Alcoa Wraps Up Aluminum Lithium Expansion

Aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. (AA - Analyst Report) announced that it has completed the expansion of aluminum lithium alloy production capacity at its Kitts Green plant in the UK to meet the growing demand for aluminum lithium alloys. Alcoa expects revenues from aluminum lithium to rise four-fold over the next six years to nearly $200 million.

The Kitts Green expansion, which is the second phase of the three-part expansion, allows airframers to build fuel efficient and lower-cost airplanes versus composite alternatives. Alcoa stated that the Kitts Green expansion will allow the company to serve the growing demand for its third generation aluminum lithium alloys better. According to Alcoa, the new aluminum lithium alloys provide excellent performance in terms of stiffness, damage tolerance and resistance of corrosion.

At the last Paris Air Show, the third-generation aluminum lithium alloys showed that they have the potential to increase fuel efficiency, reduce inspection intervals, improve passenger comfort and lower capital costs for aerospace manufacturers. Alcoa received a very positive response, where the demand exceeded its production capacity. This encouraged Alcoa to take initiatives for expanding its aluminum lithium operations at three locations across the globe.

Alcoa’s third phase of expansion, which is a $90 million facility adjacent to its Lafayette, Ind. plant, is currently under construction. The expansion is expected to be completed and be online by the end of 2014. Alcoa expects the facility to produce additional 20,000 metric tons of aluminum lithium.

Alcoa, which is among the prominent players in the mining industry along with Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (ACH), Atlatsa Resources Corporation (ATL - Snapshot Report) and BHP Billiton Limited (BHP - Analyst Report), is a world leader with respect to production and management of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina as well as the world’s largest miner of bauxite and refiner of alumina.

http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/102015/alcoa-wraps-up-aluminum-lithium-expansion

Columbia Falls Aluminum's reopening increasingly uncertain

KALISPELL – Despite occasional glimpses of hope that the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. plant would resume operations, the shuttered facility’s future is more uncertain than ever as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency begins investigating the site for hazardous pollutants and skepticism over the prospect of a long-awaited power deal mounts.
And while officials say neither a federal cleanup nor a site investigation would automatically preclude the plant from reopening if a deal was brokered, the scenario seems increasingly unlikely, though not out of the question.
“We came close a couple times. Most recently we had some Christmastime hopes that there was going to be an announcement that they would reopen,” Virginia Sloan of U.S. Sen. Jon Tester’s office told the Flathead Basin Commission at its meeting Wednesday. “We’ve been disappointed several times when they led us down a path of hopefulness and it did not happen. Some folks say it has been idle too long.”
Negotiations to coordinate a power deal between Glencore, the Swiss commodities giant that owns the plant, and the Bonneville Power Administration have plodded along for years without coming to fruition. Meanwhile, frustration has grown in the beleaguered community of Columbia Falls, where the plant’s closure in 2009 forced the layoff of nearly 90 workers as high energy prices and poor market conditions made operations unprofitable.
The lack of action recently prompted Tester to publicly criticize Glencore for misleading him, the BPA and the community of Columbia Falls. In an effort to steer the plant’s future in a new direction and mitigate potential hazards to the environment and human health, Tester and fellow Democratic U.S. Sen. Max Baucus sent a letter to the EPA urging a study of contamination levels at the plant to determine whether it should be declared a Superfund site – a designation that could create cleanup-related jobs and provide a boon to the economy.
A Glencore official has agreed to visit the plant this month, Sloan told the Flathead Basin Commission, which signals that the company, the largest commodities trading group in the world, may be taking a serious look at its options, particularly as it may be charged with footing the bill if a cleanup is warranted.
“At least we know we’ve got their attention,” Sloan said of the planned site visit by Glencore official Matthew Lucke, who works out of Glencore’s headquarters in Switzerland.
The Flathead Basin Commission, which was formed in 1983 to monitor and protect water quality in the Flathead Basin, invited Sloan and Julie DalSoglio, director of the EPA’s Montana office, to update the group on the potential for contamination of soils, groundwater and air.
The Montana senators requested an evaluation of the 120-acre industrial area because it has not been inspected since 1988 and may pose a threat to the community and jeopardize future economic development. The plant continued to operate for more than two decades after the most recent inspection.
Officials with the EPA and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality agreed that another inspection of the smelter plant was overdue, and said they will work closely with the public to keep them formed.
“I hope there is a robust, transparent opportunity for the public to be very involved in this process. Communication is really key, and that is one thing that EPA has promised,” Sloan said.
EPA officials will assess risks posed by the plant’s decades-long handling of hazardous materials, including cyanide, zinc and a host of other raw materials common in industrial use. The agency will gather environmental data from the plant’s solvent landfills and wastewater ponds that handled plant discharge.
The initial investigation, slated to begin this summer, will likely take one year, DalSoglio said, while an additional year will be spent assessing the data and reviewing public comment. The EPA could spend another two years on enforcement actions and cleanup approval; depending on the complexity of the site, the actual cleanup could require between two and five years, she said.
http://missoulian.com/news/local/columbia-falls-aluminum-s-reopening-increasingly-uncertain/article_b15f9f0e-a251-11e2-bab4-001a4bcf887a.html

Aluminum Prices Post Biggest Weekly Decline in 14 Months

Aluminum fell, capping the biggest weekly drop in 14 months, on signs that increasing output in China will add to a global glut. Global output increased 5.7 percent in January from a year earlier to 3.917 million metric tons, the International Aluminium Institute said Feb. 20. Chinese production surged 16 percent, the IAI figures showed. Production exceeded demand by 419,400 tons last year, figures from the World Bureau of Metal Statistics showed this week. “The high production is not helping reduce the supply surpluses on the global aluminum market, which are still reflected in high inventory levels,” Commerzbank AG analysts including Frankfurt-based Daniel Briesemann said in a report. “The high supply is likely to block any significant increase in aluminum prices.” Aluminum for delivery in three months dropped 1.3 percent to settle at $2,048 a ton on the London Metal Exchange at 5:51 p.m. local time. This week, the price tumbled 5.5 percent, the most since late November 2011. The commodity fell for the fifth straight day, the longest slump in two months. Inventories monitored by the LME climbed 0.1 percent to 5.16 million tons, the highest in more than three weeks. Copper for delivery in three months fell 0.8 percent to $7,801 a ton ($3.54 a pound). This week, the price plunged 4.9 percent, the most since December 2011. The metal dropped for the sixth straight session, the longest slump in two months. Zinc and lead declined, while nickel gained. Tin was little changed. In New York, copper futures for May delivery decreased 0.5 percent to $3.5505 a pound on the Comex. Yesterday, total volume rose to a record 128,326 contracts, topping the previous all-time high of 127,276 on April 10, CME Group Inc., the Comex owner, said today. On Feb. 6, open interest jumped to a record 184,257 contracts, Chicago-based CME Group said. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-22/aluminum-drops-for-fifth-day-as-china-output-adds-to-supplies.html