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Aluminium/Bauxite

China’s war on smog not seen as a game-changer for aluminum market – by Pratima Desai and Zandi Shabalala (Reuters U.S. – February 2, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – Top aluminum producer China’s battle against pollution has raised the prospect of output cuts, causing prices to rise to 20-month highs, but the rally might have gone too far as oversupply remains a problem.

The market excitement was sparked by a Chinese government document proposing that about a third of aluminum capacity in the provinces of Shandong, Henan, Hebei and Shanxi should be shut over the winter months.

That would aid Beijing’s war on noxious smog, partly created by firms burning thermal coal to produce electricity, which in China could account for between 25 and 40 percent of the costs of producing aluminum.

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Aluminum’s dangerous dependency on China’s smelter sector – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – January 26, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – China produced 31.6 million tonnes of aluminum last year. National output in both November and December was running at an annualized 34 million tonnes, a fresh record.

The country’s share of global output last month was more than 56 percent, according to figures from the International Aluminium Institute (IAI). Ten years ago it was around 30 percent.

The build-out of capacity in the intervening decade has been explosive and is continuing, a new generation of smelters rising out of the deserts of the northwestern province of Xinjiang. China’s increasing dominance of the global supply chain has fueled resentment among other producing nations.

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WHY JAKARTA NEEDS TO READ UP ON 15TH-CENTURY ENGLAND – by Tom Holland (South China Morning Post – January 23, 2017)

http://www.scmp.com/

Indonesia wants to build processing plants to add value to the nation’s copper, nickel and bauxite resources, but mining companies are not cooperating

Earlier this month the Indonesian government announced it would relax its ban on the export of raw mineral ores. Despite appearances to the contrary, officials claim they are not retreating from their hardline policy of resource nationalism.

Restricting the export of unprocessed commodities, they continue to insist, will create high-value jobs and spur Indonesia’s economic growth. Critics of the policy are less sure.

The reasoning behind the export ban, which was proposed in 2009 and came into partial effect three years ago, is simple enough. Indonesia is rich in deposits of minerals including copper, nickel and bauxite, the ore of aluminium.

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Indonesia eases export ban on nickel ore, bauxite – by Wilda Asmarini and Bernadette Christina Munthe (Reuters U.S. – January 12, 2017)

http://www.reuters.com/

JAKARTA – Indonesia introduced new rules on Thursday that will allow exports of nickel ore and bauxite and concentrates of other minerals under certain conditions, in a sweeping policy shift from the key global supplier.

The broad changes cover areas including permit extensions, which can now be applied for up to five years in advance of expiry, and rules on divestment.

The changes also require nickel and bauxite miners to dedicate at least 30 percent of their smelter capacity to process low-grade ore, defined as below 1.7 percent nickel or below 42 percent aluminum.

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Excerpt: How Aluminum Revolutionized The Canoe – by Mark Neuzil and Norman Sims(Gear Junkie – December 26, 2016)

https://gearjunkie.com/

After World War II, the manufacture and performance of American-made canoes experienced a surge thanks to a new material: Aluminum.

Before man first wrought tools of bronze, before ancient Egyptians built the pyramids or even before written language, there were canoes. Despite newer, stronger, lighter materials, the canoe remained largely unchanged for the last 5,000 years. Canoes: A Natural History in North America reveals the evolution and design of this ancient watercraft.

This excerpt explores the then-revolutionary advancement into the first aluminum canoes—made right here in the U.S.A.

THE FIRST OF THE POST-WORLD WAR II CANOES to hit the market successfully in a material other than wood were built of aluminum—not a synthetic material, but not an element with a huge market share in mass-produced boats. Aluminum had a brief history with watercraft, full of stops and starts and mostly dead ends.

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Jets stir up stronger aluminum, reduce casting waste – by David Szondy (New Atlas.com – December 10, 2016)

http://newatlas.com/

Aluminum is ubiquitous in our modern age, but it’s surprisingly hard to produce alloys for it without putting up with significant waste from bad mixtures. MIT researchers Antoine Allanore and Samuel R. Wagstaff have been studying how aluminum alloys harden and have come up with a way to use jets to produce more even distributions of copper and manganese in castings.

Direct-chill casting is a semicontinuous way of producing aluminum alloy ingots by quickly cooling the molten metal as it’s poured into chilled molds. It’s a very effective process, but according to Allanore and Wagstaff it leaves something to be desired in terms of quality control.

Though an ingot may look perfectly sound on the outside, it may have patches high or low in copper or manganese ranging in size from inches to feet, resulting in weaker slabs of cast metal. This can mean large amounts of aluminum being relegated to the scrap pile.

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Unfair Chinese practices put U.S. aluminum jobs at risk – by Garney Scott (Knoxville News Sentinel – November 27, 2016)

http://www.knoxnews.com/

Because it’s so common in our everyday lives, it’s easy to overlook aluminum. Everyone is familiar with the ubiquitous soda and beer can or kitchen foil, but aluminum is also used to create materials for building construction, aircraft, automobiles and even cellphones and tablet computers.

And a lot of that metal is made right here. In fact, the industry represents approximately $75 billion in direct economic impact in the United States and more than $3.1 billion in Tennessee.

Virtually alone among the basic material sectors of the world, aluminum is experiencing a once-in-a-generation expansion in projected demand as firms move to engineered aluminum solutions, from fuel-efficient vehicles to green buildings.

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Traders Scramble for Aluminum in a World Saturated With Supply – by Mark Burton and Agnieszka de Sousa (Bloomberg News – November 24, 2016)

http://www.bloombergquint.com/

(Bloomberg) — The world is awash with aluminum, but on the biggest metals bourse it can be hard to get.

At one point this week, the metal was so scarce on the London Metal Exchange that traders paid the highest fee in four years to roll forward their short positions for one day. That shows the difficulty of buying back aluminum in a market where warehouse inventories are shrinking and one company controls at least half of the available stockpiles and short-dated positions.

The difficulty that metals traders experienced in finding aluminum on the LME may seem odd considering the abundant global supply of the metal. Harbor Intelligence estimates more than 13 million tons of aluminum are held in warehouses outside the LME’s network, enough to supply the U.S. for at least two years.

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Aluminium in Iran – can the potential be realised? – by Ken Stanford (Aluminum Insider – November 18, 2016)

http://aluminiuminsider.com/

Following the relaxation of sanctions, Iran, which has for many years been marred by political issues and civil unrest now has plans for fresh development of its infrastructure and industry – and the country’s aluminium sector in particular has been targeted for key support. However, the prospects for realising the considerable potential will be impacted by various challenges.

Aluminium is the world’s fastest growing industrial metal and Iran has the potential to be a major player in this accelerating, profitable sector, according to a recent presentation made in Iran by the London-based Commodities Research Unit Group (CRU). CRU’s raw materials expert, Michael Insulan, was speaking at a seminar staged at the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organisation (IMIDRO), headquartered in Tehran.

According to Insulan, demand for aluminium has been growing at a fast pace. In order to consider Iran’s potential, it is useful to take a look at the regional and global context. The metal recorded a nearly 6% compound annual demand growth rate for the 2000-15 period – even topping iron ore, the global commodity market’s most sought-after material.

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Twelve U.S. senators urge security rejection of China aluminum M&A deal – by David Lawder (Reuters U.S. – November 2, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

WASHINGTON – Twelve U.S. senators urged on Wednesday that a national security review panel reject Chinese aluminum giant Zhongwang International Group Ltd’s proposed $2.3 billion purchase of U.S. aluminum products maker Aleris Corp.

The senators asked Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in a letter to launch a review of the deal by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States and “ultimately reject it” on grounds that it would damage the U.S. defense industrial base.

“Zhongwang’s purchase of Aleris would directly undermine our national security, including by jeopardizing the U.S. manufacturing base for sensitive technologies in an industry already devastated by the effects of China’s market distorting policies, and creating serious risk that sensitive technologies and knowhow will be transferred to China, further imperiling U.S. defense interests,” the senators wrote.

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China’s aluminum output booms as Shanghai disconnect looms – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – October 25, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – The Chinese aluminum machine is once again cranking up. The country produced 2.75 million tonnes of the stuff in September, the second-highest monthly tally ever, exceeded only in June 2015. Annualized run rates have accelerated by 2.16 million tonnes to 33.48 million over the last two months and China accounted for 55.7 percent of global output in September.

These figures, supplied to the International Aluminum Institute by China’s Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, come with a health warning, prone as they are to bouts of alarming monthly volatility. But the trend is firmly upwards and appears to bear out a broad analyst consensus that a period of rare self-discipline by Chinese smelters was doomed to end sooner or later.

The reason that smelters are now turning the taps back on is largely one of price. Shanghai aluminum prices have been on a tear since troughing below 9,000 yuan per tonne in November 2015.

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Maiden bauxite shipment from Weipa’s Hey Point a step forward for Metallica Minerals – by Charlie McKillop (Australian Broadcasting Corporation Rural – October 25, 2016)

http://www.abc.net.au/

A successful shipment of bauxite using a barge loading facility at Weipa has been a cause of excitement in the far north Queensland mining town. Green Coast Resources (GCR) is the first company not aligned with Rio Tinto or Comalco to export bauxite from Cape York Peninsula for more than 50 years.

GCR purchased a tenement several years ago from Cape Alumina Limited, and gained approval to extract and export bauxite from the new mine. But its maiden shipment also was seen as a major step forward for developmental company Metallica Minerals, which provided working capital for the first shipment.

According to its statement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Metallica Minerals provided a short-term loan to GCR and in return, will receive transhipping services when production from its nearby Urquhart project starts next year.

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Ohio’s US Senators Call for WTO Action Against Chinese Aluminum Firms – by Staff (Alumimium Insider – October 23, 2016)

http://aluminiuminsider.com/

Ohio’s two United States senators issued a joint press release on Friday urging the United States Trade Representative to bring a World Trade Organization case against the People’s Republic of China over its aluminium overcapacity. The senators say that 15,000 American workers have lost their jobs in the industry over the last decade.

“China has unfairly subsidized its aluminum industry – it’s not competing, it’s cheating,” said Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown. “Enforcing our trade laws will ensure that U.S. aluminum manufacturers, the best in the world, have the opportunity to compete on a level playing field. The Administration needs to stand up for American businesses and put an end to the massive layoffs that have devastated workers and their communities.”

“I firmly believe that when Ohio workers have a level playing field, they can compete and win against competition anywhere in the world,” said Republican Senator Rob Portman. “Unfortunately, China’s persistent cheating has led to a situation where the playing field is not level in the aluminum industry, and Ohioans have suffered as a result.

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China aluminum makers to target auto, aerospace in global push – by Melanie Burton (Reuters U.S. – October 17, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

China’s giant aluminum makers are pushing into the global automotive and aerospace markets, with industry sources expecting their presence to heat up competition and possibly spark a buying spree for Western metals companies.

China’s top aluminum companies are venturing into the more lucrative parts of the global value chain, on course to seize market share from the likes of Alcoa and Constellium, as they look to buy into foreign firms to boost their technical know-how and expand their reach.

The chief executive of Novelis Inc [NVLX.UL], the world’s largest maker of rolled aluminum products, said last week he expected competition with Chinese producers to be “very fierce” over the next five to 10 years in the high-value-added sectors of aerospace and engineering – which so far have been dominated by European and U.S. manufacturers.

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Indonesia unlikely to relax ban on nickel ore and bauxite exports – by Wilda Asmarini and Fergus Jensen (Reuters U.S. – October 12, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

JAKARTA – Indonesia will “almost definitely” keep in place a ban on nickel ore and bauxite exports, the country’s mining minister said on Wednesday, just days after it had considered lifting the restriction to raise extra cash in an overhaul of mining rules.

Indonesia banned metal ore exports in early 2014 to encourage miners to build smelters to create jobs and shift exports from raw materials to higher-value finished metals.

But the government has been comprehensively reevaluating the domestic mineral processing requirements, amid concerns that the current deadline for full processing of all minerals by 2017 may not work for certain metals.

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