Vietnam to invest $7.3bn to boost alumina, aluminum production
Vietnam’s top miner Vinacomin plans to invest 182 trillion dong ($7.3 billion) to ramp up its alumina-aluminum production to meet the country’s rising demand for the metal, the government said on Tuesday.
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Aluminum price firms to 11-week high on Yunnan doubts, firm technicals
Aluminum prices touched an 11-week high on Monday over concerns over slow recovery in production in China’s Yunnan province and supported by a strong technical outlook.
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Platinum deficit in 2024 to be deeper than expected – WPIC
A global platinum deficit in 2024 will be deeper than previously expected as mines hit by low prices for palladium and rhodium cut supply, the World Platinum Investment Council (WPIC) said, adding there were risks mine supplies could fall even further.
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Platinum’s worst crisis in decades hits jobs in South Africa
South Africa’s platinum producers are in crisis, as slumping metal prices force jobs cuts and erode profits.
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US imposes preliminary duties on aluminum extrusions from China, Indonesia
The US Department of Commerce announced on Tuesday preliminary countervailing duties on aluminum extrusions from China, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey, citing unfair subsidies.
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Northam CEO says South African platinum miners facing worst crisis in decades
Northam Platinum’s CEO said on Friday that platinum mining companies in South Africa, the world’s top supplier of the metal, are facing “severe” market conditions and are caught up in the worst crisis in three decades as prices plummet.
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Impala Platinum considers mine closures after profit slump
Impala Platinum could shut some loss-making South African mining operations if metal prices deteriorate further and restructuring efforts fail to improve margins, chief executive Nico Muller said.
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South African platinum industry could shed up to 7,000 jobs to cut costs
Restructuring of South Africa’s platinum group metals (PGM) industry in response to rising costs and falling prices could result in between 4,000 and 7,000 job cuts, the country’s Minerals Council said on Monday.
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New process turns scrap aluminum into usable construction materials
Twisted aluminum mesh, banged-up bicycle frames and used car parts languishing in junk yards could gain new life as building structures such as door and window frames, facades, lighting and decorative features thanks to a new patent-pending technology developed at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).
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Rio Tinto taps Australia’s largest solar farm to power aluminum assets
Rio Tinto on Wednesday announced a deal to buy power from a new solar farm in Queensland as it seeks to green its aluminum operations on the country’s east coast and halve its direct and indirect emissions by 2030.
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Aluminum price jumps after report EU may sanction Russian metal
Aluminum rallied in London after Politico reported that the European Union is considering sanctions on Russian aluminum ahead of the second anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.
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As price parity beckons, substitution from palladium to platinum to wane
Mining News Pro - The rate at which platinum is displacing palladium in the manufacture of autocatalysts is slowing due to the sister metals approaching price parity, a trend which is likely to persist through this year, analysts said.
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Share of Russian aluminum in LME warehouses rises to 90% after UK curbs
Mining News Pro - The share of available aluminum stocks of Russian origin in London Metal Exchange-approved (LME) warehouses rose to 90.4% in December from 78.8% in November, data on the exchange’s website showed on Wednesday.
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Biden extends EU steel, aluminum tariff exemption for 2 years
Mining News Pro - US President Joe Biden on Thursday extended the suspension of tariffs on European Union steel and aluminum for two years to continue negotiations on measures to address overcapacity and low-carbon production.
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Some Japan buyers agree to pay Q1 aluminum premium of $90/t, down 7% Q/Q
Mining News Pro - Some Japanese aluminum buyers have agreed to pay global producers a premium of $90 per metric ton over the benchmark price for shipments in January to March, down 7% from the current quarter, three sources directly involved in the pricing talks said.
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Biden extends EU steel, aluminum tariff exemption for 2 years
Mining News Pro - US President Joe Biden on Thursday extended the suspension of tariffs on European Union steel and aluminum for two years to continue negotiations on measures to address overcapacity and low-carbon production.
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Platinum miners’ underground protest in South Africa goes on
Mining News Pro - Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. said an underground protest at one of its mines in South Africa is unresolved, with more than 2,000 workers still below surface.
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Plummeting platinum group prices could worsen shortage
Mining News Pro - The price of platinum group metals (PGM) has fallen by 42% this year and could widen a supply deficit if unprofitable mines are sidelined, according to a new report by an industry group.
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Aluminum price hits weakest in more than three months on fund selling
Mining News Pro - Aluminum prices touched their lowest in more than three months on Monday as speculative funds stepped up selling on expectations of rising inventories.
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Aluminum price climbs as Goldman sees larger supply deficit
Mining News Pro - Aluminum steadied, bucking a broader slide among industrial metals, with traders focusing on a likely shortfall in supply of the metal next year amid constraints on Chinese supply.
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Anglo consults South Africa on potential platinum, iron job cuts
Mining News Pro - The company has held talks with the government over the potential reduction in its workforce, the people said, asking not to be identified because the matter hasn’t been made public. Senior government officials asked the company to consider delaying the cuts until after elections likely to take place around May, three of the people said.
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The Congress of South African Trade Unions said that Anglo has also spoken to one of its members, the National Union of Mineworkers, about the matter.
The job cuts would be another blow to the electoral prospects of President Cyril Ramaphosa and his ruling African National Congress. Anglo is already in the midst of plans to slash corporate and head office jobs globally, with many of those positions in South Africa. The company joined other mining behemoths in posting a steep drop in first-half profit as China’s economic slowdown damped earnings.
Anglo American Platinum Ltd. — about 79% owned by London-based Anglo — is contending with a 14% fall in the price of platinum this year and a 41% plunge in palladium, a valuable byproduct. Rival Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. said in October that it may fire more than 4,000 platinum workers.
Kumba Iron Ore Ltd., owner of South Africa’s biggest iron ore mine and a 70% subsidiary of Anglo, said third-quarter iron ore sales fell 12% from the year earlier, largely because of the poor performance of state ports and freight rail company, Transnet SOC Ltd. The company is almost out of storage space for the ore it has mined and can’t rail it, one of the people said.
“It is no secret that the current operating environment is very tough for both macro and South Africa-specific reasons and we are playing a major role in working across business and with government to help resolve some of those South Africa constraints,” Anglo said in a response to queries. “Beyond that, it would be inappropriate for us to comment on the details of our discussions.”
While a final decision on whether to fire workers and how many positions may be affected has not been taken, the job cuts may impact Anglo American Platinum first, the people familiar said. Those at Kumba may be deferred until later, they added.
The minerals department didn’t respond to a request for comment, while Gwede Mantashe, minerals and energy minister and chairman of the ANC, didn’t answer a call to his phone or respond to a text message.
PGM prices are falling because of global economic conditions, especially the weaker-than-expected recovery in China.
Kumba’s woes are directly related to the sub-standard performance of Transnet, whose inability to rail commodities to ports has also led to coal companies Seriti Resources Holdings Ltd. and Glencore Plc to start talks over job cuts. The plunge in rail performance has seen the amount of iron ore transported to ports fall to the lowest in a decade, while coal shipments by rail are at a 30-year low, according to a report prepared for Ramaphosa’s office.
In an Oct. 24 production report, Kumba said “ongoing rail and port challenges have increased our focus on cost optimization and initiatives to match production and optimize logistics capacity.” It said it had 9 million tons of iron ore in stock at the end of September, almost double the amount it had on site a year earlier.
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Rainfall plays key role in capping Chinese aluminum capacity
Mining News Pro - Another month, another new record for China’s primary aluminum production sector.
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Mixed fortunes for Russian metal at mid-point of aluminum mating season
Mining News Pro - Midway through the aluminum market’s so-called mating season of end-users and sellers locking in supply deals, Russian metal is experiencing mixed fortunes, with some European industrial companies avoiding it for 2024.
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Amplats sees no immediate rebound in low platinum metals price
Mining News Pro - Anglo American Platinum’s CEO said he expected the low metal prices companies in South Africa are currently grappling with to persist, and he was aligning the business for the possibility that they would not rise for some time.
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Sibanye CEO warns of platinum mining job losses as price plummets
Mining News Pro - Sibanye Stillwater, South Africa’s biggest mining sector employer, may be forced to close some loss-making shafts, its CEO told Reuters, adding job cuts in platinum mining had become inevitable as prices of the precious metals fall.
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