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Minerals and Metals Group (MMG), the Australian nonferrous metals subsidiary of China Minmetals Corporation (Minmetals), has disclosed that its copper output over January-March declined 10% on year while its zinc production rose 21% over the same period.
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Shandong Weiqiao Aluminum and Power Co, one of China’s major aluminum producers and based in East China’s Shandong province, has built new smelting facilities in Shandong with a total aluminum capacity of 542,000 tonnes/year, according to an announcement from the Shandong provincial government’s Department of Industry and Technology.
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For the FY2019 (July 1 2018-June 30 2019), BHP has kept its copper production guidance unchanged at 1.65 -1.74 million tonnes, though its copper output in the first nine months of FY19 fell by 3% on year to 1.25 million tonnes, according to the Melbourne-based company’s latest quarterly production report released on April 17.
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China Smelters Purchase Team (CSPT) has settled treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) for copper concentrates for the current quarter beginning April 1 at $73/t and 7.3 cents/lb respectively, lower than those for Q1 and the guideline levels agreed for the whole year of 2019, market sources confirmed.
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Yunnan Copper Co, based in Southwest China’s Yunnan province and one of China’s major copper producers, witnessed a significant decline in its performance last year, with its net profit tumbling by 46% on year to Yuan 124.8 million ($18.6 million), mainly due to weaker sales of copper cathode, its core product, according to the company’s latest annual report released on April 3.
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A shrewd tweak of its business plan last year saw China Hongqiao Group, the country’s leading privately-owned integrated aluminum producer, double the share that sales of alumina enjoyed in its overall business, the Shandong-headquartered company’s latest annual report shows.
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A subsidiary of East China’s Shandong Nanshan Aluminum Co, a major producer and fabricator of primary aluminum, plans to invest Yuan 453.1 million ($67.7 million) in a new aluminum foil plant mainly targeting the battery and packaging industries, a company official confirmed Thursday.
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The revelation by Norsk Hydro, Norway’s major global aluminum producer headquartered in Oslo, that its computer systems were hit by a cyber-attack on Tuesday has propelled prices of the light metal upwards on leading commodities exchanges on concerns about possible disruptions to supply. Hydro produced nearly 2 million tonnes of primary aluminum last year, Mysteel notes.
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UC Rusal of Russia (Rusal), one the world’s top aluminum producers headquartered in Mosco of Russia, achieved a 39% year-on-year growth in net profit to $1.7 billion despite the sanctions first initiated by the US government last April, according to its annual report published on March 7.
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Some Chinese primary aluminum smelters have cut back production or halted operations completely saying they can’t maintain profits, Mysteel has learned. Some smelters were even heard negotiating cheaper electricity prices with local governments, market sources said.
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Chengtun Mining Group Co, headquartered in Shenzhen in South China’s Guangdong province, intends to spend up to Yuan 546.2 million ($81.8 million) acquiring 100% stake of Australia’s Nzuri Copper Limited, owner of two copper-cobalt projects in Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Chengtun’s official announcement released on February 27. The acquisition is aimed at ensuring supplies of raw materials to the Chinese firm’s smelter in North Kolwezi, DRC, which is commissioned in 2018 yearend, Mysteel notes.
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Mines in North China, especially those producing non-ferrous metals, are bracing for disruptions to their operations fearing central and local government authorities will respond with vigour to last Saturday morning’s horrific accident in an underground silver mine in Xilin Gol League in North China’s Inner Mongolia.
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MMG Limited, the Australian nonferrous metals subsidiary of China Minmetals Corporation, expects to perform strongly in 2019 with copper production projected to reach 385,000-405,000 tonnes (metal contained). However, the Melbourne-based firm’s copper output witnessed a sharp decline last year, according to the company’s Q4 production report released on January 24.
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Anglo American’s copper production jumped 23% on year to 183,500 tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2018, hitting a five-year high since Q4 2013, the global miner said in its latest quarterly report released on January 24. All tonnage is metal contained basis, Mysteel notes.
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BHP has raised its guideline for copper production for its 2019 fiscal year (ending June 30) to 1.64-1.74 million tonnes from the previous guidance of 1.62-1.7 million tonnes, according to the company’s latest quarterly report released on January 22. The Australian miner has upped its guidance – even though actual copper production over July-December declined – mainly because financial issues led BHP to cancel its agreement to sell the Cerro Colorado mine in Chile.
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Operational
performance
(i) Other copper comprises Pampa Norte
(including Cerro Colorado production for the full 2019 financial year to
reflect its retention, previous guidance only included 35,000 tonnes of
production for the first half of the 2019 financial year), Olympic Dam and
Antamina.
(ii) Increase in BHP’s share of
volumes reflects the expiry of the Wheelarra Joint Venture
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Alcoa Corporation, a global producer of bauxite, alumina and aluminum headquartered in Pennsylvania in United States, expects a decline in aluminum shipments this year though it sees the global aluminum market enjoying sound fundamentals overall, according to the company’s latest Q4 and full-year 2018 results published on January 16.
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Jiangxi Copper Co, China’s leading copper producer in Southeast China’s Jiangxi province, has formally completed its Yuan 325 million ($48.1 million) acquisition of 65% of Yantai Guoxing Copper Co in East China’s Shandong province from Yantai Guofeng Investment Holding Co, another state-owned company in Shandong, an official from Shandong Property Rights Exchange Center confirmed Thursday. Jiangxi Copper had raised its hand to buy the stake late last year, Mysteel understands from the market.
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The Brazilian state of Para has lifted the production embargo it had imposed last year on Norsk Hydro’s Alunorte alumina refinery, the Norwegian aluminium producer announced on Wednesday. Alunorte, the world’s largest alumina refinery, has a nominal capacity of 6.3 million tonnes/year and normal annual production of around 5.8 million t/y, according to Hydro.
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Production
summary
Source: South32, released on January 17
