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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Stronger dollar helps Romanian aluminium producer Alro turn to profit
Romania’s only aluminium producer Alro Slatina recorded an adjusted net profit of EUR 19.1 million in 2015 compared to adjusted losses of over EUR 30 million in 2014, as its turnover went up by 15% to EUR 517 million. The company managed to compensate part of the decline in international aluminium...
Higher power costs to make survival harder for Chinese aluminium smelters
Chinese aluminium smelters, already battered by multi-year low aluminium prices , will find it even harder to survive as the latest policy will add to their power costs. China’s Ministry of Finance issued a notice on collection of industrial enterprise restructuring special fund, mainly targeting...
Norsk Hydro to build the Karmøy technology pilot
Hydro has made a formal build decision for the planned full-scale technology pilot at Karmøy, Norway, aiming to verify the world's most climate and energy efficient production of primary aluminium. Total costs are estimated at NOK 4.3 billion, consisting of net project costs of NOK 2.7 billion and...
“Sustainability questions are increasingly important for every industry…aluminium industry is no exception,” Dr Fiona Solomon, Executive Director, Aluminium Stewardship Initiative
The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) was launched in 2012 to foster greater sustainability and transparency throughout the aluminium industry. Supported by key industry players, ASI is working with a broad base of stakeholders to assess industry-specific sustainability challenges,...
Romania's Alro Slatina borrows USD 60 mln to fund investments this year
Alro Slatina, one of Romania's biggest aluminium producers has inked an agreement with the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank to borrow a sum of USD 60 million. The primary aluminium maker will use the funds to carry out investments this year, the company announced. The loan has a seven-year...
Aluminium Federation SA begs National Energy Regulator to review its cost recovery strategy
Power utility Eskom will know in a matter of weeks whether its attempt to recover R22.8 billion for cost recovery and revenue adjustments is successful. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (Nersa) hearings on Eskom’s regulatory clearing account (RCA) ended on Friday and the regulator...
Jaguar Land Rover makes £36m emissions reduction pledge
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will invest £36m over the next three years in renewable energy, energy efficiency and process improvements, according to the British carmaker's latest sustainability report. In its latest responsible business performance update, released yesterday, 2 February, JLR said an...
Nalco sets all-weather business model to face global slowdown
In view of the slump in the world aluminium market, the National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has developed an all-weather business model to maintain profitability. "Given the tough going in the market, Nalco, a leading foreign exchange earner for the country amongst the central public sector...
Bell Bay Aluminium strikes deal with Hydro Tasmania to reduce power consumption
Bell Bay Aluminium, one of Tasmania's largest electricity users, has struck a deal with Hydro Tasmania to use 10 per cent less electricity for up to five months to ease pressure on the state's dams. Water storages have dipped below 19 per cent due to record dry conditions and a prolonged BassLink...
Hydro Årdal power outage has limited effect on production
Following the power outage on Friday night, around 10 percent of Hydro Årdal's primary aluminium production capacity is temporarily shut down. Hydro expects to leave customers unaffected by the incident by increasing remelt of cold metal at the plant’s cast house, compensating the temporarily...
NALCO: If you cannot beat Middle Eastern aluminum smelters, join them
India’s National Aluminium Co. (NALCO) seems to be declaring it will, indeed join them. The state-owned aluminium producer is sending a team to Iran, Qatar and Oman to explore opportunities for setting up a gas-fired thermal power plant and associated aluminium smelter next month according a report...
EGA team develops new system to cut power costs in aluminium production
A team of engineers at Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the fifth largest aluminium producer in the world, has developed a unique cathode structure that could reduce operating costs at the plants significantly. Aluminium production is an energy-intensive industry, such that using less energy during...
Tiwai Point aluminium smelter could run at half capacity
New predictions pick the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter in Southland is likely to stay open, but possibly in a scaled-down form.The predictions come from utilities analyst Nevill Gluyas at research and broking firm First New Zealand Capital. There have been suggestions for years that the smelter...
Novel molten metals (aluminium)-based battery offers low-cost, long-lasting storage for the grid
A novel rechargeable battery developed at MIT could one day play a critical role in the massive expansion of solar generation needed to mitigate climate change by midcentury. Designed to store energy on the electric grid, the high-capacity battery consists of molten metals (including molten...
Aluminium rolling costs keep on falling
Costs are falling in the rolled products industry, due to both lower LME prices and weak energy prices. Using CRU's Aluminium Rolling Cost (ARC) model, we have shown that costs fell in 2014 and 2015, with 2016 costs likely to continue their downward movement. However, from 2017 onwards we expect...
Ameren in talks with state lawmakers to save Noranda's Missouri aluminium smelter
St. Louis based energy utility service provider Ameren Missouri is in talks with the state lawmakers to help its largest customer, Noranda Aluminum find some way out to evade possible closure of its Southeast Missouri aluminum smelter, reported sources close to both the companies. The smelting...
Tiwai Point smelter nearing break-even amid global aluminium glut
The future of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter looks healthier. Amid falling alumina prices, global aluminium glut, and a weakening New Zealand dollar, this phenomenon indeed stands out as a milestone for the smelter owner, observe researchers in a recently published assessment note on the prospects...
EGA sponsors World Future Energy Summit 2016
As Associate Sponsor for the seventh consecutive year, UAE aluminium giant Emirates Global Aluminium ("EGA") will again play a pivotal role at the World Future Energy Summit ("WFES") 2016, hosted by Masdar at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from 18 to 21 January. Jointly owned by Mubadala...
