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 Corporation of China signs up for clean energy for its plants
In a bid to provide cleaner energy, Jiangsu Tianwo-SES Clean Energy Technologies Ltd. (TSEC) China joint venture partner, Zhangjiagang Chemical Machinery Co., Ltd. (ZCM) has secured orders worth over RMB 650 million for three syngas supply plants which will create seven gasification systems using...
Sohar Aluminium Completes Major Upgrade of Potline
A major revamp of Sohar Aluminium’s 1.2km long potline, which forms the centerpiece of the $2.4 billion smelter project, concluded be end of November 2014 weekend marking the culmination of a multimillion dollar initiative that is already contributing to productivity optimization, energy...
Rio Tinto Alcan Iceland and Landsvirkjun review their power contract
Rio Tinto Alcan Iceland and Landsvirkjun have today agreed on a modified power supply agreement to better reflect the power requirements of ISAL, Rio Tinto Alcan’s aluminium plant at Straumsvik. In 2010 Landsvirkjun and Rio Tinto Alcan Iceland signed a power contract, for power delivery extending...
Ultrasound cuts costs in producing aluminium alloys
Molten aluminium alloys at 700 °C naturally contain a high percentage of dissolved hydrogen, left untreated, the resulting solid metal is highly porous. The most widely- used method of hydrogen removal – argon rotary degassing - is energy intensive and requires costly components. In pilot scale...
First Bauxite releases detailed analysis on multiple projects
The First Bauxite Corporation has completed the strategic review of two of its projects, the Bankable Feasibility Study Update (BFSU Project) which was filed on 21 November 2011 and the planned pre-feasibility study (PFS Project) which was first introduced on 14th Feb, 2013. The first project was...
New solar array further reduces EGA's power demand
The UAE's aluminium giant Emirates Global Aluminium ("EGA"), has unveiled a mini solar field at one of its core operating assets - Dubai Aluminium ("DUBAL", known as Jebel Ali Operations). The new array, which has a maximum output of 70kW, will generate enough power to run the electricity...
Drop in crude oil prices affects aluminium prices
The falling oil prices have signaled a fall in aluminium prices as well, which has fallen the most in a week. Since aluminium is an energy intensive industry, the falling price of fuel significantly affects the cost of production, thereby affecting the price. Even though crude oil is not the...
Alumimium plant workers face 30% pay cuts after financial rescue
Workers at aluminium factor Aldel have been faced with average pay cuts of 30% following the company’s relaunch, broadcaster Nos said on Thursday. The new wages are in line with metal working sector pay scales but some people will earn up to €700 a month less, union officials say. Staff have...
Sapa puts aluminium in London’s crown jewel
The Crystal has been named for its architectural resemblance with a rock crystal, and the building has become one of the most remarkable in London. Sapa Building System has contributed energy-efficient windows for the Crystal’s complex façade. Built and operated by Siemens, the Crystal is a global...
Trimet proposes to use molten aluminium as “batteries”
The aluminium industry is constantly struggling with energy issues as it takes a lot of electricity to produce aluminium pushing up the cost of production. In this regard, renewable energy comes especially handy as you have the opportunity to avail cheap or even free energy. That is Germany is...
Norsk Hydro : Hydro Capital Markets Day 2014: Lifting performance, creating value in tight markets
Tight global aluminium markets are expected to continue, translating into higher all-in metal prices and stronger earnings for aluminium producers. Norwegian aluminium company Norsk Hydro ASA is focusing its Capital Markets Day 2014 on creating value in a tightening aluminium market through its...
Strict EU regulations imposing pressure on the aluminium producers
The Alunorf plant located in Germany’s Neuss city has a production line that the workers fondly call “the grill” and around this plant, several other smelters operate making the area one of Europe’s industrial clusters firing up to 960C, proving that the aluminium industry is a power guzzler....
Scaled-down aluminum plant possible
With an exclusive developing agreement expiring in just two weeks, City Manager Curt Mitchell announced Monday that the status of a proposed aluminum plant is still “unlikely” but a scaled-down version of the project could be built. “It’s very unlikely the project will proceed as originally...
Bell Bay Aluminium recovers but issues still persist
In 2011, when Ray Mastogi joined the Bell Bay Aluminium as general manager, the conditions were very weak and it was almost close to a shut down. Now, although the conditions are still bleak, they have recovered greatly since then. The 59-year old smelter has had to cut down its workforce by 20...
Press Metal jumps 11% on plans to double smelter capacity
Press Metal Bhd rose as much as 11% after the firm signed a power supply term sheet with Syarikat Sesco Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sarawak Energy Bhd. The term sheet is for the supply of 500MW of power by Sarawak Energy to Press Metal's proposed phase III aluminium smelter at the Samalaju...
“We look at outputs that are considered waste by an industry and take a holistic approach which takes into consideration all the elements in the waste… Mr. Michael Shenton, CEO, Prima Resources, WA
AlCircle is a platform that strives to promote the advancement of use of aluminium as a sustainable material of choice. In that direction, we would like to highlight not only the established players of the industry who are contributing successfully towards the growth of the industry but also those...
Armenian foil producer Rusal-Armenal to increase production
The financial director of Armenian Rusal-Armenal Vahe Suvalyan, disclosed their plans of increasing the foil output of the company by 5.5% compared to last year, to around 29,000 by the end of this year. Suvalayan further revealed that there are plans of a similar increase in the next year as well....
Klesch Group’s Aldel to restart production in 2015
The Dutch smelter named Aluminium Delfzijl (Aldel) owned by the Klesch Group had applied for bankruptcy 10 months ago but they are now planning to start production early next year. Klesch, the Swiss-based commodities company said that their decision was based on the improving global aluminium...
