C21 Primary Metal and Metal Product Manufacturing

Nyrstar to get $135 million bailout for struggling smelters

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Original article by
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 6-Aug-25

Nyrstar Australia has welcomed the $135m joint federal and state rescue package for its smelters in Port Pirie and Hobart. The federal government will contribute $57.5m, while the South Australian and Tasmanian governments will provide $55m and $22.5m respectively. Nyrstar will use the taxpayer funding to undertake feasibility studies into the production of critical metals, including antimony and bismuth at the Port Pirie lead smelter and germanium and indium at the Hobart zinc smelter. A pilot plant at Port Pirie will be able to produce up to half a tonne of antimony each day.

CORPORATES
NYRSTAR AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Smelters face risk of closure, Nyrstar warns

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Original article by Angela Macdonald-Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 16 : 2-Jul-25

Nyrstar Australia’s CEO Matt Howell says the company’s smelters in South Australia and Tasmania are expected to post losses totalling "several hundred millon" dollars over the next two years. He says a joint state and federal government rescue package is vital to the future of the smelters, and a deal with the governments is expected shortly. Significant capital investment is required for both the Port Pirie and Hobart smelters, while Nyrstar is also looking at the viability of upgrading the plants to process critical minerals. Tony Wood from the Grattan Institute contends that government assistance should only be provided if it is deemed to be in the national interest.

CORPORATES
NYRSTAR AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Commission moves fast to impose dumping duties

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Original article by John Durie
The Australian – Page: 14 : 14-Mar-25

The Anti-Dumping Commission has this week declared a "preliminary affirmative determination" (PAD) against imports from China of steel clips used to attached plastic pipes for plumbing. It is the first PAD that the commission has issued in some years, and means that dumping duties can be imposed before a final decision is made. The issue of the PAD is seen as a sign that the federal government wants to put importers of steel on notice, amid fears that China and other steel exporters will try to dump their products on Australia as a result of the US decision to impose increased tariffs on steel ­imports.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. ANTI-DUMPING COMMISSION

Whyalla rescue plan launched two months ago

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 25-Feb-25

Bruce Carter has been the chairman of the South Australian government’s Steel Task Force since its inception in 2015. It was established over concerns regarding the financial stability and future of the Whyalla steelworks under the then-ownership of Arrium, which went broke in 2016, with British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta emerging as the new owner of the steelworks in mid-2017. With the state government becoming increasingly fed up with Gupta’s unpaid bills and the damage they were doing to the town of Whyalla, it has been revealed that Carter phoned KordaMentha in late 2024 about the possibility of placing the steelworks into administration; the government ended up appointing KordaMentha as administrator of the Whyalla steelworks and associated iron ore mines on 19 February.

CORPORATES
KORDA MENTHA AND COLLEAGUES PTY LTD, ARRIUM LIMITED

Alumina bid gets the nod from expert

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Original article by Nick Evans
The Australian – Page: 19 : 12-Jun-24

An independent expert’s report from Grant Samuel has concluded that an all-scrip takeover offer for Alumina is ‘fair and reasonable’. Grant Samuel has indicated that Alcoa’s $4bn bid would deliver a substantial benefit for Alumina shareholders, who will control about 31.6 per cent of the merged group if the deal proceeds. However, the firm notes that Alumina shareholders will lose access to $493m worth of franking credits, although Alumina has not paid a dividend since June 2022. Shareholders are slated to vote on the deal in mid-July.

CORPORATES
ALUMINA LIMITED – ASX AWC, ALCOA INCORPORATED, GRANT SAMUEL AND ASSOCIATES PTY LTD

Alumina agrees to Alcoa’s takeover

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Original article by Chris Herde
The Australian – Page: 16 : 13-Mar-24

Alumina’s directors have recommended that shareholders should vote in favour of Alcoa’s $3.3bn takeover offer in the absence of a superior proposal. Alumina chairman Peter Day says the time is right to combine the two companies, which are joint venture partners in Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals. Alumina’s 40 per cent stake in AWAC is its sole asset, and its shareholders will own about 31.6 per cent of the merged group. Alumina was founded in 2002 via the demerger of Western Mining Corporation’s aluminium and bauxite assets.

CORPORATES
ALUMINA LIMITED – ASX AWC, ALCOA INCORPORATED, ALCOA WORLD ALUMINA AND CHEMICALS

Alcoa chases Alumina for $3.4bn deal

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Original article by Nick Evans, Valerina Changarathil
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 27-Feb-24

US-based Alcoa is offering 0.02854 of its shares for every share in Alumina Limited, its joint venture partner in the Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals business. The all-scrip bid values Alumina at $US2.2bn ($3.4bn), and the offer represents a 13.1 per cent premium to Alumina’s last trading price. The bid has the support of Alumina’s board, as well as the target’s largest shareholder, Allan Gray Australia. China-based CITIC could potentially determine the outcome of the bid, given that it has a stake of about 19 per cent in Alumina.

CORPORATES
ALUMINA LIMITED – ASX AWC, ALCOA INCORPORATED, ALCOA WORLD ALUMINA AND CHEMICALS, CITIC LIMITED

Don’t politicise Kwinana closure: Alcoa

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Original article by Tom Rabe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 17-Jan-24

Alcoa’s executive vice president Matt Reed has responded to criticism of the US-based company’s recent decision to close its Kwinana alumina refinery in Western Australia. Reed has cautioned against ‘politicising’ the decision, which will result in the loss of at least 750 jobs; he contends that federal and state government policies were not to blame for the plant’s closure, arguing that the decision was made due to "commercial realities". The cost of producing alumina at the 60-year-old Kwinana plant was about $410 per tonne in 2023, compared with around $250 per tonne at Alcoa’s two other refineries in WA.

CORPORATES
ALCOA INCORPORATED

Alcoa set to announce Kwinana refinery closure

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Original article by Cecilia Jamasmie
Mining.com – Page: Online : 9-Jan-24

Aluminum producer Alcoa is set to announce plams for its Kwinana alumina refinery in Western Australia, with closure of the facility reported as the most likely option. Kwinana has been operating for around 60 years, and has the capacity to produce around 2.2 million tonnes a year. Its closure would result in the loss of almost 1,200 jobs, although some workers could be deployed to its two other refineries in the region and to Alcoa’s two mines in the south-west of WA.

CORPORATES
ALCOA INCORPORATED

South32, Alcoa to go green in Brazil

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Original article by Ben Potter
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 7-Jan-22

South32 and Alcoa Corporation have announced plans to restart their Alumar aluminium smelter in Brazil, with first production due in the June quarter. The two companies intend to spend around $USS175 million ($243 million) on the restart, and are intending to only use renewable energy. South32 owns 40 per cent of the smelter, and will contribute $US70 million as its share of the cost of getting it restarted. Full production capacity of 447,000 tonnes per annum is expected to be reached by the March 2023 quarter.

CORPORATES
SOUTH32 LIMITED – ASX S32, ALCOA INCORPORATED