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C o m p a n y n e w s w o r l d w i d e The €40m aid package for 2009 could be paid out to firms in around two months. Details of how the aid will be paid out were being worked out by Germany’s Economy Ministry, and the plan would have to be approved by the EU Commission. German metals producers faced electricity costs as much as 30% higher than neighbouring countries. Greenland delays decision on alcoa plant Greenland has delayed a decision on joining Alcoa Inc. in a planned aluminium venture, and has scaled back its possible stake to 10 to 30%. More time was needed to estimate construction costs at the smelter and hydropower venture in Maniitsoq. Greenland’s parliament will decide on the venture in spring 2010 instead of this autumn as earlier planned. Alcoa and Greenland announced in 2007 they would explore building a plant and said construction could begin in 2010, with production starting in 2014. The proposal consists of a smelter with a capacity of at least 350,000 tpy and two hydropower plants. Annual revenue is estimated at 3 to 4 billion Danish crowns (USD566-754.7m). Since Alcoa is only looking for a 50% share, the door could be open to other partners. Vedanta to double output at orissa aluminium smelter Vedanta Aluminium will double production at its new smelter at Jharsuguda, Orissa, to 500,000 tpy in the near future. The smelter will get alumina from Vedanta’s Lanjigarh refinery, which is also ramping up production, to 1.4m tpy in the next month from 1m tpy. Vedanta’s aluminium smelting capacity in India has, however, fallen as it has decommissioned two 50,000 tpy potlines at its plant in Korba, Chhattisgarh state. Vedanta is also likely to decommission another 50,000 tpy of old smelting capacity at Korba within a year, leaving a 245,000 tpy smelter commissioned only a few years ago. Vedanta plans to replace the old smelters under a 600,000 tpy brownfield expansion plan. It aims to produce over 1m tpy of aluminium by 2010/11.The 600,000 tpy fresh smelting capacity at Korba is expected to be commissioned by 2010/11. Venezuela will announce aluminium recovery plan in the near future The priority of Venezuela’s government will be to invest some 410m Bolivares (USD190m) in local bauxite and alumina producer CVG Bauxilum. Bauxilum has been producing only 3,200 to 3,500 tpd of alumina, while its capacity is 5,800 tpd (2.11m tpy). Alcasa’s situation is also very difficult, since almost 400 of its 680 electrolytic cells are idle at the moment on the lack of technological update. Alcasa has been producing only some 350 tpd (126,000 tpy) of aluminium, well below its installed capability of around 550 tpd (200,000 tpy). Venalum has been operating near its installed capacity of 1,180 tpd (430,000 tpy), although there were some output losses due to protests. The whole aluminium sector would need some USD5.5bn to fully recover, according to a study recently completed by the Chinese government at the request of Venezuela’s authorities. Production costs in Venezuela are around USD3,700 per tonne of aluminium, while prices were still in the USD1,800/t level. The government will pay delayed benefits and wages to the sector’s workers, totalling roughly 213m Bolivares in three instalments – one on 31 July, the second on 15 September and the last on 31 October. Century to restart construction at iceland smelter Despite lingering concerns about oversupply in the aluminium market, Century Aluminum Co. is preparing to restart major construction at and expand the capacity of its proposed primary smelter in Iceland. Plans for the smelter in Helguvik, Iceland, were effectively put on hold late in 2008 due to tightening credit markets, the collapse of the Icelandic economy, and the downturn within the aluminium industry. Century is now ramping up construction and is planning to expand the eventual capacity of the smelter to 360,000 tpy from its previous target of 250,000 tpy. Century has reconfigured the phasing of the project. Originally, the company hoped to build a 250,000 tpy smelter in two stages, with the first 150,000 tpy first stage going online in late 2010. Now Century plans building the smelter in four phases of 90,000 tpy each. The company did not disclose when the first phase might be completed. Century is still formulating how much it plans on spending on construction costs in 2009. When built, Helguvik will be Century’s second plant in Iceland. Its low-cost Grundartangi smelter shipped at a rate of approx. 276,000 tpy during the second quarter. Century recalls 28 workers to Hawesville smelter Century Aluminum Co. has brought back 28 workers to its Hawesville/ Kentucky smelter as the company plans to restart 21 pots that have been left idled or damaged. Seven workers will replace retiring employees, while the remaining 21 will be tasked with rebooting the pots that were allowed to go out. While the repairs will not directly lead to increased production, they will allow the facility to operate more efficiently. The Hawesville smelter has a nameplate capacity of 244,000 tpy over five potlines, each with 112 pots. But the company is only running four potlines currently, equating to an annualized production rate of 180,000 tpy. The rationale for bring back the employees is twofold. First, LME prices are in the midst of a rally. Three-month aluminium closed second-ring trade at USD1,837 per tonne on 28 July, a 17.3% gain from the USD1,565 level seen on 13 July, based largely on improved demand and a tightening marketplace. Additionally, the company just completed a new long-term power contract with Big Rivers Electric Corp., which will supply the smelter with electricity through 2023. ■ 46 ALUMINIUM · 9/2009
UC Rusal Bauxite and alumina activities Vedanta’s india bauxite mining to begin by october Vedanta Resources Plc. will begin bauxite mining for its alumina plant in eastern India by October and will invest USD1.23bn to expand its capacity sixfold by 2011. The start of the mining to feed the alumina refinery in India’s eastern state of Orissa has been delayed for at least four years by protests from indigenous people, who consider the area that will be mined as sacred ground. In August 2008, India’s Supreme Court allowed the London-listed company to proceed to mine bauxite from open-cast mines. Vedanta has so far invested USD823m in the plant, and will spend another USD1.23bn to expand the capacity to 6m tpy from 1m tpy by 2011. The company has deposited USD28m with the government as payments to ensure it preserves wildlife, does reforestation projects and launches development work for residents. The Orissa Mining Corp., Vedanta’s joint-venture partner, will supply 150m tpy of bauxite to Vedanta’s plant from various locations, including Niyamgiri, which has a 79m-tonne deposit. Venezuela’s CVG Bauxilum announces Usd110m recovery plan Venezuelan bauxite and alumina producer CVG Bauxilum has announced an immediate recovery plan worth 236.5 million bolivares (USD110m) ALUMINIUM · 9/2009 to enable it to produce 3,200 tpd of alumina throughout the second half. CVG Bauxilum expects a total output of 1.4m tonnes for 2009 once the recovery plan has been completed. The boost in output for the second half would allow the company to feed the domestic market and attend sale commitments in the international market. Around 183.85m bolivares (USD85.5m) will be used to revamp works and to purchase raw materials in Venezuela and other countries. The remaining money will be used to pay the company’s workforce labour benefits. CVG Bauxilum did not say when it intends to finalise the 236.5m bolivares (USD110m) investment, but it is likely that the capital will be spent by December. The company is aiming to produce 1.65m tonnes of alumina in 2010 and, afterwards, intends to reach its installed capability of 2m tpy, with further investment of 610.6m bolivares (USD284m). Chinese firm buys 2.5m t of alumina from Trafigura China’s CPI Mengdong Energy Group, the parent of smelter HMHJ Aluminium, has agreed to import 2.5m tonnes of alumina from international trading house Trafigura Group. The alumina will be shipped in equal amounts to the Chinese buyer over ten years from 2010. The alumina will be priced at less than 14% of the price of the three-month aluminium contract of C o m p a n y n e w s w o r l d w i d e the LME. The contract also set the maximum and minimum prices for alumina. That term price was about 10% lower than prices for current spot alumina to China. Trafigura’s contract will cover 18% of HMHJ’s alumina needs in 2010, which are about 1.4 m tonnes. HMHJ’s facilities in Inner Mongolia can turn out 700,000 tonnes of primary aluminium in 2010 and that output will consume around 1.4m tonnes of alumina. China produced more than 90% of its alumina needs in the first half of this year at 10.62m tonnes. alumar refinery completes 2m tpy alumina expansion The Alumar alumina refinery in Brazil has increased production as a result of a 2m tpy expansion project. With the project 98% complete, the refinery will ramp up to full production throughout the second half of the year. Total production capacity will increase to 3.5m tpy from 1.5m tpy. Alcoa is the majority stakeholder with 54%, while BHP holds a 36% stake and Rio Tinto Alcan holds the remaining 10% share. nalco expects to get andhra pradesh bauxite mines soon India’s Nalco expects to receive mining leases for its proposed 4.2m tpy of bauxite and 1.4m tpy alumina projects in September 2009. Now that the Andhra Pradesh government has recommended that the central government should grant bauxite mining leases to Nalco in East Godavari and Visakapatnam districts of the state, Nalco has crossed the first hurdle to the Rs70bn (USD1.4bn) bauxite mining and alumina refinery project. The leases cover 85m tonnes of bauxite reserves of the same quality as Nalco’s other mines, 20 km away in Orissa state. However, due to a lack of land, ore from the Andhra Pradesh mines will have to be transported 20 to 30 km to the refinery, unlike Nalco’s current operations, where mine and refinery are nearby. Nalco is one of the world’s lowest cost alumina producers ➝ 47
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