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Qatalum aluminium plant to restart mid-September
Reuters Africa - Sept 8, 2010
Qatar's Qatalum aluminium smelter will resume production in a few days and now aims to hit full capacity by the end of the first quarter of 2011, co-owner Norsk Hydro (NHY.OL: Quote) said on Wednesday.
The 50/50 joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and Hydro had originally planned to reach full production by the end of 2010, but an August power failure delayed those plans.
Qatalum has a design capacity of 585,000 tonnes from a total of 704 production cells. 444 of the cells had been started by the time the plant lost power on Aug. 10, forcing a restart.
The 260 cells that had not yet been in production would continue their rampup as planned, Hydro said at the time.
"The clean-out of the 444 cells that were affected by the power outage is well underway, and the planned restart is expected to commence by mid-September," Hydro said in a statement on Wednesday.
Soon after the August outage Norsk Hydro declared force majeure for aluminium deliveries from the Qatar smelter.
African Minerals Limited must be praised for considering reducing poverty throughout the country. Last week Friday was a day of celebration at Water Quay as a thousand port workers sang songs of praise for African Minerals for bringing a locomotive train that would be transporting their bauxite from Tonkolili to Port Loko district.
His Excellency, the President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma assured his people that it is just the beginning of his vision for the success of this country.
President Koroma praised African Minerals for their total commitment in helping his government in the area of job creation and further mentioned that this country will be a blessing to every Sierra Leonean to reap the sweet benefit of Gods Blessing. He encouraged every Sierra Leonean to be patient as no youths will be left without being employed.
Minister of Mines, Alpha Kanu said that the commitment of His Excellency, the President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma shows that he has the country at heart for better development.
Kanu also disclosed that His Excellency promised this nation that within 36 months during his tenure the county will be productive and reduce the high rate of unemployment, pointing out that with the support of African Minerals the economy will improve.
African Minerals Gives Life to Sierra Leone
Sierra Express Media (blog) - September 7, 2010
African Minerals Limited must be praised for considering reducing poverty throughout the country. Last week Friday was a day of celebration at Water Quay as a thousand port workers sang songs of praise for African Minerals for bringing a locomotive train that would be transporting their bauxite from Tonkolili to Port Loko district.
His Excellency, the President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma assured his people that it is just the beginning of his vision for the success of this country.
President Koroma praised African Minerals for their total commitment in helping his government in the area of job creation and further mentioned that this country will be a blessing to every Sierra Leonean to reap the sweet benefit of Gods Blessing. He encouraged every Sierra Leonean to be patient as no youths will be left without being employed.
Minister of Mines, Alpha Kanu said that the commitment of His Excellency, the President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma shows that he has the country at heart for better development.
Kanu also disclosed that His Excellency promised this nation that within 36 months during his tenure the county will be productive and reduce the high rate of unemployment, pointing out that with the support of African Minerals the economy will improve.
He further maintained that the locomotive train engine brought by African Minerals will kick start the economy with young men and women having access to jobs.
Minister of Transport and Aviation, Alieu Pat Sowe praised the successful step of African Minerals to improve the standard of living of young men and woman in the country. He encouraged those who have been employed at African Minerals to take their work seriously.
Minister Pat Sowe said African Minerals have planted more seeds for the socio economic development of the country to develop.
Alhaji Minkailu Mansaray, Minister of Employment assured the people that the APC government will deliver more to reduce the unemployment rate throughout the country, stating that African Minerals will definitely deliver.
The no-nonsense Minister of Information and Communication, Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo said this government has proved their physical presence and commitment towards developing this country.
He called on all stakeholders to fully join hands in embracing this development, adding that his government knows how to create jobs for the youth and have concern for every Sierra Leonean to benefit from what God has made for the people of this country.
By Samuel Kargbo
Eskom expecting new govt guarantees
Business Report - September 7, 2010
Eskom has finally submitted its new funding model to Cabinet for approval and expects to be given further government guarantees to bridge a funding shortfall of R190 billion over seven years.
"It is one of the solutions. It is not the only solution... the others are recapitalisation of Eskom and then a hybrid between the two, between recapitalisation and guarantees," Eskom chief financial officer Paul O'Flaherty told reporters at Parliament on Tuesday.
"But government is one hundred percent behind it."
Eskom chairman Mpho Makwana said there was no time line for an answer from Cabinet on the funding model and request to extend guarantees beyond the R176 billion already made available to the power utility.
Eskom's total funding gap over seven years comes to R190bn, but the company's senior management warned Parliament's public enterprises portfolio committee that tariff fluctuations, failure to restructure preferential pricing contracts, dire coal supply problems and non-payment by municipalities could put further pressure on the bottom line.
"If we do not get paid we are just going to get into a worse and worse situation from which we cannot recover," O'Flaherty said of the debt, which includes some R1.8 billion from Soweto. He stressed that the company's balance sheet was looking far healthier, partly because higher tariffs approved by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa was helping it to cover costs.
"We sold over 220 million kilowatt at 31.9 cents versus 24.7 cents. That is a good turnaround. We were selling electricity below our operating costs. So we are making an operating profit, but it is still not enough to foot the total interest bill," he said, referring to Eskom's losing battle to pay interest on its loans.
O'Flaherty warned that should a scenario of lower tariffs occur, this could see the shortfall increase to as much as R412 billion.
He said Eskom was renegotiating its contract with mining giant BHP Billiton to supply power to its Hillside and Bayside aluminium smelters. It was hoped this would avert further losses on long-standing pricing arrangements linked to embedded derivatives.
The company had successfully done so on the contract to supply the Mozal smelter in Mozambique, which resulted in a R9 billion book-keeping loss in the previous financial year, after the global economic crisis saw aluminium prices plummet.
The new terms yielded a R2.3 billion profit in Eskom's 2010 financial results, O'Flaherty said.
On the two remaining smelters, Eskom was trying to convince Billiton to agree to a price equal or just below its average industrial tariff, the so-called "mega-flex" rate.
Anything less than the generating cost, as is the case at present, would be a deal breaker. - Sapa
EU Plans to Raise Duty on Chinese Aluminum Car Wheels
BusinessWeek -September 07, 2010
The European Union plans to increase duties on imports of car wheels from China to 22.3 percent from 20.6 percent as price-undercutting hurts makers in the 27-member bloc, according to a document from the European Commission.
Price-undercutting by Chinese producers remains substantial and may be as much as 38 percent, the commission said in the Aug. 25 document obtained by Bloomberg News. John Clancy, a trade- policy spokesman at the commission, the EU’s executive arm in Brussels, declined by telephone today to comment on the plan. EU anti-dumping duties aim to counter below-cost imports.
The duty punishes Chinese exporters including Zhejiang Wanfeng Auto Wheel Co. and Lizhong Wheel Group Ltd. Europe accounts for about 10 percent of China’s aluminum-wheel exports and demand from carmakers, such as Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, will be hit if the final duty is above 25 percent, according to Eric Zhang, an analyst at researcher Shanghai Metals Market.
“We can’t afford to ignore the impact even though Europe is a relatively small market for China’s aluminum wheels,” Zhang said in a telephone interview from Shanghai. “Anti- dumping measures are usually contagious.”
China producers boosted their share of the EU market for wheels sold directly to car owners to 34 percent in the 12 months through June last year from 22 percent in 2006, according to the document. Chinese companies’ share of wheels bought by carmakers climbed to 3 percent from 1 percent.
Producers in the EU saw their share fall to 48.5 percent from 57.4 percent for retail customers, and to 82.3 percent from 84.5 percent among carmakers in the period, the document showed.
“There is an evident link between the significant increase in Chinese import volumes at low prices and the injury observed with the Union industry,” the commission said in the document.
The commission introduced the provisional 20.6 percent duty in May. EU national governments, acting on a commission proposal, have until Nov. 11 to decide whether to impose a definitive five-year levy at the same or a different rate
UAE aluminum producers plan to purchase more raw materials
SteelGuru - 06 Sep 2010
It is re[ported that two of the largest aluminum smelters, Dubai Aluminium Company and Abu Dhabi based Emirates Aluminium Company are planning to buy more raw materials such as calcined petroleum coke, liquid pitch and alumina in order to meet strong growth in demand.
The companies expect that Middle East will produce about 10% of the world's primary aluminium comparing to 4% in 2007 and the global aluminum demand will grow by 5% in the next 20 years. As a result, the demand for alumina will grow by 22% in 2010.
(Sourced from YIEH.com)
New aluminium alloys are harder and lighter than alternative
SteelGuru - 05 Sep 2010
Powdermet Inc has developed new PM alloys which it says have lower weight, higher strength and increased hardness when compared to aluminium alloys currently on the market.
The alloys are made using a scalable, non cryomilling based process developed by the company that can produce nanocrystalline powders with a stably, highly refined grain structure that can be consolidated with combined power metallurgy and deformation processing conditions to produce aluminium products with higher strength and hardness. The process does not require reliance on rare earth or other non domestic sourced alloying elements.
Powdermet said that subscale mill products including plate and sheet have shown strengths and hardnesses comparable to high strength Cr Mn steels. The company has won a competition leading to a multiyear development and demonstration contract from the US Army Research Laboratory under a small business innovative research program to further develop and scale up the demonstrated production processes to produce aluminium mill products having strengths above 500MPa and hardnesses above 400VHN while retaining 8% or greater ductility.
The project will be carried out utilizing the company’s Microcomposite Deformation Centre and will include researchers at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, UK, the Army Research Laboratory and Impact Ballistics, a ballistic testing facility also based in Cleveland among others.
The company plans to manufacture the alloys for military up armouring systems which could have 30% to 50% lower mass than current RHA steel solutions, bridging the gap between steel and titanium armor in terms of cost, weight and performance. It is also considering additional applications in spacecraft, launch vehicle, and ground transportation systems where strength to weight improvements translate into significant lifetime operating cost and emissions/environmental impact reduction.
Mr Andrew Sherman president and CEO of Powdermet said that “Powdermet is excited to be part of the convergence of nanotechnology and advanced metallurgy, leading to a reduction in the environmental and economic footprint of transportation and military vehicles.”
Noranda in New Madrid to resume $38M expansion
KFVS - Sep 03, 2010
NEW MADRID, MO (KFVS) - Noranda Aluminum in New Madrid will expand its aluminum smelter with a $38 million investment to increase production capacity.
Gov. Jay Nixon announced the expansion along with a $1 million Energy Efficiency Pilot Grant to construct a system for producing aluminum more efficiently with less energy use.
This announcement marks the return to the expansion which was originally announced in 2008. The expansion was put on hold due to economic conditions and the January 2009 ice storm.
Copyright 2010 KFVS. All rights reserved
Hindalco mulls huge expansion
The Hindu - 03-Sep-2010
Aditya Birla Group flagship company Hindalco has drawn-up a Rs.21,000-crore capital expenditure plan for the next two years even as its promoters are looking at increasing their stake in the company in the current fiscal, company Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said here on Friday.
“We plan to invest Rs.10,000-crore in 2010-11 and Rs.11,000-crore in 2011-12 on account of our ongoing expansion programme, which should be commissioned between 2012 and 2014,” Hindalco Chairman Mr. Birla told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting here.
The promoters now hold a 36 per cent stake in the company. “We as promoters are constantly looking to increase our holding in this fiscal,” Mr. Birla said, without divulging the percentage of the stake hike.
Elaborating on the expansion plans of its greenfield projects, Mr. Birla said the company planned to invest Rs.9,200 crore in its Mahan aluminium project in Madhya Pradesh, which would have a capacity of 3.60 lakh tonnes annually of aluminium metal, along with a 900-MW captive power plant.
Hindalco is also setting up the Rs.9,200-crore Aditya aluminium project with a capacity of 3.60 lakh tonnes annually of aluminium metal. Its Utkal alumina project, costing Rs.7,000-crore, would produce 1.5-million alumina to start with, which could be increased to 3 million tonnes in the future. The equity requirement for the Utkal project had been tied-up as well, he said.
“The timely execution of greenfield projects would enhance our cost competitiveness and give Hindalco a distinct global competitive edge,'' he added.
Commenting on the performance of Novelis, Mr. Birla said, the company had witnessed a remarkable turnaround in the midst of extremely challenging circumstances.
Its liquidity surpassed the $1-billion mark on the back of a strong operational cash flow, the bond issuance and increased gross borrowing. — PTI
Vedanta taps Gujarat for bauxite supply to its Orissa refinery
Economic Times - 02-Sep-2010
BHUBNESWAR: Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources has begun talks with the Gujarat government to ensure long-term supply of bauxite for its refinery in Orissa's Kalahandi district after its mining project in the Niyamgiri hills was refused permission by the central government on environmental grounds.
Mukesh Kumar, chief operating officer of Vedanta Aluminium Ltd, said the company is also prospecting the raw material in other states after the environment ministry rejected its mining plan near the refinery.
"We are trying to sign a pact soon with the Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) for supply of around 600,000 to 800,000 tonnes of bauxite every year for our refinery. They have already agreed for 500,000 tonnes," Kumar tp;d IANS in an interview.
GMDC is a government of Gujarat undertaking engaged in mining of minerals and developing mineral-based industrial products.
"In the recent past we had several rounds of discussions with GMDC officials and the result was encouraging. In the next 15-20 days, we are likely to finalise something with them," he said.
Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh last week rejected the company's bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri hills in Lanjigarh, saying it will affect the environment and disturb primitive tribes living in the area for ages.
The one million-tonne alumina refinery of the company set up in 2008 has been running on bauxite from other mineral-rich states, including Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, Kumar said.
The approval to mine bauxite in the Niyamgiri hills located closer to the plant could have helped the company cut operating costs.
Kumar said he has requested the state government to provide alternative mines in nearby areas. "Since this matter (mining plan at Niyamgiri) is not getting resolved, we told the Orissa government that we cannot wait any more and kindly look for some alternative source of bauxite."
"More then 500-600 million tonnes of bauxite deposits are there within 40 km of Lanjigarh. I told them to look into them and select one," he said.
The alumina refinery in Lanjigarh began operations about three years ago and availability of raw material has always been a challenge.
Workers at Vedanta's refinery attack office
Business Standard - September 02, 2010
Close to 75 workers at the alumina refinery complex of Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) at Lanjigarh in western Orissa’s Kalahandi district were detained by the police, after 100-odd people, perceived to be a mix of contractual workers and outsiders, attacked the company's office, damaging assets worth '1 crore.
Sources said those who did the vandalism were engaged by L&T, contractor of the VAL expansion project, and were agitated over the serving of retrenchment notices. This was a sequel to the halt of refinery expansion work at Lanjigarh following the N C Saxena committee report and subsequent statement of Union minister of environment and forests Jairam Ramesh, depicting the expansion as illegal in the absence of statutory environment clearances.
However, VAL authorities said neither VAL nor L&T had issued notices to lay off the contractual employees. They said these workers were being relocated to sites outside Orissa by L&T and they were unwilling to accept the proposal.
“Trouble began at around 11:20 pm last night when 100-odd miscreants attacked our company's office. Thereafter, our refinery complex plunged into total darkness for about 45 minutes when some unidentified persons switched off the main switch of the plant. The trouble mongers were probably a mix of contractual workers and outsiders. These agitators finally fled after the project- affected people staying in the company's rehabilitation colony came to our rescue,” Mukesh Kumar, chief operating officer (Lanjigarh) of VAL told Business Standard.
According to Kumar, the contractual workers were agitating as L&T had proposed to shift some of the workers outside Orissa, a move stiffly opposed by the workers. They had demanded immediate payment of Provident Fund. Though negotiations were held on Tuesday with the district collector and the labour commissioner present, the issue could not be resolved.