $185 million in a move expected to expand its product offerings. General Cable, a maker of copper, aluminum and fiber-optic wire and cable...
LME spot prices dipping below $2,000 per metric ton
MetalMiner’s recent trend report on aluminum prices, the weekly Aluminum MMI®, showed that the global prices of the light grey metal have somewhat tempered their freefall — but uncertainty remains for the future price of aluminum, as we can see in Western and Asian markets. LME spot prices have...
Century Aluminum expects State PSC to decide on a special electricity rate for Ravenswood soon
Century Aluminum hopes the state Public Service Commission won't take long to decide on a special electricity rate for the company's now-closed plant in Ravenswood. Century has proposed a four-month schedule. Century closed the plant in 2009 because of low prices for aluminum and a very high...
Aluminium demand to get a boost for the long run
Aluminium is one of the most consumed base metals and, hence, holds a significant place in the metals space. Rapid urbanisation and industrialisation in the emerging and developing economies are set to boost the demand for the metal. Aluminium finds application in almost everything, from...
3M aluminium cables installed in Siberia
Already in use on four continents in a broad range of harsh climates, 3M Aluminum Conductor Composite Reinforced (ACCR) has now been installed in Siberia, serving one of the region's largest cities, Irkutsk. Irkutsk Electronetwork Co. chose the overhead conductor as a way to avoid tower...
Bosnia's Aluminij smelter to take cost-cutting measures
Bosnia's sole aluminium smelter Aluminij Mostar will cut jobs and kick-start additional cost savings after reporting a first-quarter loss of 20 million Bosnian marka ($13 million), double what it had expected for the whole year. The country's top exporter, located in the southern town of Mostar,...
Government to ease Ewarton bauxite woes
There are indications that the government may be stepping in to offer some reprieve to the owners of the Ewarton bauxite plant in St. Catherine. The cost of production and the decreased demand for alumina has continued to take a toll on the company. The high cost of electricity has also been blamed...
IES Holding ended talks with Rusal
Billionaire Viktor Vekselberg’s IES Holding ended talks on selling Russian power generating assets to aluminum producer United Co. Rusal as its terms weren’t met. The government last year supported Rusal’s purchase of IES’s Bogoslovskaya power plant and Novobogoslovskaya project to supply...
Century Aluminum intents to restart Ravenswood plant
Restarting the company's plant in Ravenswood remains a priority, according to a company official. The company is committed to working with Appalachian Power Co. and state regulators to determine an electricity rate for the plant that will allow it to resume operations, said Lindsey Berryhill. The...
