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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Aluminium industry seeks renewed approach on energy laws
THE aluminium industry will ask the federal government for greater relief from its renewable energy laws, warning they will have a greater impact than the carbon tax over the next few years on smelters confronting falling metal prices and a surging Australian dollar. The Australian Aluminium...
BHP scraps plans for Congo smelter
BHP Billiton has shelved plans to build an aluminium smelter that would have underpinned a hydropower plant known as Inga III in the Democratic Republic of Congo. “Following a review of the project’s economics, BHP Billiton has decided not to continue with its smelter project in the DRC, which was...
Alcoa Celebrates the Redesign of Iconic Forging Press in Cleveland
Alcoa announced today the completion and restart of its redesigned 50,000-ton forging press at the company’s Cleveland Works. A $100 million dollar investment that Alcoa announced in 2009, the new press strengthens Alcoa’s position as the preeminent supplier of large aluminum, titanium, nickel and...
Aluminium producer Alro ups profit in Romania despite higher electricity costs towards end-2011
Romanian aluminum producer Alro made a EUR 52.9 million profit in 2011, up from EUR 37.9 million the year before, due to favorable market conditions in the first nine months of the year, and despite a drop in revenues caused by lower aluminum prices and higher electricity costs in the last three...
Aluminium smelters' search for cheap power sources
More than anything else, it is the cost of power that defines operational viability of an aluminium smelter. Depending on energy source and whether a smelter is backed by a captive power complex, electricity accounts for 30-50 per cent of aluminium making cost. Power is a relatively small cost...
Future Of Alumina Sector Hinges On Energy Cost
The continued operation of all four alumina plants in Jamaica, including even the most efficient, CAW, depends on the industry having a long-term source of competitive energy, as well as resolving certain bauxite-reserve issues. Two actions are necessary to achieve these objectives: Substituting...
Alro Group invested USD 77 mln in energy efficiency since 2005
Aluminium producer Alro has invested over USD 77 million for energy efficiency, over the past six years. Investments targeted both the primary and processed aluminum production processes, as well as the alumna refinery. Alro, which is the largest electricity consumer in Romania, has invested USD 8...
China Aluminum Industry Expanded by 66.8% Last Year:Research and Markets
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Aluminum Industry in China" report to their offering. The aluminum industry in China expanded by 66.8% last year, making China the largest single producer and consumer of aluminum in the world. It is expected that China will produce about 17...
Aluminium producer Vimetco plans EUR 276 mln gas-fired plant in Romania
Aluminium company Vimetco could receive a EUR 207 million loan from the European Bank for Construction and Development (EBRD) to build a new gas-fired cogeneration power plant in Tulcea, Romania. If Vimetco Power Romania gets the EBRD loan, which is pending final review and would cover 75 percent...
Aussie Aluminum Heading for Scrap Heap
Low metals prices, high costs and the strong Australian dollar are doing to the country's aluminum-smelting industry what a frat boy does to his empty beer can: crushing it. Australia is the world's fourth-largest producer of refined aluminum and the third-largest exporter, according to Deutsche...
Rising energy bill may lead to production cut :NALCO
The impact of higher raw material costs and lower aluminium prices resulted in an 80% drop in profit for Nalco. And even though the price of aluminium has improved since the beginning of January, it is still significantly lower than the same period last year. This leaves the country's largest...
Easing Its Debt Allows Rusal To Focus Down the Euro Road
Oleg Deripaska spent the best part of his Moscow working days in 2009 in what he called a "war room," dealing with Russia's biggest-ever corporate-debt restructuring. Three years on, and aluminum and energy producer United Co. Rusal PLC still has a war room, but the work being carried out there is...
National Aluminium Profit Falls More Than Expected on Prices
National Aluminium Co. (NACL), India’s biggest state-owned producer, posted a more-than-expected 80 percent decline in third-quarter profit as prices of the metal fell and energy costs surged. Net income fell to 512.2 million rupees ($10.4 million), or 0.2 rupee a share, in the three months ended...
Kurri Kurri smelter needs certainty
A SUBCONTRACTOR with Hydro aluminium at Kurri Kurri has confirmed it axed 26 jobs in the wake of the smelter owner’s decision to close its oldest potline. Union officials are seeking a meeting with Premier Barry O’Farrell to discuss the smelter’s need for a long-term power contract with the...
Rio Tinto Alcan's Kentucky smelter adding capacity to offset power costs
A $20 million project to boost electric amperage is under way at Rio Tinto Alcan's Sebree, Kentucky, aluminum smelter in an effort to increase the plant's aluminum-making capacity to help offset rising electricity rates. The project, expected to be completed later this year, "allows us to make more...
Sterlite Q3 updates
Sterlite Industries reported strong Q3FY12 results at the operating level with: (i) a strong copper business, and (ii) a fall in production cost at Balco, Vedanta Aluminium (VAL) and power business. After repeated increase in the cost of production at VAL and Balco, the company reported a decrease...
Aluminum Surplus May Plunge to Lowest in 5 Years, Sumitomo Says
A global aluminum surplus may shrink to the lowest level since 2007 as major producers cut output amid soaring energy costs and sluggish demand, said Japan’s third-largest trading house. Supply will exceed demand by 941,000 metric tons this year, down 42 percent from 1.61 million tons in 2011, said...
Eurasian Natural Q4 Total Ferroalloys Production Down 10%
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Plc (ENRC.L: News ), in its fourth-quarter production report, said the Alumina and Aluminium, and Energy units in Kazakhstan operated at effective full available capacity for the quarter, while the Ferroalloys and Iron Ore Divisions operated at below full...
