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...
Grow with
AL Circle
Power price hikes for Aucklanders likely to weigh on Tiwai Point aluminium smelter's operations
Consumers in the upper North Island would face the biggest increase in national electricity grid charges under the Electricity Authority's proposed changes to transmission pricing while the Rio Tinto-controlled aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point would get less than half the benefit it may have hoped...
Hyderabad to adopt green building code boosting demand for aluminium
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation plans to popularise the Energy Conservation Building Code, beginning with 25 model buildings, both government and commercial, being made reference models for others. Resultantly, the use of aluminium profiles, panels and other extrusion products for...
Indonesia also on Nalco's radar to set up aluminium smelter
Aluminium maker national Aluminium Corporation (Nalco) is also scouting for locations in Indonesia to set up a five lakh tonnes per annum smelter as it eyes to rationalise cost of operations and cater to the expected rise in demand. The government had earlier hired consultants to scout for...
Aluminium rolling costs keep on falling worldwide
Production costs of rolling mills are falling due to both lower LME prices and weak energy prices. According to CRU’s Aluminium Rolling Cost (ARC) model, the costs fell in 2014 and 2015, with 2016 costs likely to continue their downward movement. However, from 2017 onwards, CRU expects costs to...
EGA wins 2016 Ideas.Arabia Idea of the Year Productivity Award
Testifying to its continuous efforts to push the boundaries of innovation, a submission from Emirates Global Aluminium ("EGA") won the Productivity Award in the 2016 Ideas.Arabia Idea of the Year Competition, held coincident with the Ideas.Arabia 11th International Conference in Dubai at the end of...
Ford recycles 20 million pounds of aluminium a month
<p>Ford recycles as much as 20 million pounds of aluminium stamping scrap per month using the closed-loop system at Dearborn Truck Plant which builds F-150.<br /><br /> That is the equivalent of more than 30,000 F-150 bodies in the largest configuration – a SuperCrew body including doors,...
Alcoa reaches power agreement to improve competitiveness of Intalco smelter
Lightweight metals leader Alcoa today announced it has reached an agreement with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) that will help improve the competitiveness of its Intalco aluminium smelter. As a result, the smelter will not curtail at the end of the second quarter as previously announced...
NALCO to go for toll-smelting of aluminium in Iran
Taking advantage of availability of cheap gas based power in the Gulf region, National Aluminium Company (Nalco) plans to go for toll-smelting arrangement soon with three Iranian companies to produce aluminium. Nalco CMD, T K Chand, who was in Iran recently as part of an Indian business delegation,...
NZ Supreme Court rejects aluminium smelter's bid to challenge $20 mln lieu days decision
The Supreme Court of New Zealand has rejected an application by the operator of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter to challenge a High Court decision requiring it to stump up some $20 million in back-pay after a complaint from the smelter workers' union that they were underpaid for days in lieu. The...
Chinese aluminium smelters to face higher power costs
Profit at Chinese aluminium smelters kept expanding, but now is not the time to cheer up yet, SMM noted. Power tariff subsidies to smelters in Qinghai have been cut following aluminium price gains. This, together with rising alumina prices, will deter smelters in Qinghai from bringing idled...
Ford recycles enough aluminium to build 30,000 F-150 bodies every month
Ford Motor Co says the toughest, smartest, most capable and safest F-150 ever is also the greenest F-150 – thanks to advanced materials like high-strength, military-grade aluminium alloy and EcoBoost engine technology. The American carmaker recycles as much as 20 million pounds of aluminium...
China State Council urges for capacity elimination in aluminium industry
China’s State Council is urging for elimination of outdated and excess capacity in energy-intensive and highly-polluting industries, including aluminium, Shanghai Securities News reported. The State Council recently issued the 2016 Action Plan for Implementation of Outline for Quality Development....
Bell Bay Aluminium prepares to cut more power use as Tasmanian energy crisis drags on
Tasmania's biggest electricity user, Bell Bay Aluminium, is preparing for more power rationing, if the state's energy crisis worsens. Bell Bay Aluminium has already cut production by 10 per cent for five months to save electricity as the state grapples with record low Hydro Tasmania dams and the...
Alcoa strikes power deal to keep Intalco aluminium plant open
Alcoa has agreed to a new power deal for its 279 000 t/y Intalco aluminium smelter in Washington state, according to a statement from its power supplier, staving off the closure of one of the last remaining US aluminium plants. Both sides struck a deal starting on July 1 that would keep 2.5...
Aluminium to harden on hopes of oil output freeze
Aluminium is likely to get costlier in the coming days due to the expected freeze on oil output to be clamped by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries at its meeting with non-OPEC members on April 17. The output freeze will spur price increase because energy accounts for about 30 per...
Tiwai Point smelter production decision hinges on long-awaited grid cost-sharing recommendations
A long-awaited recommendation on how the cost of the national electricity grid in New Zealand should be shared in future is due on May 17. The NZ Electricity Authority says it will release its transmission pricing methodology paper and run an eight-week consultation. The issue has been running for...
Nalco's captive power plant in trouble
The 1,200 mega watt (MW) captive power plant of National Aluminium Company (Nalco) faces an imminent closure due to lack of facilities to evacuate the slurry. The two ash ponds of the company have been filled to maximum and are hardly in a position to contain more slurry. The company’s proposal to...
TPM outcome to provide NZ Aluminium Smelters with $30 mln p.a. transmission cost relief
The outcome of the transmission pricing methodology (TPM) review was becoming increasingly important to the future of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, Forsyth Barr broker Damian Foster said yesterday. Smelter owner New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) was undertaking work to determine the level...
