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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Aluminium record set in 2011
The smelter at Tiwai Point produced a record amount of aluminium last year. The smelter produced 354,030 saleable tonnes. The previous highest year was 352,976 tonnes in 2007. The smelter is New Zealand's largest single user of electricity and creates export sales in excess of $1 billion. The...
Aluminium smelter lacking rain
The operators of New Zealand's only aluminium smelter would like some rain, and plenty of it. Decreasing water levels in the South Island hydro lakes has electricity spot market prices fluctuating. The price fluctuations mean power consumption at the Tiwai Point smelter has been reduced and...
Hydro's fourth quarter results affected by impairments
Norsk Hydro ASA will write down the value of certain fixed assets by approximately NOK 1.3 billion, affecting its fourth-quarter 2011 results. The impairments are a result of a weakening in certain markets and low prices, in combination with raw material and currency pressures. Hydro continues to...
Record production for smelter
The Tiwai Point smelter has hit a record in production after 354,030 tonnes of saleable aluminium was made last year. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters general manager Ryan Cavanagh announced the record today, the highest level since 2007 when 352,976 tonnes was produced. "This is an achievement every...
Norsk Hydro Restricts Production at its Aluminium Facility in Australia
In response to the economic slowdown, low metal prices and a weak market, Norsk Hydro has announced that it will stop one of its production lines at its facility located in Kurri Kurri in Australia. The company has taken this decision in consultation with its employees. The company will stop...
UPDATE 1-Norsk Hydro to cut Australia aluminium plant output
Norwegian aluminium producer Norsk Hydro will close one of three production lines at its Kurri Kurri plant in Australia, taking 60,000 metric tonnes a year off the weak metals market, the company said on Wednesday. "Kurri Kurri is in a tough spot, and we need to take swift actions to reduce...
Smelter hit by hike in spot power
Dry conditions are forcing the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter to pay about five times the average spot power price and could result in reduced production if it continues. NZ Aluminium Smelters acting general manager Stewart Hamilton said the smelter was watching the spot prices as the cost of...
Trade of the Week: Output cuts boost aluminium
Overcapacity in the aluminium industry and the decline in the price of the metal since its peak in 2008 prompted two major producers to announce cuts in jobs and output last week, and the prospect of further cutbacks across the sector bodes well for commodity investors hunting for upside. Since...
Barclays: Global aluminium-capacity closures now 1.3 million tons/year
Barclays Capital calculates that announced aluminium-capacity closures around the world now total 1.3 million metric tons per year. This includes capacity of 292,000 tons which has not been producing since 2009, around 342,000 tons of non-price-related closures and 85,000 tons per year of delayed...
Hydro is considering to curtail production in Kurri Kurri, Australia
Norsk Hydro ASA is considering curtailing production at its Kurri Kurri aluminium plant in Australia. A consultation process has started with the local employees. "In response to the demanding situation, we are considering reducing aluminium production at Kurri Kurri. We will continue to stay in...
Smelter owner to review way it ships goods
New Zealand Aluminium Smelters is reassessing the way it ships dangerous goods after 21 of its containers are believed to have sunk with the container ship Rena. Pacific Aluminium spokesman Anthony Havers yesterday said the company was reviewing its shipping processes following the Rena grounding...
BUA bauxite mining project inspection
THE inspection of the progress of work at the bauxite mining project in Bua will be conducted tomorrow by the Department of Mineral Resources. Director Mineral Resources Malakai Finau said yesterday officials would visit the site at Nawailevu for inspection of the jetty and the digging of the...
Adopt a can-do attitude and get recycling
Wherever you are this summer, party the environmentally friendly way by recycling all of your aluminium cans. Alcoa, Planet Ark and eight-time world surfing champion Layne Beachley have joined forces in a campaign aimed at increasing the number of recycled cans. Planet Ark’s Brad Gray said there...
Barge arrives for first soil shipment
A Barge from China arrived in the country yesterday to take back soil from a bauxite mine in Bua. The barge which anchored at Malau, outside Labasa Town, will take to China the soil already stockpiled at Nawailevu in Bua. Director of Mineral Resources Malakai Finau confirmed that soil from the...
Local aluminium avoids price-slide fallout
AUSTRALIAN operations held in joint venture by Alcoa and Melbourne's Alumina are expected to escape the savage cutbacks that Alcoa has told the US market it needs to make in response to the collapse in aluminium prices. The Alcoa-managed AWAC joint venture - owned 60 per cent by Alcoa and 40 per...
Bauxite mining starts
WORK at the bauxite mine site at Nawailevu in Bua has started. A team from the Commissioner Northern's office visited the site on Tuesday to inspect the progress of the mining work. Divisional planning officer northern Alipate Bolalevu said construction work was progressing well. "The mining...
Taha Starts Aluminum Dross Processing in New Zealand
Taha Asia Pacific Ltd., the New Zealand subsidiary of Taha International Corp., Bahrain, has begun processing aluminum dross at its newly opened facility in Tiwai, New Zealand. Taha says it is using a mechanical system to extract all the trace aluminum that will then be returned to an aluminum...
ANZ Said to Market Chalco Loan After Bridging Funding Gap
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. plans to sell another $90 million of a $300 million loan for Aluminum Corp of China Ltd. to banks after funding the majority of the facility, a person familiar with the matter said. About three banks are expected to buy the debt from ANZ in January, said...
