News

Hydro’s Paragominas bauxite mine and Alunorte alumina refinery are the next of Hydro’s operations that have been certified to the ASI Performance Standard and Chain of Custody Standard, effectively extending Hydro’s certifications to cover its entire value chain from mine to casthouse and onward to its extrusion and rolling business areas.  Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) has announced that Hydro Bauxite and Alumina operations in Brazil have have been successfully certified against its Performance Standard and Chain of Custody Standard. Hydro’s...

This spring, Svyatoy Istochnik, the leading brand in the Russian bottled water market, introduced a novel flavoured water to the Russian market in aluminium cans. Supported by the world’s leading can manufacturer, Ball Corporation, it comes in a Sleek® 33-centiliter aluminium format, delivering a boost of modern freshness to Russian consumers.      Inline with recent trends, the carbonated drink is free from sugar and its substitutes, so is ideal for health-conscious consumers who care about calories. With its refreshing taste, the water will be a welcome...

The UK aluminium drink can recycling rate has risen to 75%, its highest ever level, up from 54% in 2010. Additionally, 95% of aluminium packaging collected in the UK is recycled within Europe, rather than being sent around the globe. At a time when sustainability is so front of mind, the drink can remains the most recycled packaging in the world. The overall aluminium packaging rate has continued to rise steadily too, from 41% in 2010 to 52% in 2018, meaning that over 100,000 tonnes of aluminium packaging sold in the UK was recycled last year. These significant improvements...

TRIMET Aluminium SE has begun the trial operation of its “virtual battery”. Initial research work began six years ago. Now the energy supply for aluminium production at the Essen plant can be controlled flexibly for the first time. This will create a huge power storage facility that will make it easier to integrate discontinuously generated electricity from renewable energy sources into the power grid. A total of around 36 million euros was invested in the conversion. “We have reinvented the electrolysis process for the production of aluminium. For the first time,...

Hydro's underlying earnings before financial items and tax was NOK 559 million in the first quarter, down from NOK 3 147 million in the same quarter last year. This mainly reflected lower realised aluminium prices, higher raw material costs and the effects of the production curtailment at the Alunorte alumina refinery. "I am pleased that the production embargoes at Alunorte have been lifted, so that we can focus our efforts on safely returning Alunorte, Paragominas and Albras towards normal operations. Our Brazilian operations are a fundament for Hydro’s overall...

Sanjeev Gupta’s metals, industrials and energy group, the GFG Alliance, has made a key international executive appointment to strengthen its manufacturing activities worldwide. GFG has recruited Neil Barrell (pictured), a senior partner in Grant Thornton, as its global head of integration and performance with a remit to optimise GFG’s growing network of manufacturing operations. Neil, who takes up his new role on 1st July, has many years’ senior management experience – including nine years at CEO level – leading businesses in steel, aluminium and the...

The Chair of the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), Mr Gervais Jacques, has announced that the IAI Board of Directors has selected Mr Miles Prosser to be the next Secretary General of the IAI. Mr Prosser will take over from the current Secretary General, Ron Knapp, in January 2020. Miles is currently the Executive Director of the Australian Aluminium Council and in that role has interacted with the work of the IAI for many years and is well acquainted with the high quality team at IAI. Mr Jacques expressed the IAI Board's appreciation for commitment and achievements by...

The owner of New Zealand’s sole aluminium smelter says it has delivered a significantly lower profit for calendar 2018 and that it remains vulnerable to a volatile market this year. Pacific Aluminium (New Zealand), which is 80 percent-owned by Rio Tinto with Sumitomo owning the rest, says the Tiwai Point smelter showed underlying earnings of $22 million for 2018, down from $53 million the previous year. “The result reflects that during 2018, the operating environment became significantly more challenging,” the company says. Aluminium prices on the London Metal...

The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison has downplayed – but not denied – speculation the United States considered placing trade tariffs on Australian aluminium imports last week. The New York Times reported that the Trump administration had discussed placing tariffs on Australian aluminium, which, under a deal struck by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, remains exempt from tariffs Donald Trump placed on metal imports to the US in 2018. The NYT reported the White House decided against making any changes to the Australian arrangement after defence and...