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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CHALCO Shanxi Branch’s 500,000 Mt Alumina Project Enters Trial Operations on April 20
Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (CHALCO) Shanxi Branch’s 500,000 mt energy-saving alumina project enters trial operations today, with the branch’s annual alumina capacity reaching 2.7 million mt. SMM sources report that the construction of CHALCO Shanxi Branch’s 500,000 mt alumina project...
Electricity Subsidization for Montenegro's KAP cancels Government's termination decision
Further subsidization of electricity for the Aluminium Plant Podgorica (KAP) would cancel Government of Montenegro's decision on termination of Agreement with the Russian partner and initiation of investigation of KAP's operation and spending of the loan the Government guaranteed for, said the...
Vimetco finalizes the list of EPC contractors for building its Aluminium power plant
Vimetco NV (LSE: VICO), the global producer of primary and processed aluminium products, today announces the shortlist of contractors for the construction of its own power plant in Tulcea. The project is developed by Vimetco Power Romania, a company belonging to Vimetco Group and consists of...
Researchers receive first “Hydro Green Aluminium Award”from Norsk Hydro
The two, Dr. Niklas Magnusson at SINTEF and Professor Magne Runde at SINTEF/NTNU, were awarded the prize of $35,000 at the Technoport Awards 2012 in Trondheim on Tuesday. They also received a work of art as part of the prize. Their work was on an energy-saving superconducting aluminium billet...
US and India may join China to become the biggest aluminium producers
In 2000, China represented roughly 12% of global production and the fact that it’s now 45% illustrates the seachange that the development of China has meant for the aluminium market. In addition, India and the US are also becoming increasingly attractive to be major aluminium producers. This trend...
Clegg ignores detrimental green policies, claim Civitas
Last week, Nick Clegg delivered a speech which aimed to dispel claims that environmental legislation was holding back industrial recovery. In the speech, entitled ‘the myth: green versus growth,’ the Deputy Prime Minister argued that we do not have to give up on the green economy in order to grow,...
VHE's Stub Saw Provides an Energy Saving, Low Noise Solution for Aluminium Smelters
Steel anode stubs are routinely replaced in all prebake aluminium smelters. With increasing automation, smelters have looked for ways to replace environmentally unfriendly gas cutting, at the same time eliminating the HES concerns of noise and hot metal. At some rodding plants, rods are unhooked...
Situation in Montenegro's Bauxite Mines getting worse
The situation in the Bauxite Mines is getting worse, after its electricity supply was cut off on Monday, and since it could be disconnected from the water distribution network in two days. According to unofficial information, the company s electricity debt, which has been accumulated for several...
Vimetco’s Henan Zhongfu reaches the most advanced level in energy efficiency
Vimetco NV (LSE: VICO), the global producer of primary and processed aluminium products, today announces that its Chinese unit, Henan Zhongfu Industry Co., Ltd., has decreased its energy consumption to the lowest level worldwide, following a commercial test of new technology. "We will be able to...
China isn't likely to slow down aluminum production- Alcoa chief says
Demand for aluminum in China is growing heavily and the country isn't likely to slow down production, Alcoa Inc.'s (AA) chief executive told Fox Business Network on Wednesday. Klaus Kleinfeld said that despite having to import most of its bauxite and the high cost of energy to produce aluminum,...
Alcoa Squeezed by Lower Prices
Alcoa Inc. AA -2.92% reported that first-quarter earnings fell 69% as the company was squeezed by lower aluminum prices and higher costs for energy. The company said it would contend with sluggish aluminum prices by cutting costs, limiting production and relying more on high-margin end products...
Nalco plans another nuclear power plant with NPCIL
New Delhi: After Kakarapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) in Gujarat, state-owned aluminium major Nalco is looking to set up another nuclear power plant in collaboration with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL). An NPCIL-Nalco joint venture is already executing unit 3 and 4 of Kakarapar...
Alcoa Announces Aluminum Cuts as Production Gains
Alcoa Inc. (AA) Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld said in January China’s aluminum industry would cut 1.1 million metric tons of unprofitable capacity “pretty soon.” So far that prediction isn’t close to coming true. China’s aluminum industry, the world’s largest, saw output rise 18 percent...
Romanian Alro plans new aluminum mill to supply increasing US demand for wire
Romania Insider reported that Romanian aluminum producer Alro owned by Vimetco plans to add a new mill to increase capacity for aluminum wire production in response to higher demand on the US market. Even so, Alro expects a drop in the total aluminum production in 2012 due to a shortage in energy...
Nalco output drops on coal short supply
Lower supplies from Mahanadi Coalfields affected primary metal production of National Aluminium Co (Nalco) last fiscal. Aluminium output dropped in 2011-12 to 4.13 lakh tonnes against 4.44 lakh tonnes in the previous financial year. The energy-intensive aluminium production at Nalco's Odisha...
Press Metal to buy 480MW electricity for its new aluminium smelting plant
Press Metal Bhd's (PMB) new aluminium smelting plant in Samalaju Industrial Park, Bintulu is the first factory to tap into electricity from the Bakun dam. Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) chief executive officer Torstein Dale Sjotveit said the 275kV transmission line linking SEB Samalaju's power station...
MIT: Time to Act on Contaminants in Recycled Aluminium
New research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has shown that while aluminium has long been the poster child of recycling, problems may arise unless measures are taken to reduce impurities that can build up as aluminium is recycled over and over again. According to the Institute,...
Halt to Uzbek gas supply hits Tajikistan
The end of Uzbek natural gas supplies to neighbour Tajikistan threatens to further weaken the poorest former Soviet economy as key aluminium and cement firms grapple to adapt. A planned output hike at aluminium company TALCO, the country's top export revenue earner, may have to be shelved while...
