AL Circle Analysis: Import rise meets demand growth on aluminium extrusion chessboard
Aluminium’s downstream trade network is getting more fragmented as import dependence, changing end-use demand and trade-policy interventions reshape regional markets. From North America and Europe to Asia-Pacific, the aluminium industry is navigating a market where access to supply, competitive...
US industrial policy needs to be systematic, not just ad hoc – Part 2
Our current approach can win economic skirmishes, but not the geopolitical conflict. – Part 2 Impact #5 of ad hoc industrial policy: Failing to use all required tools Industrial policy is often caricatured as just tariffs and subsidies. Mis-framed debates that evaluate the merits of tariffs in...
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Orbite begins shipping commercial samples of high-purity alumina
Orbite Aluminae Inc.is pleased to announce that the first commercial samples of high-purity alumina produced at its HPA plant in Cap-Chat, Quebec, and having a minimum purity of 4N (99.99%), began shipping this week to several customers in Europe, Asia and North America. Orbite has already received...
Jon Tester skeptical of Columbia Falls Company's aluminum plant reopening
U.S. Sen. Jon Tester says he is skeptical the shuttered Columbia Falls Aluminum Company plant will reopen after more than three years of trying to broker a power deal between owner Glencore and the Bonneville Power Administration. Tester held a listening session Tuesday for Columbia Falls residents...
Greco Aluminum Railings Ltd has a new subsidiary
Windsor-based Greco Aluminum Railings Ltd. has a new subsidiary, Greco Aluminum Railings USA Inc., which shares an office with Bloomfield Hills private equity firm O2 Investment Partners LLC. But the new majority owners expect its U.S. footprint to grow considerably from there. Last August, O2,...
Century Aluminum still in negotiations to buy electricity from Big Rivers
An update on the attempt to reach a compromise between Big Rivers Electric and Century Aluminum leaves continuing negotiations. A bill to allow Century Aluminum to buy electricity from the state is also in limbo in the Kentucky legislature with time running out. Big Rivers says the ball is now in...
Judge expected to approve terms of Ormet asset bidding process
US Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath was expected to approve on Thursday an agreement that sets the stage for a possible May 13 auction for the assets of US aluminum producer Ormet, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in Delaware on February 25. Patrick Burns, a Cincinnati-based...
Century Aluminum moving headquarters from California to One South Wacker
Century Aluminum Co. is moving its corporate headquarters from Monterrey, Calif., to One South Wacker in Chicago’s West Loop. Century, which has aluminium production facilities in Iceland, Kentucky, West Virginia and South Carolina, has signed a lease for 16,146 square feet of space on the...
Baucus and Tester seek study of the Columbia Falls plant
Montana’s two U.S. senators have asked the Environmental Protection Agency to study whether contamination at a closed aluminum plant poses a risk to the community or to businesses that might want to move to the site. The move by Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus apparently ends their effort to help...
Bankrupt aluminum smelter melts opposition to $90 million DIP
Having smoothed over differences with two key creditors, aluminum smelter Ormet Corp. on Thursday submitted final versions of its Chapter 11 bidding procedures and $90 million debtor-in-possession financing package, which enshrines private equity firm Wayzata Investment Partners LLC as the stalking...
Chris Smith appointed as the plant manager of Novelis Oswego
Novelis, the world’s premier producer of rolled aluminum and the global leader in aluminum recycling, announced the appointment of Chris Smith as the new plant manager of its Oswego facility. A 28-year Novelis veteran, Smith’s most recent position was Global Director of Automotive Products at the...
Steel industry gears up to meet aluminium's entry in automobiles
The auto industry is under pressure to lighten its vehicles to reduce emissions and boost fuel economy. That’s a potential boon for aluminum producers and a possible bust for the steel industry. According to an article in Automotive News, high-strength steels will “likely…dominate in Europe” while...
Nanshan America Co plant expects to increase workers
Officials say a new aluminum components factory in Lafayette plans to add dozens of workers this year as it ramps up production. Work on the Chinese-owned Nanshan America Co. plant began a couple years ago and now has about 80 workers. The company executive David Kummer says the plant will be...
Alba becomes member of Aluminum Extrusion Council
Aluminum Bahrain B.S.C.’s resolve to consolidate its commitment to the growing US aluminum market provided one of the key motivations behind its membership of the Aluminum Extruders Council – the premier association for extrusion companies and suppliers in the US. Alba’s membership to this...
Idling high-cost secondary smelting capacity would benefit entire supply chain - Beck Aluminum
The near-term demand picture for the US secondary aluminium industry looks relatively bright while the transport end-markets continue to show strength beyond expectations, Scott Beck, president of Beck Aluminum, said. Still, the sector faces numerous challenges, including smelter overcapacity,...
Ex- Aleris Alan Dick joins Alpert & Alpert as president
Los Angeles-based Alpert & Alpert Iron & Metal Inc. has announced the appointment of Alan Dick as its president, effective April 1, 2013. Dick joins Alpert & Alpert from Ohio-based aluminum producer Aleris, where he most recently was executive vice president and CEO - global recycling. Prior to...
Kentucky aluminum smelters decision may have larger ramifications
A bid by Century Aluminum Co. to buy power on the open market in Kentucky could have larger implications for the troubled U.S. aluminum industry. Reuters reports that benchmark aluminum prices have dropped more than 30 percent in less than two years, and high-cost electricity is challenging the...
Global Market view on Aluminium
LME three months prices were trading below $2,000/t at the time of writing. Sentiment remains weak amidst the potential turmoil in the Eurozone caused by the gridlock in Italian general elections, the US government sequester coming into effect on March 1, and disappointing data out of China. In the...
Alba’s production growth under spotlight
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C’s participation in two of North America's leading trade fairs for the metals industry highlights the company's commitment to raise its profile globally, to establish firmer links with industry peers, to share its experiences, and to learn of new trends, developments and...
Baucus, Tester ask EPA to evaluate contamination at Columbia Falls aluminum plant
Montana Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus have asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate contamination levels at the shuttered Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. plant. The Democratic senators said they hope to determine whether the 120-acre industrial area could pose a risk to the...
