"Changing technology" at bottom could be interesting.
( Magnesium price rises
By Staff Purchasing February 15, 2007 )
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Die casters that buy secondary magnesium in the spot market are complaining about lengthening leadtimes and rising prices. Magnesium-alloy prices have increased by about a dime lately to around $1.40/lb.
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• Norsk Hydro A/S completed construction of a 10,000-t/y magnesium alloy ingot foundry in China in Xi’an, approximately 800 km southwest of Beijing. Norsk Hydro started producing high quality alloy ingot from locally produced magnesium for export to traditional markets for diecasting alloys. The plant will also eventually produce 400 t/y of anodes.
• China Steel Corp. announced that it planned to build a new magnesium plant.
• Gold River Magnesium planned to expand its capacity from 9000 t/y to 40 000 t/y over the next four years.
• Ningxia Zhongning Aluminium planned to expand capacity from 7000 t/y to 19 000 t/y in 2002.
• Jinghua Magnesium in Shanxi planned to expand alloy capacity by 10 000 t/y.
• Jishan Huayu Enterprises in Shanxi planned to increase its capacity to 16 000 t/y from 6000 t/y.
• The Quinghai provincial government proposed a new 50 000-t/y electrolytic smelter using brines from Chearhan Salt Lake, with the start of construction originally proposed for 2001 and production in 2005. At the end of the year, it was seeking
investors in the project.
• Tongxian Magnesium in Shanxi planned to expand capacity to 30 000 t/y of pure magnesium from 17 000 t/y. The first phase to reach 20 000 t/y was completed in 2001.
• Wenxi Yinguang Magnesium planned to expand capacity from 24 000 t/y to 28 000 t/y of pure metal and alloys in 2002.
• Xinlihua Magnesium Powder Company planned to increase its ingot capacity to 6000 t/y from 3000 t/y.
• Zunyi Titanium Works started production of magnesium and planned to produce at a rate of 5000 t/y and to increase its production of titanium.
Western Producers
Norsk Hydro has closed the 42 000-t/y Porsgrunn magnesium smelter in Norway. The existing casthouse will operate based on scrap and ingot remelt feedstock for magnesium alloy production. The Porsgrunn casthouse has a 20 000-t/y remelt capacity, which will remain open. Further information is available on the Internet at magnesium.hydro.com
Pechiney electrometallurgie has announced the closure of the 18 000-t/y Marignac magnesium smelter in France (www.pechiney.com). Alcoa Inc. closed the 38 000-t/y Northwest Alloys magnesium smelter in Addy, Washington ( alcoa.com ).
Magnesium Corp. of America filed for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code. The company is modernizing equipment at its 43 000-t/y smelter in Rowley, Utah, to reduce emissions. Modernization of the plant is expected to eventually increase its capacity but, in the near term, production has been reduced.
Governments
The U.S. International Trade Administration determined, after a review, that imports of pure magnesium from China were sold at less than market value and determined duty margins of 24.67% for Minmetals and 305.56% country-wide.
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) determined
that sales of pure magnesium from Israel were made at less than fair value and determined countervail duty margins of 13.39% and anti-dumping at 12.68%. A subsequent determination of higher rates was countered by the U.S. International Trade Commission.
A final determination was also made of a 0% margin on imports from Russia. In late 2000, the Government of Quebec filed a
request for a review by an independent binational panel under Chapter 19 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of decisions resulting from a five-year sunset review in 2000. In early 2002, the Panel remanded the final results to the
DOC to reconsider its determinations ( usitc.gov
and nafta-sec-alena.org ).
In early 2001, the United States Automotive Materials Partnership (USAMP), as part of the United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), began a new structural cast magnesium development project to resolve the critical issues that limit the large-scale application of structural cast magnesium castings in automotive components. In addition,
work was conducted though the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) on new power train components, including ones from cast magnesium alloys, although the focus of work shifted to the FreedomCAR Research Partnership in early 2002.
The vision of FreedomCAR is petroleum-free cars andlight trucks ( uscar.org )
PROJECTS
Australia
Australian Magnesium Corporation (AMC), after some difficulty and government assistance of about A$300 million in the last year, completed financing for construction of a 90 000-t/y plant at Stanwell, Queensland. The company expected to start construction in 2002. Metal production is expected to start in late 2004 and the plant is expected to reach full capacity in 2006. AMC has decided to use newer Alcan Ex2 cells, which have a higher capacity for production of magnesium than the older versions of this technology. For further information, see the company’s web site at austmg.com and Australian
government sites at minister.industry.gov.au
and qld.gov.au
Mt. Grace Resources NL continued work on its Northern Territory Batchelor magnesium project 85 km south of Darwin. Mt. Grace’s stage one feasibility study proposed that an initial A$76 million plant with a 14-MW furnace could have a capacity of 12,500 t/y of metal. Once the plant is running, depending on market conditions, the company would expand the operation to 50 000 t/y in 2007. The company planned to complete a bankable feasibility study by the end of 2001 and has signed an agreement for the sale of 10 000 t/y of metal with the Frank & Schulte Group, a subsidiary of Stinnes Interfer, which is a division of Stinnes AG, one of Germany’s largest companies. The project received Major Project Facilitation status from the government and the company hoped to begin construction in 2002 with first production in 2003 ( mtgrace.com ).
Pima Mining/Samag Ltd. continued work on a proposed metal plant based on magnesite deposits located near Leigh Creek in the Willouran Ranges region of South Australia. Samag has increased the size of its initial proposal and now expects to construct an A$700 million, 65,000-t/y smelter using Dow technology in Port Pirie, South Australia. The company received environmental approval from the South Australian government and secured a power contract with Australian National Power, which will build a 230-MW power station and provide up to 170 MW to the project. The company also received commitments that the South Australian government would spend up to A$25 million to improve infrastructure.
The company expected to complete a bankable feasibility study in 2002 and start construction, with metal production anticipated for 2004. The company also held discussions with possible investors and studied construction of a metal plant in New Zealand ( mgil.com.au ).
Pacific Magnesium Corporation Ltd. (formerly Golden Triangle Resources NL) continued work on its Woodsreef magnesium project in New South Wales based on feed from asbestos tailings. The company planned to proceed with a definitive feasibility study on the Woodsreef project that would be completed in late 2001. The company also held discussions with possible partners pacificmagnesium.com).
Rambora Technologies planned to conduct a prefeasibility study on a 100 000-t/y smelter based on high magnesium fly ash from the Hazelwood Power station in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria. The company also held discussions with the Victorian government
and worked on financing for the project. Indcor Limited (formerly Crest Magnesium NL) shelved its plans for a proposed 60 000-t/y magnesium metal plant near Bell Bay, Tasmania
( indcor.com.au ).
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Netherlands
Antheus Magnesium BV continues to work on its magnesium metal production facility in the Delfzijl region. The company has commissioned a feasibility study for a 30,000-t/y plant and is seeking partners in the plant, which is hoped to be in production in 2005 ( antheusmagnesium.nl ).
Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville)
Magnesium Alloy Corporation (MagAlloy) continued work on its Kouilou project in the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville). The project is based on two exploration permits in the Kouilou region where previous work has indicated the presence of potassium and magnesium salts. The company proposes a 60,000-t/y plant in Pointe-Noire to solution mine the salt beds and produce magnesium metal with byproduct chlorine, sodium chloride and potassium chloride to provide additional revenue.
The Russian National Aluminium and Magnesium Institute (VAMI) and the Ukrainian Titanium Institute’s magnesium extraction technology would be used in the plant. A government decree signed by the President in June was expected to help the project.
Magnesium Alloy Corporation signed a Memorandum of understanding with Siemens Aktiengesellschaft Power Transmission and Distribution Division regarding several areas of cooperation. The company also entered into a framework agreement with Amphora Group Holding Luxembourg S. A. for funding, implementation and development of the project and related energy infrastructure. However, in November, the company announced termination of that agreement . At year-end, the company was continuing discussions with other potential investors in the project. MagAlloy planned to begin production by 2005 at a rate of 60 000 t/y of pure and alloyed metal
( magnesiumalloy.ca ).
Ukraine
After finding a new investor, the Kalush magnesium plant, originally with a capacity of 24,000 t/y, was expected to re-open in 2002. The production rate was expected to be about 10,000 t/y. Russia Solikamsk Magnesium Works continued work on a 15,000-t/y expansion of capacity.
RECYCLING
Several new magnesium recycling facilities and expansions of existing facilities were under way or announced during 2001 and early 2002.
These include:
• Magnesium Elektron completed the first phase of construction of its new 10 000-t/y magnesium recycling plant in Prague, in the Czech Republic, using scrap from Germany (www.luxfer.com and magnesium-elektron.com ).
• Xstrata AG completed construction and started production of recycled magnesium at a 25,000-t/y plant in Anderson, Indiana – its first scrap recycling facility in the United States.
CHANGING TECHNOLOGY
Lakefield Research, based in Ontario, has been conducting research into new technology for magnesium production. The LRP process uses a simple reactor for leaching, neutralization, separation and washing of residues to simplify magnesium recovery from serpentine ores. The company sought an industrial
partner to support further development of the technology
( lakefield.com ).
PRICES
Prices published by Metals Week for magnesium were relatively flat through the year. The U.S. Spot Western Mean started the year at US$1.26/lb and ended it at US$1.25/lb, while the mean U.S. dealer import prices decreased from US$1.10/lb early in the year to US$1.07/lb in December. The Metal Bulletin’s World Free Market Price for minimum 99.8% magnesium metal started the year at US$1950-$2050/t and declined steadily to end the year at US$1775-$1875/t.
Norsk Hydro’s European producer price for pure magnesium started the year at €2.33/kg and, after declining to €2.22/kg in January, rose to €2.42/kg in July.
Reported prices of Chinese magnesium on a spot basis f.o.b. China started the year at approximately US$1500/t. Prices weakened further in 2001 with reported sales at US$1200-$1300/t (US54¢-59¢/lb) at year-end.
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