Alcoa’s 16kg aluminium wheel could change fleet efficiency equation
A truck’s overall weight comes from dozens of components, including the engine, chassis, tyres, etc. Wheels are one area where fleets can explore lightweighting. Traditional steel wheels, widely used across the transport industry, are known for their robustness. Forged Alcoa aluminium wheels offer...
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...
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Rio hangs on to loss-making aluminium business as profit falls
Mining group Rio Tinto Ltd/Plc has scrapped efforts to sell its loss-making Pacific Aluminium business, blaming poor market conditions as weaker iron ore, copper and coal prices dragged first-half profit down 18 percent. Rio - which has put a handful of assets on the block as it concentrates on...
Meridian Energy reaches electricity contract deal with Tiwai Pt smelter
Meridian Energy has had to give up previously negotiated price increases and the government has chipped in with a $30 million ""incentive payment"" to keep the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter open until at least January 2017. Meridian chief executive Mark Binns announced the deal in a statement to the...
Northern Territory bye-passes court ruling over recycling scheme
The Northern Territory government has reinstated its cash for containers program despite losing a Federal Court challenge on the issue earlier this year. The Territory introduced a 10c refund on cans and bottles last year, but was taken to court by Coca-Cola Amatil, Schweppes Australia and Lion Pty...
More jobs cuts expected in Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter
Thirty more jobs are in the firing line at the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters yesterday proposed to axe more than 30 maintenance jobs at the smelter. The cuts are part of the company's plan to streamline its operations to help return the smelter to viability in the face...
Production increase approved for Alcoa's Wagerup refinery
Alcoa has been given the go ahead for a planned production increase at its Wagerup alumina refinery in Western Australia, despite the health fears of local residents. Nine appeals were lodged against the upgrade of the plant, with residents in the nearby towns of Yarloop and Waroona saying odour...
Cement plant closure would lead to increased costs for Tiwai Pt smelter
The closure of Holcim's Westport cement plant will lead to increased costs for the cash-strapped Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter, its acting general manager says. This week, Holcim announced it would close its Westport cement plant in about two years and will instead import cement to New Zealand. In...
Northern Territory Government has offered 195PJ of gas to Pacific Aluminium
The Deputy Chief Minister Dave Tollner will visit Gove today to update locals on progress with plans to get gas to the town. “We are taking this issue very seriously. We want to assure the people of Gove that we are working hard to find a long term solution to the town’s energy needs that is...
Meridian Energy sale likely to take place in the next 10 weeks
According to the Government's privatisation timetable, the sale of 49 per cent of Meridian Energy will occur some time in the next 10 weeks. However, for that to happen, there must first be a resolution of Meridian's big problem with its biggest customer, the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, owned by...
Tiwai Point power talks continue
State-owned power company Meridian Energy says talks are "ongoing" on renegotiating a power contract with the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. Media reports today suggested that a new deal was all but signed. That would help clear the way for the Government's partial privatisation of Meridian this...
Architectural Glass & Aluminium Group moving Honolulu office
Architectural Glass & Aluminium Group Inc. is moving its Hawaii headquarters to the 677 Ala Moana Building, formerly known as the Gold Bond Building, in Honolulu, landlord Redico said Tuesday. Architectural Glass & Aluminium, which is headquartered in California, does curtain wall...
June World Aluminum Output 2.042 Mln Tons, Down 70,000 Tons
Total world aluminum production in June fell by 70,000 metric tons to 2.042 million tons, according to figures released Monday by the International Aluminum Institute. World production in May stood at 2.112 million tons. June production was up 12,000 tons compared with the same month of 2012, when...
Rio Tinto Alcan’s production up thanks to Yarwun demand
RIO Tinto Alcan has boosted bauxite production by 21% in the second quarter of the year, compared to the same quarter in 2012. Strong operational performance has driven higher volumes at Weipa, as bauxite requirements from the expanded Yarwun refinery at Gladstone increased, along with third party...
Rio Tinto’s aluminium production up by 7% in H1, 2013
Despite landslides, equipment breakdown and wet weather, London-based mining giant Rio Tinto has been blessed with good news in the shape of increased output, not only from iron ore, but also aluminium in H1 2013. According to CEO Sam Walsh, who took over from Tom Albanese at the beginning of the...
CONTACT and GENESIS Energy eat greatest risk from Tiwai closure
Contact Energy and state-owned Genesis Energy are the two power companies most at risk if the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter closes, says a senior Standard & Poors analyst, Richard Creed. In an interview televised on the Reuters Insider programme, Creed, who is S&P's director of corporate and...
Bell Bay smelter jobs cut
The struggling Bell Bay Aluminium smelter will cut 18 jobs as it continues to face "extremely challenging" market conditions. General manager Ray Mostogl said the decision followed a streamlining of work on site that had resulted in increased efficiencies and cost savings in the maintenance area....
Bell Bay Aluminium awaits government support for new freight route
Bell Bay Aluminium, like other exporters, seeks new international freight shipping service from Bell Bay but the company will have to wait at least until August to see if they have government support for the initiative. A spokesman for state Infrastructure Minister David O'Byrne said that...
Homegrown idea for smelter saves $160,000
The workers are putting all efforts to generate gains at the cash-strapped Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter which is reeling under huge financial losses. The latest to the efforts is the homegrown automated thermocouple to check the temperature of the molten aluminium in the furnace that saved the...
Dross recycler hopeful of smelter revival
Bosses at a company that recycles dross from the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter say they are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars on their plant because they are confident a deal between the smelter and Meridian Energy will be “sorted within a month”. However, Stewart Hamilton, acting general...
