CRU aluminum news roundup

The key benefits Alcoa sees in the purchase are increased exposure to tier-1 bauxite and alumina assets; greater operational efficiency and flexibility, and strategic optionality; and a deeper commitment to Western Australia. The acquisition gives the company 100% ownership of Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC), the 60:40 joint venture it had with Alumina Limited. AWAC operates, or has an interest in, bauxite mines and alumina refineries in Australia, Brazil, Spain, Saudi Arabia, and Guinea, plus an aluminum smelter in Victoria, Australia. When the deal was announced in March, the valuation of Alumina Limited was around $2.2 billion.

Ball reports higher Q2 shipments despite mixed results in Americas

Ball Corp. released its results for Q2’24. Earnings in beverage packaging in North America came in at $210 million on sales of $1.47 billion compared to $175 million on sales of $1.54 billion last year. Ball noted that the contractual pass-through of lower aluminum costs partially offset the higher volumes.

For the EMEA region, the group recorded earnings of $113 million in Q2 on sales of $880 million compared to $98 million on sales of $920 million last year. Overall, global beverage can shipments continued to increase in Q2 at a healthy 2.8% year-over-year (y/y) rate and global aluminum aerosol shipments increased by 5.6% y/y. The EMEA region led the way with a growth of 6.5% y/y in can shipments vs. a more muted 1.1% y/y growth in North America. In South America, however, shipments recorded a decline of 3.2% y/y, dragged down by the difficulties experienced in Argentina, Ball said.

Commenting on the results, Daniel W. Fisher, chairman and CEO said: “We delivered strong second-quarter results and returned $790 million to shareholders in the first half of 2024. Leveraging our strong financial position and leaner operating model, the company remains uniquely positioned to enable our purpose of advancing the greater use of sustainable aluminum packaging. We continue to complement our purpose by driving innovation and sustainability on a global scale, unlocking additional manufacturing efficiencies, and enabling consistent delivery of high-quality, long-term shareholder value creation.”

Rio Tinto’s focus poised to change

Long seen as being dominated by iron ore operations in Western Australia, diversified miner Rio Tinto is at an inflection point in its growth, according to CEO Jakob Stausholm, who referred to a step change from its aluminum business and consistent iron ore production at Pilbara. “We have considerable growth in cash flow from the ramp-up of the underground copper mine at Oyu Tolgoi, and more value to come as our Simandou [iron ore] investment and Rincon lithium project proceed at pace,” he said. They are respectively in Mongolia, Guinea, and Argentina.

Referring to aluminum smelters in Australia and New Zealand, he added: “We are also solving some of our most complex challenges through technology and partnerships, such as the renewable power solutions announced for Boyne and NZAS.” And such is the shift away from a corporate focus on iron ore, with Rio Tinto now in talks of overall production in copper-equivalent terms. Stausholm said the company is on track to increase that by around 2% this year.

His comments accompanied the Australia-based company posting a net profit of $5.81 billion, up 13.5% year on year, though turnover was little changed at $26.8 billion. Rio Tinto noted it expects to spend around $1 billion on closure activities, including the Gove alumina refinery in Australia and at legacy sites.

Beiersdorf and Novelis launch Nivea Creme in recycled aluminum tin

Cosmetic company Beiersdorf recently announced that its iconic Nivea Creme tin would, from now on, be produced with 80% of recycled aluminum content. Holger Dede from the Beiersdorf manufacturing site in Hamburg, Germany, explained that besides the challenge of recycled aluminum availability in the quantities needed for a product sold globally, it has been difficult to identify the right alloy for the company’s machines and processes in the factory. “It’s been a trial-and-error phase of testing that took several months until we found the best fit and adapted our processes to the new material.”

Philip Helm from Packaging at Beiersdorf further added the company decided to implement 80% recycled aluminum instead of 100% because multiple aspects had to be reviewed and considered for the transformation. “With the current supply, we were able to commit to a minimum of 80% recycled aluminum. One of the highest barriers to the use of recycled aluminum is the availability of the recycled material. We must be able to ensure a steady process at the supplier and in our own production center here in Hamburg,” said Helm before adding: “I can imagine achieving 100% recycled aluminum in the future, as we will continue to work on the topic of sustainability, also together with our suppliers.”

Editor’s note: These articles first appeared in CRU, SMU’s parent company. To learn more about CRU’s services, visit www.crugroup.com.