Futures: SHFE aluminium closed at RMB 22,530 per tonne, rebounding 1.1 per cent. Despite the positive close, prices remained under pressure below all key moving averages (MA5=22,727, MA60=23,633), with the medium-term bearish alignment intact. MACD indicator lines (DIF=-244.16, DEA=-188.68) operated below the zero axis, but the green bars narrowed significantly to -110.96 (previous day -150.62), indicating a marked weakening of bearish momentum and initial signs of a technical bottom divergence repair. Trading volume expanded to 101,500 lots, suggesting capital inflows at the bottom. The recommended core trading range for SHFE aluminium is 22,000-22,800. LME aluminium closed at USD 3,078.5 per tonne, surging 2.02 per cent. Prices rebounded strongly, reclaiming MA5 (3,061.5), MA10...
Novelis is advancing beverage can coating testing and research resulting from its long-standing relationship with the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Researchers from Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, working in collaboration with Novelis, have developed advanced testing capabilities that significantly reduce the time required to evaluate how beverages interact with protective coatings inside aluminum cans. The new approach allows researchers to collect data throughout the testing process, providing a clearer picture of how coatings perform while reducing testing cycles from months to just weeks. For beverage makers, faster testing could mean faster decisions about packaging and ultimately help shorten the time it takes to bring new products...
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Maxion Wheels, the world’s largest wheel manufacturer, has entered into an agreement to form a new joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Parts and Components Group, one of China’s largest automotive parts companies, for passenger car aluminium wheel. The new legal entity, Dongfeng Maxion Wheels, will build a plant in Hubei Province, China. The facility will have a two-million per year capacity with series production scheduled for second half of 2020. “Growing our presence in Asia is one of Iochpe-Maxion’s priorities,” said Marcos Oliveira, President and Chief Executive Officer, Iochpe-Maxion S.A. “Coupling Maxion Wheels’ global customer relationships and significant aluminium wheel expertise with Dongfeng Motor Parts and Components’ goal to expand its portfolio to include light vehicle...
Reading Truck Body celebrates its 40-year milestone in aluminium, and chose The Work Truck Show to be the kick-off to the celebration. The company has been a name to reckon with in Indianapolis for aluminium service bodies. Their aluminium service bodies come with a 10-year warranty for rugged on-the-job performance and survive the harshest work atmosphere and weather. Reading’s aluminium truck bodies can pack up to 50% more cargo and save up to 10% on fuel. Continuous invention and innovation are behind the successful four decades of Reading’s aluminium truck bodies. The highlights of its forty years of service are the award-winning Classic II Service Body and Classic Service Van. According to the manufacturer, the company is preparing to celebrate its anniversary throughout 2019 and...
Many automobile and power companies across the world are reportedly abandoning copper wires for its lighter and cheaper rival aluminium after a decade of technological innovation. European countries, like Germany, are also increasingly relying on aluminium wires for the past few years for automobile manufacturing, building construction, and electric circuitry. So to say, aluminium is emerging more and more as a particularly important engineering material, especially in lightweight automotive construction. According to global export-import data, Germany in 2018 had imported approximately 101,146 tonnes of aluminium, up 16 per cent year on year from 86,991 tonnes. In 2016, the import volume was even higher at 108,242 tonnes, up 24 per cent from 2017 and 7 per cent from 2018. In 2019,...
The Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) is preparing to enter phase seven of the Bauxite Community Development Programme (BCDP), as said by BCDP Project Coordinator, Clarence Osbourne. Under phase seven, another tranche of funds is expected to be paid over to the Programme for its multifaceted projects. “The submissions have been sent to the Ministry of Transport and Mining and they have, in turn, taken it to the Ministry of Finance for them to provide the necessary support,” he said. The BCDP was formed to ensure sustainable development for communities in and around bauxite mining areas. It was developed by the JBI along with consultants from the then Ministry of Agriculture and Mining. The program aims to facilitate the reinvestment of earnings from the bauxite/alumina industry in the...
As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, came in at 1.75 million tonnes as of Thursday March 14. Stocks increased 5,000 tonnes from Thursday March 7. In Guangdong province, a buildup of stocks across social warehouses accounted for most of the gains in inventories. Last week, social inventories in the same areas rose 5,000 tonnes as of Thursday March 7. The chart below indicates the current status of the primary aluminium inventories across China: Compared with last Thursday, Inventories in Wuxi, Jiangsu dropped 11,000 tonnes to stand at 628,000 tonnes, while stocks in Nanhai, Guangdong increased 28,000 tonnes to stand at 402,000 tonnes. Stocks in Shanghai remain unchanged at 313,000...
The US dollar dipped to the lowest since March 4, at 96.37, after new inflation data increased expectations that US interest rates will not be raised anytime soon. Base metals ended mixed and LME aluminium jumped 1.38%. SHFE aluminium rose 0.7%. LME aluminium closed the day's trading higher than the day before at US$1873 per tonne. The contract then jumped above all moving averages and broke pressure from US$1,900 per tonne, after Norway’s Norsk Hydro said that production at its Neuss plant in Germany would likely to fall due to an accident. A lower US dollar also pulled the prices. LME aluminium ended at US$1,903.5 per tonne. It is likely to trade robustly at US$1,850-1,930 per tonne today. As on March 13, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1872.50 per tonne, LME official...
According to the National Bureau of Statistics on March 14, China’s primary aluminium production between January and February came in at 5.69 million tonnes. This represents a 5 per cent year-on-year increase, but a plunge by 2 per cent on a daily basis from December’s record rate. The bureau typically does not provide individual output numbers for those two months due to distortion from the timing of Chinese New Year. Chinese aluminium smelters, however, keep running throughout the week-long holiday. Per the statistics reported by Reuters, China’s daily average output stood at around 96,400 tonnes between January and February, down from 98,420 tonnes in December. This decline in China’s daily average output shows the impact of persistently low Chinese aluminium prices on smelters. The...
Average spot alumina price declined further to RMB 2726 per tonne on Thursday, 14 March 2019. This was down 0.18 per cent or RMB5 per tonne from RMB2731 per tonne. The average price is expected to range within RMB2726 per tonne. The fall in alumina price can be seen in the following graph. Alumina-East and Alumina-Central declined RMB20 per tonne and RMB10 per tonne to stand at RMB 2720 per tonne and RMB2730 per tonne respectively. Their average price is expected to range between RMB2700-2740 per tonne and RMB2720-2740 per tonne. Alumina-South dropped to RMB2730 per tonne. Alumina-North still unchanged at RMB 2720 per tonne. A00 aluminium ingot price increased RMB 100 per tonne from Wednesday to RMB13830 per tonne on Thursday, 14 March 2019. The average price is expected to range between...
Aparna Enterprises Limited, part of Hyderabad-based Aparna Group, has announced a joint venture with Hong Kong-based Craft Holding Ltd to manufacture and retail aluminium exterior products and solutions. Aparna Enterprises and Craft Holding’s joint venture will operate under the name Aparna-Craft Exteriors Private Limted. The JV will set up a manufacturing facility with an investment of about INR 30 crore at Bachupally, Hyderabad, India. Ashwin Reddy, Managing Director of Aparna Enterprises said: “Aluminium exteriors as a market segment has huge potential owing to rapid urbanisation and infrastructure development across the country. Craft is a leader in many of the geographies across the world and Aparna-Craft Exteriors will thrive to be the one in India.” Aparna Reddy, Executive...
Rio Tinto’s Chief Executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said that Rio Tinto is in talks with Apple to move into the next phase of an agreement for a low-carbon aluminium smelting project. He said this during the inauguration of Rio’s new Amrun bauxite mine in northern Australia. The world’s top miner is looking at converting its aluminium business to adhere to a low-carbon economy. Rio and Alcoa announced a joint venture in 2018, supported by Apple, to commercialize a smelting process by 2024 that emits oxygen and replaces all direct greenhouse gas emissions from the traditional aluminium smelting. “At the end of the day, what we can see is the customers of our customers want to have full traceability on their products, and they want to make sure they have a carbon-friendly product,” Jacques...
Hydro announced a pipe connecting fume treatment centers fell on the roof of one of the electrolysis halls of the aluminium plant in Neuss leading to damages to the building and reduced production. “There was no immediate impact on the electrolysis production following the accident. However, to repair the damages to the roof and the pipe, Hydro is forced to temporarily curtail production at parts of the production line and restart a number of cells when the structure is repaired,” Hydro said. Hydro said early estimates indicate that the production impact will be between 10,000 and 20,000 tonnes, while financial impact is estimated to be limited. Neuss aluminium plant has an annual electrolysis production of around 160,000 tonnes. Hydro claims the facility is the largest plant of its kind...
According to a recent report, the Malaysian government announced that bauxite mining activities in Pahang should be on hold unless the miners conduct a study on the environmental impact of their sites. However, the date for when the environmental impact assessments (EIAs) will begin is not yet set. The resources ministry said that each mine would need at least six months to complete the assessment of the environmental impact. Thus, there will be a slower-than-expected restart in bauxite exports from Malaysia, resulting in disrupted global supply and price hike for a few more months. The Resources Minister Xavier Jayakumar said,” Mine operators will need to fulfil strict requirements, some of which will be based on the findings of the EIAs before they are granted licences to operate.” He...
CRU has announced the successful completion of the independent assurance review for its leading, transaction-only based, CRU-API (Alumina Price Index) price. The review was carried out by independent professional services company PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC). This report was prepared to establish CRU’s adherence to the International Organization of Securities Commissions' (IOSCO) Principles for Oil Price Reporting Agencies. The independent third party research has demonstrated that the CRU-API is used widely in the settlement of physical contracts. CRU’s Alumina Price Index will now also be used in the settlement of the London Metal Exchange's new cash-settled Alumina futures contract which was launched on 11 March 2019. "CRU's report demonstrates its ongoing commitment to providing...
According to a recent finalized study completed by AluMag, 43% of all New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) produced in China are fitted with an aluminium tray, which forms the lower part of the EV battery housing. Out of that, 36% has extruded aluminium while 7% has a cast aluminium tray. The remaining 57% are fitted with steel trays. AluMag forecasts that the NEV penetration in China would grow from 2.5% in 2017 to 32% in 2030. The study calculates if China delivers an estimated 10 million NEVs by 2030, aluminium extrusion & cast demand would grow with a CAGR of 28% between 2017 & 2030. {newsStudioGallery} Use of aluminium is growing mostly in the A segment cars. However, about 50% of the Chinese NEV market currently consists of A & B segment cars where aluminium is scarcely used in the battery...
As part of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) promotion, Hainan province in China has reportedly targeted to install 40,000 electric vehicle charging points in 2019. By 2020, the number of charging points in Heinan will thus increase to 85,000, with the ratio of NEVs and charging piles below 3:1. The province targets that it will have a total charging points of 337,000 by 2025 while by 2030 940,000. The province also aims to lower the ratio of NEVs and charging points to 1:1 by 2030. Hainan had more than 4,600 charging points and four charging stations as of the end of 2018. According to the Hainan Clean Energy Vehicle Development Plan released on March, Hainan has vowed to phase out fossil fuel vehicles by 2030 as an effort to speed up NEVs growth. As of February 2019, China as a whole had...
India imported a total of 199,000 tonnes of aluminium (crude metal and alloys, aluminium semi-finished products and scrap) from the US in the first eleven months of 2018, a 173.73% growth or 126300 tonnes from 72,700 in the first eleven months of 2017, as updated by US Census Bureau. {newsStudioGallery} Total aluminium imports by India came in at 30,200 tonnes in November 2018, marking a jump of 300.53% or 22660 tonnes from 7,540 tonnes in November 2017. Crude metal and alloys, aluminium semi-finished products (plates, sheets, bars, etc.) and scrap imports in November increased by 17% from October total of 25,800 tonnes. Semi-finished products imports totalled 4,020 tonnes during nine-month period. This indicates a jump 240.68% or 2840 tonnes year-on-year. Exports in November stood at 170...
The US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on Tuesday, March 12, that the United States is working on a plan to remove tariffs from Mexican and Canadian aluminium and steel while striving to preserve the gains that domestic producers received so far. He particularly told the US Senate Finance Committee that "What I'm trying to do is a have a practical solution to a real problem ... get rid of tariffs on these two, let them maintain their historic access to the US market which I think will allow us to still maintain the benefit of the steel and aluminium program." Once, a plan to lift metal tariffs from Canada and Mexico was linked to the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement but that ultimately failed to turn out successfully. Many US lawmakers believe that the...
The London Metal Exchange (LME) launched seven new cash-settled futures contracts on Monday, March 11, including contracts on alumina and aluminium premium. The new contracts are launched to attract more business after profits fell last year. London Metal Exchange (LME) announced about the launch of the seven new contracts on January 23. The LME launched a contract for alumina, which has seen sharp price volatility in 2018. The alumina price twice spiked and tumbled, opening up a market for both consumers and producers to hedge the price. The exchange also launched two regional aluminium premium contracts for U.S. Midwest and Europe. The world’s oldest and largest metal market aims to have a stronger portfolio of products as the rival exchanges such as CME Group of USA is giving fierce...
