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Aluminium in Europe Newsletter: 8-14 April

 

FACE Aluminium brings you a roundup of last week’s aluminium news.

Among the latest main news: two Austrian aluminium companies go bankrupt, Trimet expands its aluminium scrap recycling capacity, Hydro to invest into new technology to offer advanced products to the automotive industry. In the world, Rusal teams up with Braidy Industries to construct a new aluminium rolling mill, EGA launches its first ever alumina refinery in the UAE, and Vedanta becomes the top aluminium producer in India. 

 

High Aluminium Price Drives Two Austrian Companies to Bankruptcy

Austrian packaging manufacturer Conseal followed in the footsteps of the aluminium processing company Alufix and entered insolvency last week. The companies cited difficulties in production and the fluctuating price of the raw material behind these developments.

 

STEP-G Acquires Two Facilities Expanding Its Extrusion Business

STEP-G – ST Extruded Products Group – acquired two facilities in Germany, expanding its business in distributing high-quality semi-finished aluminium products. The company took over the aluminium foundry business of Aluwerk Hettstedt GmbH and the entire business of RMG Metallfachhandel GmbH.

 

Trimet Puts New Rotary Furnace Into Operation

Trimet put a new rotary furnace into operation at its Gelsenkirchen recycling plant. The new furnace, with a capacity of around 40 tonnes, allows the German company to move towards remelting more aluminium scrap into high-quality products at the time of increasing demand.

 

Hydro Expands Production Of Aluminium For Automotive Market

Hydro will upgrade its Husnes plant with new equipment to manufacture more advanced products for the growing automotive aluminium forging market. The 15.6 million Euro investment will allow Hydro Husnes to manufacture products like suspension arms and knuckles from 2020.

 

AMAG Announces Changes To Its Supervisory Board

During its annual general meeting, the AMAG Austria AG Metall elected three new members to the Supervisory Board: Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, Peter Edelmann and Thomas Zimpfer. In addition, Herbert Ortner – a member of the Supervisory Board since April 2018 – was elected as the new Chairman of the Board.

 

EU must ensure level playing field with China

Ensuring a level playing field in EU-China trade relations is crucial, argues David Martin MEP in The Parliament Magazine. China failed to transition into a market economy while being a WTO member and this means that European producers are not competing with the Chinese counterparts on an equitable basis. At the same time, Martin warns the EU to proceed with caution when it comes to Chinese investments in the Single Market.

 

EU Seeks Collaboration With Indian Research Centre On Aluminium Waste Management

The EU has reportedly approached Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC), an Indian research centre dedicated to the service of the aluminium industry, to work together on the management of aluminium waste. According to JNARDDC Director Dr. Anupam Agnihotri, the EU is likely to sign a memorandum of understating (MOU) with the research centre this May.

 

EU To Start Formal Trade Talks With US

EU member states gave clearance last week to start formal trade talks with the United States. The EU Commission received two negotiation mandates – one to cut tariffs on industrial goods, the other to find easier ways for firms to prove their products meet EU or US standards. Meanwhile, the world’s two biggest trading powers threatened each other with new tariffs in Boeing-Airbus subsidies trade row.

 

 

EGA Starts Production At UAE’s First Alumina Refinery 

Emirates Global Aluminium started production at Al Taweelah alumina refinery, located in Khalifa Industrial Zone, Abu Dhabi. EGA’s €2.9 billion facility is expected to produce around two million tonnes of alumina per year once it reaches full capacity. Until now, the UAE relied entirely on imports to meet its alumina demand.

 

Rusal Teams Up with Braidy Industries to Construct Aluminium Rolling mill in US

Rusal and American manufacturer of aluminium alloys Braidy Industries plan to launch a joint venture to make flat rolled aluminium products in Kentucky. The mill will have an annual capacity of 500 thousand tonnes of hot rolled band and 300 thousand of finished cold rolled products. “The output from the mill will aid towards rebalancing the anticipated deficit of the auto body sheet in the US market,” Rusal commented.

 

Alba Boosts Production And Sales Volumes In Q1 2019

Aluminium Bahrain expanded its overall sales volumes throughout the first quarter of the current year, according to latest figures. Alba shipped 257,113 metric tonnes of product – a 2 percent year-on-year rise. Production increased by 5 percent, reaching 272,707 thousand metric tonnes.

 

Vedanta’s aluminium output increased by 17 percent in 2018

Vedanta saw a 17 percent spike in aluminium output last year thanks to volume growth at the company’s Lanjigarh alumina refinery. The Indian conglomerate produced 1.95 million tonnes, its best ever record in production, and dethroned India’s largest aluminium producer Hindalco. Alumina production went up 24 percent to 1.5 million tonnes.