31 JANUARY 2014Business Recorder
Aluminium hits the lowest prices on LME
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
1 min read
Aluminium touched its weakest levels in more than four years on Wednesday on persistent worries of overproduction while copper dropped for a sixth session ahead of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday in Asia. Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange touched a low of $1,735.25 a tonne, the weakest since July 2009. The metal, burdened by global inventories estimated at 10-15 million tonnes, recovered slightly to close down 0.7 percent at $1,742 a tonne.
Aluminium premiums - which consumers have to pay on top of LME cash prices for immediate delivery - have shot to record highs in recent weeks, but this has stoked worries that this will allow some smelters to keep churning out metal. "The high and in some cases still rising premiums in the key consumer regions and countries are preventing many producers from implementing urgently needed production cuts, for this provides aluminium manufacturers with indirect subsidies," Commerzbank said in a note. The global aluminium market is expected to have a surplus of 568,400 tonnes this year, according to a consensus forecast of analysts polled by Reuters.
Aluminium premiums - which consumers have to pay on top of LME cash prices for immediate delivery - have shot to record highs in recent weeks, but this has stoked worries that this will allow some smelters to keep churning out metal. "The high and in some cases still rising premiums in the key consumer regions and countries are preventing many producers from implementing urgently needed production cuts, for this provides aluminium manufacturers with indirect subsidies," Commerzbank said in a note. The global aluminium market is expected to have a surplus of 568,400 tonnes this year, according to a consensus forecast of analysts polled by Reuters.
Previous article
Century receives permission from Kentucky Public Service Commission for market-priced power for Sebree smelter
Next articleNalco Q3 profit reports a leap of 10%
Grow with
AL Circle
