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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Increased aluminium recycling could reduce China's metal industry energy use
China produces more aluminum than any other country. Secondary production, or producing metal from recycled scrap metal, is the primary opportunity to reduce the country's energy intensity for both of these industries, because secondary production uses significantly less energy than primary...
Century Issues WARN Notice at Mt. Holly, SC Smelter
Century Aluminum of South Carolina, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Century Aluminum Company today issued a notice to employees at its Mt. Holly, South Carolina aluminum smelter of its intent to curtail plant operations if the smelter is unable to secure a competitively priced power arrangement to...
South32 lifts coal, alumina production
South32 has delivered modest lifts in first-quarter alumina and coal production, and says it’s progressing well with plans to strip further costs out of its business as the resources sector continues to grapple with downbeat operating conditions. The mining group (S32), which was spun off from BHP...
Nalco's foray into nuclear energy hits legal roadblock
National Aluminium Company (Nalco)'s plan to foray into nuclear energy generation has hit a legal roadblock. Though the aluminium major proposed to set up a Rs 12,000 crore nuclear energy plant in joint venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), it is unable to go ahead with the...
Power cost- the key factor to limit Chinese aluminium smelters’ competitiveness
Escalating power cost is going to be the single critical factor for the Chinese aluminium smelters trying to stay competitive in the domestic as well as international market- China Cheng Xin International Credit Rating Co. (CCXI) made this observation amid slowing Chinese economy and somewhat...
Cheap power could attract India's Nalco to set up $3bn aluminium smelter in Oman
Indian aluminium giant National Aluminium Co Ltd (Nalco) is exploring opportunities in Oman, Iran and Indonesia to set up an aluminium smelter plant with an estimated investment of around US$3bn. The company would finalise the location for the plant after examining factors like availability of low...
Alcoa to separate into two entities: Upstream Company to focus on five key verticals
Lightweight metals leader Alcoa announced that its Board of Directors has unanimously approved a plan to separate into two independent, publicly-traded companies, culminating Alcoa’s successful multi-year transformation. The separation will launch two industry-leading, Fortune 500 companies. The...
Fall in aluminium price pushing Tiwai Pt into red: analyst
A startling slump in the price of aluminium on global markets is more than offsetting a 20 per cent fall in the New Zealand dollar against the greenback, pushing the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter into negative cashflow, according to estimates by Wellington investment firm Woodward Partners. Woodward...
Hindalco looks at new ways to cut costs
Hindalco Industries, the country’s largest aluminium maker, has cut production by up to 10 per cent at its Hirakud smelter in Odisha, on declining global prices and high energy costs. The cut by the Aditya Birla Group company has come at a time when smelter capacity use worldwide is down by a third...
Non-regulated power players in India oppose e-auction of coal linkages
Players from the non-regulated sectors in India including cement, iron and steel, sponge iron, aluminium and fertiilisers have objected to the Centre's move to introduce auction for coal linkages. They have appealed to the Centre not to shift in haste to Supplier Controlled Ascending Market...
Synergy to sell surplus coal to Worsley alumina refinery
West Australian Government-owned electricity generator Synergy has reached an agreement to sell surplus coal to the operators of a South West alumina refinery plagued by supply issues. The deal between Synergy and the operators of the Worsley alumina refinery, owned by South 32, was dubbed a...
Nalco to see limited impact on Odisha coal block: Goldman
Goldman Sachs sees limited impact on National Aluminium Company 's (Nalco) costs and utilisation after the government has allocated two coal blocks in Odisha to it. The Centre has allocated Utkal D and E coal blocks to the aluminium major, which had already set up a 4.6 lakh tonne smelter and 1,200...
Synthesis Energy updates on Tianwo-SES JV projects in China
Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc., a global energy and gasification technology company enabling clean, high-value energy and chemical products from multiple feedstocks, reports a progress update from its Tianwo-SES Clean Energy Technologies Company Joint Venture in China. The second of three...
Indian aluminium makers need to be cost competitive, say analysts
Hurt by spate of cheaper imports and plummeting LME (London Metal Exchange) prices, Indian aluminium makers need to focus on cost competitiveness in the long run to compete against their global counterparts, observe analysts. Aluminium producers like National Aluminium Company (Nalco), Hindalco...
China CWE's proposed $2bn dam in Guinea to boost expansion of bauxite processing
Guinea is in talks with China International Water & Electric Corp. to build a $2 billion hydro-power dam that would almost double the West African country’s energy output, providing new capacity for the expansion of bauxite processing, said Lansana Fofana, an energy ministry official. The...
Vedanta smelter bags national award in energy efficiency
The aluminium smelter unit of Vedanta Limited at Jharsuguda has been bestowed the coveted ‘Excellent Energy Efficient Unit’ award in the ‘16th National Award for Excellence in Energy Management’ conducted by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). This is the third successive year that Vedanta’s...
China aluminum cash cost falls in August on lower power cost
The average cash cost at Chinese aluminum smelters slipped 0.45% month-on-month in August, SMM statistics showed. SMM attributes the decline largely to 1.15% fall in power costs. Some smelters put lower-cost captive power plants into service, dragging down overall power costs. Alumina cost slid...
Chalco cuts aluminum smelter output against severe losses
Chalco, China's top aluminium producer, has slashed output at its two smelters as high electricity costs and falling prices have severly hit their bottomlines. Chalco (Liancheng) shut down 80 * 200kA electrolytic cells and 12 * 600KA electrolytic cells in H1 2015, and has closed almost all of its...
