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Aluminium/Bauxite

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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U.S. judge dismisses aluminum price-fixing litigation – by Jonathan Stempel (Reuters U.S. – October 5, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK – A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed nationwide litigation by aluminum purchasers who accused banks and commodity companies of conspiring to drive up prices for the metal by reducing supply, forcing them to overpay.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan halts, for now, three years of litigation against Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, mining company Glencore Plc, and various commodity trading, mining and metals warehousing companies.

Purchasers had accused the defendants of colluding from 2009 to 2012 to manipulate prices by hoarding inventory. They claimed that this caused delays of up to 16 months to fill orders, leading to higher storage costs, which in turn inflated aluminum prices and the cost of producing cabinets, flashlights, soft drink cans, strollers and other goods.

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U.S. Aluminum Producers Step Up Calls for China Policy Probe – by Joe Deaux (Bloomberg News – September 28, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

The U.S. aluminum industry’s anti-China drumbeat is gaining volume in Washington this week.

A group that represents aluminum companies is calling for a “meaningful dialogue” with Chinese authorities in a bid to end what they say are incentives and subsidies that are fueling a global glut and squeezing U.S. producers out of the market.

The Aluminum Association is pressing for a deeper investigation by the U.S. International Trade Commission into Chinese policies to save what’s left of the domestic industry, the group’s chief executive officer Heidi Brock and chairman Garney Scott said in Washington on Wednesday. They are scheduled to give testimony Thursday at a Commission hearing.

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Aluminum premiums stabilize in Europe, U.S., Japan vulnerable – by Eric Onstad and Yuka Obayashi (Reuters U.S. – September 19, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON/TOKYO – Surcharges for physical aluminum have stabilized in Europe and the United States as more attractive financing deals and firmer demand tighten the market, but those in Japan are vulnerable to sliding further due to a glut of supply.

In all three regions, the surcharges, or premiums, which consumers pay on top of the London Metal Exchange cash price for immediate delivery, have steadily declined for most of the year, falling by around a third.

A key driver of the decline has been more material released from LME warehouses after the exchange toughened regulations, forcing warehouses to cut queues to get delivery of metal. European premiums were quoted in a wide range at $105-$135 a tonne for duty-paid metal in Rotterdam, with the upper end of the range up about $10 in recent weeks but still well down from $160-$185 at the start of the year.

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China denies aluminium exports evading U.S. duties (Reuters Africa – September 14, 2016)

http://af.reuters.com/

SHANGHAI, Sept 14 (Reuters) – A Chinese industry group has denied that the country’s aluminium producers could be involved in exporting extrusion products via Mexico to circumvent U.S. duties, in the latest sign of bubbling trade tensions between the two nations.

A report by the Wall Street Journal last week cited U.S aluminium executives contending that some $2 billion worth of Chinese metal products had been stockpiled in Mexico as part of a scheme to re-export to the United States, which imposes heavy duties on Chinese products.

The newspaper said a total of 1 million tonnes of aluminium products were previously spotted by a pilot commissioned by a U.S. aluminium executive to fly over a factory in Mexico.

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Cape York bauxite mining provides training and jobs for Aborigines in isolated towns – by Peter Michael (The Courier-Mail – September 11, 2016)

http://www.couriermail.com.au/

CAPE York’s vast reserves of bauxite are delivering pay dirt for some of the state’s most disadvantaged Aboriginal clans. Wik traditional owner Murray Korkatain is in the vanguard of a pipeline of training and jobs in bauxite mining.

He’s about to move into a Local Aboriginal Person traineeship as a mine operator, learning to work heavy equipment in an 18-month program. “I’ve had to overcome a lot of challenges, but I’m glad that I stuck at it because I’m excited to start my traineeship,” the Rio Tinto worker said yesterday.

“My motivation for work and to progress my career is to be a good role model for my children in Aurukun and ­others in the community. “My advice for others in Aurukun is to grab opportunities and give it a go. It’s not easy but it’s worth it.

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Guinea Goes From Zero to Hero for World’s Top Aluminum Maker (Bloomberg News – September 9, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Guinea will pass Australia to become China’s main source of bauxite next year as the world’s biggest aluminum maker boosts imports of the raw material from the West African nation that supplied almost nothing just two years ago.

Shipments from Guinea to China will reach as much as 13 million metric tons this year, up from just 300,000 tons in 2015 and negligible volumes in 2014, according to Ron Knapp, secretary general of the International Aluminum Institute.

That will take Guinea past Malaysia to become the number two supplier, and shipments will advance in 2017 to beat Australia, Knapp said Thursday in an interview at an industry conference in Shanghai. He didn’t give specific volume forecasts for 2017.

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China’s Swoop on Boeing Supplier Points to Aluminum’s Future (Bloomberg News – September 6, 2016)

http://www.bloomberg.com/

China’s emergence as the world’s biggest aluminum maker has shaken up the industry, creating a surplus that forced competitors to close plants as profit fell. Alcoa Inc., an iconic U.S. producer for more than a century, has shuttered all but one smelter and plans to split itself in two. While some companies begin to show signs of stanching the red ink, there’s probably more disruption ahead.

After dominating the market for raw aluminum, China wants to expand its ability to make higher-value products with the commodity. The biggest step so far was the announcement last week that Chinese aluminum entrepreneur Liu Zhongtian will acquire Cleveland-based Aleris Corp. for $2.3 billion.

The deal gives the founder of China’s largest producer of extruded aluminum greater access to American and European technology, as well as buyers that include aerospace manufacturers like Boeing Co. and automakers such as Audi.

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Chinese-owned Zhongwang USA enters U.S. aluminum market with Aleris buy – by Luc Cohen(Reuters U.S. – August 30, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

NEW YORK – Zhongwang USA LLC, backed by Chinese aluminum magnate Liu Zhongtian, said on Monday it would buy U.S. aluminum company Aleris Corp in a bet by the billionaire that the nascent U.S. automotive aluminum sector will be the industry’s next big growth market.

The $2.33 billion deal comes as Liu and Zhongwang International Group Ltd, the parent of Zhongwang USA, are embroiled in a dispute over U.S. import duties amid broader trade tensions between the U.S. aluminum industry and China. It marks the biggest entry by a Chinese company into the U.S. aluminum industry since trade tensions began ramping up in recent years.

Zhongwang International is parent of China Zhongwang Holdings Ltd, the world’s second-largest producer of aluminum extrusions. It has been accused of evading U.S. import duties on extruded products, prompting an investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC).

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Enough Aluminum Already – by David Fickling (Bloomberg News – August 26, 2016)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

If you learned of a product that was about to see a ninefold surge in demand over 15 years, you’d be crazy not to start making it, right? Wrong. If you were in the commodity business, you’d first want to check what was about to happen to supply.

Take Chinese aluminum. Consumption rose from 3.4 million metric tons in 2000 to 31 million tons last year — but production capacity increased almost 14-fold, to 36 million tons. As a result, LME-traded aluminum forwards now cost about $1,650 a ton, almost exactly the same price as you’d have paid at the dawn of the millennium.

That supply-side problem explains why aluminum prices have consistently failed to fulfil the promise that fueled deals like Rio Tinto’s $38 billion 2007 takeover of Alcan.

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Global aluminum production is falling, but for how long – by Andy Home (Reuters U.S. – August 25, 2016)

http://www.reuters.com/

LONDON – Global aluminum production fell by 1.2 percent to 33.12 million tonnes in the first seven months of this year, according to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI).

It doesn’t sound like much and in volume terms the decline amounts to just 390,000 tonnes, no more than a drop in the global aluminum ocean.

But this is the first year that output has consistently fallen since 2009, a year when financial crisis was rapidly morphing into manufacturing crisis with devastating consequences for aluminum producers.Equally noteworthy are the divergent trends between dominant producer China and the rest of the world.

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