Processes / Technology
During a virtual meeting early this week, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has awarded International Bechtel Co. Ltd to conduct Line 7 project’s feasibility study.
Company
In response to reduced market demand for aluminium billets in Europe, Hydro has decided to partially curtail aluminium production at Hydro Karmøy and Hydro Husnes in Norway.
Alcoa is curtailing one third of its production capacity at its Lista smelter in Norway to mitigate high energy costs for the site.
Hydro’s majority owned Slovalco aluminium facility in Slovakia has decided to close the primary aluminium production at the plant. The closure will be completed by the end of September 2022.
Associations
European Parliament vote on Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) enshrines net increase in global carbon emissions, says European Aluminium.
A new report for the European aluminium industry by the independent commodity analyst CRU highlights the negative impacts of a wrongly designed Carbon Border Adjustment Measure (CBAM).
Primary aluminium
Alcoa has entered into a supply agreement to provide low-carbon Ecolum aluminium to rolling and recycling company Speira in Grevenbroich, Germany.
EGA starts up second phase of Al Taweelah smelter expansion ahead of schedule.
Electrolysis
A 2-year internal testing programme has successfully verified Hydro Karmøy’s technology pilot plant with its HAL4e primary aluminium production technology.
Rusal has completed the conversion of its aluminium smelter in Krasnoyarsk to Eco Soderberg technology.
Industry
One of the four production lines at the Albras aluminium smelter in Brazil has been shut down due to a fire in an electrical transformer on Friday. The fire has been put out and the incident did not cause any people-related injuries. The other three lines have not been affected and are running as normal.
Anodes
The TMS Light Metal expert community has recognized the value of the Fives’ Anode Tracking solution by awarding it the Prize for best publication. Presented at the TMS 2019 conference, this publication was rewarded in the Electrode Technology category and the award was presented to Fives Solios at the 2020 edition in San Diego on 24 February. This conference, which is organized annually by The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, is one of the most significant and recognized events within the scientific community interested in the production of primary aluminium.
Rio Tinto has announced to conduct a strategic review of the Isal aluminium smelter in Iceland. The review will consider all options including curtailment and closure, and will be complete in the first half of 2020.
Hydro has agreed to sell the site of its Kurri Kurri smelter in Australia to a joint venture of local property and residential land developers Stevens Group and McCloy Group. The decision to permanently close Kurri Kurri was made in 2014. Hydro has since been working in consultation with the local community and other stakeholders to find redevelopment options for the site.
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) set a new production record in 2019. The world’s largest aluminium smelter ex-China produced 1,365,005 million tonnes last year, up 35% year-on-year. In addition, 2019 was an exceptional year in terms of safety as the company achieved Zero Fatality and Zero Lost Time Injuries (LTIs).
Emirates Global Aluminium has completed its historic project to export UAE-developed industrial technology, with the conclusion of performance guarantee tests at Aluminium Bahrain (Alba). The company won a competitive international tender in 2016 to supply its DX+ Ultra smelting technology to Alba for the Potline 6 expansion project. DX+ Ultra is the 10 th generation EGA technology, and is amongst the most efficient in the world. Alba’s Potline 6, was inaugurated by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain, on 24 November 2019.
The Board of Directors at Hydro’s majority-owned Slovalco primary aluminium smelter in Slovakia has decided to recommend to the shareholders of the company to curtail maximum 20% of the plant’s primary aluminium production, responding to the weakening market environment. The decision is pending final approval by Slovalco’s general meeting.
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) looks back on a 40 years history since the first tonne of aluminium was produced in the UAE. Since production began in November 1979 at EGA’s site in Jebel Ali – then known as Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) – the aluminium sector has grown into one of the UAE’s largest industries accounting for 1.4% of the economy and supporting 60,000 UAE jobs. In 2013 Dubal and Emal (founded in 2007) merged to form Emirates Global Aluminium.
Four student teams from UAE universities are to compete to design and build an industrial robot or drone for use in EGA’s aluminium smelters. The four teams will each develop a semi-autonomous robot that is capable of capturing and analysing thermal images of the steel shells of reduction cells in EGA’s production lines. This routine task is currently performed by people and involves hours of walking in often hot conditions.
Technology company Elysis has officially launched construction on its R&D Centre in Saguenay.
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