UC Rusal launched the first RA-550 pot, which is running at over 550 kA, at the Sayanogorsk aluminum smelter (SAZ) as part of a US$28 million project. “RA-550 is a reduction cell with a breakthrough design for future smelters and upgrade projects at Rusal’s existing smelting capacities,” said Victor Mann, Rusal’s technical director. “Alongside the technical and […]
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation obtained U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval for the sale of the its aluminum smelter and facilities in New Madrid, Missouri, to ARG International AG for a purchase price of $13.7 million. The Court approval follows an auction that took place on September 28, 2016. The company expects to close the transaction in […]
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By Goran Djukanovic, Aluminum Market Analyst & Consultant. Uncertainty hangs over the primary aluminum industry in U.S., or what has been left of it. Plummeting aluminum prices and high electricity costs resulted in closure or curtailment of some three-fourths of primary aluminum production in the last five years, leaving less than 1 million tonnes of […]
By Alton Tabereaux, Contributing Editor. A conspicuous transformation occurred in the world’s primary aluminum industry during the past five years with the construction of “Mega” aluminum smelters (>1 million tpy) in China, which have boosted aluminum production to levels not previously experienced by companies. Nine aluminum companies had an annual production greater than 2 million […]
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation entered into an asset purchase agreement for its flat rolled products business with Gränges AB, a supplier of rolled products for brazed aluminium heat exchangers in Sweden. Under the agreement, a subsidiary of Gränges will serve as the “stalking horse” bidder for Noranda’s flat rolled products business in a court-supervised sale process […]
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) selected Bechtel as the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) contractor for its Line 6 Expansion Project. Under the terms of the contract, Bechtel will be responsible to design and construct the sixth potline as well as support industrial services. Bechtel has worked with Alba for more than 25 years, including previous work as […]
By Alton Tabereaux, Contributing Editor. The largest gain in primary aluminum production during 2015 was in China at 31.1%, followed by India (21.1%) and Saudi Arabia (11.3%). This was due to startup of new low cost smelters and/or the restart of potlines. China accounted for a staggering 54.9% of the total world aluminum production in […]
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), Bahrain, signed a contract with Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) to upgraded the technology for its Line 6 Expansion Project from EGA DX+ to the EGA DX+ Ultra. The upgrade to the DX+ Ultra technology will improve energy efficiency, which in turn will allow Alba to increase its metal production with no increase […]
Hydro made a formal decision to build its planned full-scale technology pilot at Karmøy, Norway, aiming to verify the world’s most climate and energy efficient production of primary aluminium, as well as achieve the lowest CO2 footprint in the world. “After several successful improvement programs, the next steps in our efforts to further strengthen our […]
