Aluminum Reduction Cell Life During bullish aluminum pricing cycle, smelter management typically emphasizes increasing production, but during bearish cycles, it turns to cost reduction strategies. Unfortunately most of the smelter’s costs are determined by factors that are beyond the control of internal management. For example: Alumina, coke and power pricing are usually determined by long […]
Aluminium extrusions are all over. They are used in buildings, in automobiles, in equipment and appliances and where not! Industries are just waking up to the enormous benefits of these versatile metal products, and it is only a matter of time before they become the mainstay of modern day architecture. There was a time when […]
Malaysian government imposed a three-month ban on the mining and export of bauxite effective January 15 2016 after a dramatic boom in the mining and export of the mineral to China. A perfect example of an ideal situation going wrong for lack of systematic regulation, Malaysian bauxite ban has put a flourishing industry to a standstill. […]
The year 2016 is on a roll and the global Aluminium industry has already woken up to a whole new bevy of challenges and opportunities. The market is abuzz with the news of price-premium volatility, demand-supply imbalances, consolidations and value chain integration, not to mention burgeoning end user sectors. To tide over these challenges and […]
The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) was launched in 2012 to foster greater sustainability and transparency throughout the aluminium industry. Supported by key industry players, ASI is working with a broad base of stakeholders to assess industry-specific sustainability challenges, opportunities and needs. The COP 21 meetings in Paris in December 2015 have resulted in an agreement to keep […]
An eventful 2015 comes to an end. There were challenges galore and opportunities umpteen for the Global Aluminium Industry to grow and innovate! The year was bearish for the entire metal market including aluminium and producers struggled hard to cope-up with the tough markets. The consumption scene was more or less promising because of consistently […]
A lot has been said and written about the once mighty U.S. aluminium industry and how it has been hit badly by the recent spate of Chinese aluminium extrusions export. But it is not the only factor that has been driving the U.S. market down to economical non-viability; there is more to it. Here is […]
Vedanta ltd is trying hard to tackle multiple operational setbacks caused majorly by low metal price, rising debts and raw material scarcity. Vedanta has cut costs by as much as 25% throughout this market turmoil. Mr. Agarwal confirmed that the company will “tighten” capital spending and “do whatever is necessary” by way of innovation to survive this condition profitably. Vedanta is aiming at improving their core skill and technical expertise. However, unless the raw material security is assured in a market situation where metal price is at rock bottom, input costs are high and cheap imports are flooding the market, indigenous aluminium industry cannot grow in India.
Global aluminium industry is visibly distressed. Aluminium prices on London Metal Exchange are yet to find a solid support – the fluctuating downward dip still continues; premiums have collapsed; supply is still in excess of the demand, and to the utter dismay of the biggest aluminium producers of the world, China is still not slowing […]
World aluminium production is at around 55 million tons, expected to grow at around 6.7% CAGR up to 2020, mainly due to the expected growth in India ~ 11%, China ~ 10%, Middle East ~ 8%, Brazil ~ 7%, Africa ~ 5% and return of growth in US (~ 4%). World alumina production is around […]