AL Circle Analysis: Aluminium’s recycling economics, trade walls and carbon rules converge
The story of the aluminium industry is starting a chapter wherein scrap availability, recycling technology, trade policy, carbon costs and demand growth are becoming increasingly interconnected. From the US and Canada to Europe, India, New Zealand and China, recent developments show that the global aluminium supply chain is being reshaped on several fronts at once. These developments point to a changing aluminium business model: access to metal alone may no longer be enough. Quality of recycled feedstock, domestic processing capacity, carbon intensity, trade exposure and the ability to meet increasingly specific customer requirements could become equally important competitive factors. Join the fourth edition of the webinar “Hedging for recyclers - Become an expert in 6 hours” by Jorge...
Europe holds 10% of global aluminium extrusion demand, supported by Germany’s Constellium, France’s Hydro Extrusions & Italy’s Metra
Across Europe, aluminium extrusion has become closely woven into some of the region’s biggest industrial and construction markets. From automotive and transport to buildings and industrial applications, extruded profiles are finding demand across a wide range of sectors. This is reflected in Europe’s position in the global market: the region accounted for 12 per cent of global aluminium extrusion capacity, making it the second-largest regional contributor after China. At the same time, Europe represented 10 per cent of global aluminium extrusion usage, out of total global usage of 35.35 million tonnes . With production capacity and usage shares relatively close, Europe’s extrusion capacity and consumption are broadly at par. If we break down Europe’s 10 per cent share of global aluminium...
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LME aluminium may rise to $1,530
Aluminium on London Metal Exchange (LME) may rise to $1,530 per tonne, driven by a powerful wave c. This is the third wave of a bigger wave C - the third leg of a three-wave cycle from the Nov. 23 low of $1,432.50. A Fibonacci projection analysis on the target of the wave C indicates it may travel to $1,581, the 100 percent level. The immediate resistance is at $1,515, the 50 percent level. A rise to $1,518 could confirm a break above this barrier and the target at $1,530. A drop below $1,510 could signal the metal's failure to break resistance and support at $1,499, the 38.2 percent level, may be approached.
Aluminium futures at MCX up 0.78% on rising demand, global cues
Aluminium remained firm and prices gained 0.78 per cent to INR 103.40 per kg in futures trading today as speculators enlarged their positions, tracking a firm trend at spot market on surging demand. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in February month traded higher by 80 paise or 0.78 per cent to INR 103.40 per kg in a business turnover of 2354 lots. Similarly, the metal for delivery in March contracts edged up by 65 paise or 0.63 per cent to INR 103.35 per kg in 252 lots. Market analysts said increase in positions by traders on the back of pick up in demand from consuming industries at domestic spot markets and a firming trend in base metals in the overseas markets kept aluminium prices higher at futures trade.
Romanian aluminium producer borrows USD 137 mln to refinance loan
Aluminium producer Alro has signed a USD 137 million revolving loan agreement with a syndicate of banks led by Raiffeisen International and Raiffeisen Bank Romania. The company needs the money to refinance another USD 120 million revolving loan it took from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 2010. The consortium bank also includes Unicredit Bank, OTP Bank, Eximbank, Garanti Bank, Intesa Bank, and Banca Transilvania. Alro will guarantee the loan with its main assets, mortgage securities, mortgage rights, and compensation from insurance policies covering the company’s assets.
About 65% of Chinese smelters see aluminium prices stabilizing this week
About 65% of the 20 Chinese aluminium smelters surveyed by SMM expect aluminium prices to stabilize this week. They expect LME aluminium to hover between USD 1,500-1,520/mt and SHFE 1604 aluminium to consolidate at RMB 10,750-10,900/mt. Aluminium stocks in China’s major trading markets grew significantly after the week-long holiday, but were lower than in the same period last year. Downstream demand has yet to fully recover. Traders were actively stockpiling goods out of optimism. Another 10% are bearish that LME aluminium will fall to USD 1,480-1,500/mt and that SHFE 1604 aluminium will drop below RMB 10,700/mt, citing a series of negative factors: US non-farm payrolls were poor; GDP in the euro zone grew slowly in December; Japan’s GDP missed forecast in Q4; China’s manufacturing PMI...
Make in India: Vedanta proposes aluminium park in Odisha
To give a fillip to 'Make In India' campaign, diversified metals & mining major Vedanta Resources Ltd has proposed to set up a state-of-the-art aluminium park close to the site of its aluminium SEZ (special economic zone) at Jharsuguda. This state-of-the-art plug-and-produce aluminium park will be set up across 240 acres of land, providing an exclusive ecosystem for industries dependent on as well as manufacturing aluminium conductors, extrusions, castings, foils, powder and paste. For commissioning of the proposed park, Vedanta would sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Odisha government. The announcement to set up the aluminium park was made by Vedanta during the 'Make in India' week organised in Mumbai. Abhijit Pati, chief executive officer (aluminium), Vedanta Ltd said,...
Alumina price to drop 18% in 2016
Gladstone alumina refineries QAL and Yarwun are expected to refine more product this year despite low prices and an already over-supplied market. According to the Resources and Energy Outlook report from Department of Industry, Innovation and Science too much alumina in the market in 2015 pushed the price down by 8 per cent and in 2016 it is forecast to decrease by 18 per cent. It will put pressure on Gladstone's refineries. China was expected to continue to increase production of alumina in 2016 as new and suspended refineries start producing more. But, the report stated, QAL and Yarwun would drive an increase in Australian production. The low Australia dollar is expected to help exports as the overseas buyers can buy it for cheaper. Rio Tinto expects poor quality bauxite in China to...
Workers at QAL's Barney Point refinery axed as alumina price hits 25-year low
The critically low alumina price in the interational market has forced Queensland Alumina Limited to axe workers from its Barney Point refinery. The company did not disclose the number of people made redundant, but did say they were in 'support' roles. "As a result of significant pressure on the aluminium industry we are working to reduce costs to make QAL more competitive," said QAL general manager Mike Dunstan. "QAL has been through these cycles before, and there are times when it does get really rough but but this is the roughest we've seen," Mr Dunstan added. The price of aluminium is at its lowest price in 25 years, now at about US$205 per tonne, down from the consistent average in recent years of US$330 per tonne. QAL Management said the changes would eventually make the refinery,...
Nalco to invest INR 20,550 cr for expansion of alumina refinery
Odisha-based Navratna PSE Nalco has announced investment of INR 20,550 crore for expansion of its alumina refinery at Damanjodi and setting up an aluminium park at Angul in the state. "Since the entire value chain of Nalco, starting from bauxite mining to aluminium making is based in Odisha, our major focus is to strengthen the investment climate of the state thereby boosting Odisha's industrial upsurge," said T K Chand, CMD, Navratna PSE Nalco. Claiming that Nalco played a major role in Odisha Investors' Meet at Make in India Week in Mumbai, the aluminium major said it was committed for boosting industrialisation in the state. Addressing representatives of different industries, entrepreneurs, bureaucrats, delegates from within and outside the country at the investors' meet yesterday,...
Pahang govt steps up efforts on bauxite de-stocking and transport
Government of Malaysia is keeping tabs on the limit of bauxite stored at the Kuantan Port to avoid any additional amount of stockpile in the area. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said they have not received any report of more bauxite there than the stockpile limit. “We will not allow any additional stockpile and we will monitor it closely,” he said recently after attending the Bentong MCA Chinese New Year Open House. It has been reported that only Pakamatic (Paka) type of lorries, or municipal rubbish compactor lorries, may be used to carry bauxite ore after April when the three-month moratorium on bauxite mining ends. Liow Tiong Lai said the rule was one of the bauxite transport guidelines by the ministry in order to avoid pollution problems from spillage. “We have already...
Argentina may launch anti-dumping probe into Chinese aluminium alloy wheel rim
Argentina informed China’s Ministry of Commerce on February 4 that it has received written application from its domestic industry requesting anti-dumping investigation into certain aluminium alloy wheel rims originated from China. The aluminium alloy wheel rims that Argentina’s domestic industry requested to be investigated are those whose diameters are at or greater than 14 inches but no greater than 18 inches.
Desalitech reverse osmosis to help Chinese aluminium manufacturer achieve ZLD
Aluminium company Novelis has awarded Desalitech a contract to supply a high efficiency ultrapure water treatment system for a production facility in Changzhou, China. The Changzhou plant is Novelis’ first aluminum automotive sheet manufacturing facility in China with a set requirement for a new zero liquid discharge (ZLD) wastewater treatment installation. The Novelis facility provides customers in China and abroad with automotive sheet for use in lightweight structures and body panels. Water is used in multiple processes throughout the manufacturing plant, producing wastewater streams that are collected and treated with biological, chemical and membrane filtration followed by reverse osmosis. The supplies system is designed to help Novelis comply with a local ordinance requiring...
Nalco registers INR 133 crore profit in Q3 2015
The National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) has achieved a net profit of INR 133 crore in the third quarter that ended on December 2015 despite global slowdown in the aluminium sector, a release issued by the Navratna company on Friday stated. The aluminium major has achieved a net profit of INR 226 crore in the second quarter and INR 354 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The net sales turnover in the third quarter was INR 1,616 crore, stated the release. The net profit for the nine months that ended on December 2015 was INR 523 crore, against the corresponding figure of INR 967 crore for the previous fiscal. The net sales for the nine months of the fiscal was INR 4,866 crore as compared to INR 5,483 crore the corresponding period of the last fiscal. The...
Asia Alumina: Australia up $1 on week at $209/Mt FOB
Platts Australian alumina daily assessment closed the week at $209/mt FOB, up 50 cents on the day as the global market gravitated toward a more balanced or tighter position than a few months ago due to margins-led global refining cuts. The Australian assessment rose $1/mt on the week. Low freight rates have also helped to support the FOB alumina price. India’s Nalco awarded to Minmetals at $210.59/mt FOB Visakhapatnam a sell tender on February 3, market participants said. The tender closed on February 2 and called for a 30,000 mt lot to be shipped between February 15 and 20. On Thursday, Nalco floated a new sell tender for another 30,000 mt for shipment between March 10 and 14 from Visakhapatnam. The tender closes February 16, with bids to be valid up to February 18. In the last three...
Rusal to sell Alpart bauxite-alumina plant to Chinese company
Owners of UC Rusal have signed an agreement with a Chinese firm for the purchase of Alumina Partners of Jamaica (ALPART), a bauxite mining and alumina processing plant located at Nain, St Elizabeth, in the south of Jamaica. Reliable sources said on Thursday that – in a process likely to be concluded by the third quarter of 2016 – the price had been agreed on and that the Chinese company will now enter into its due diligence phase before the financial close later this year. The source said that full-scale reopening of the plant would mean employment and inflows from the bauxite levy. No development plans were mentioned at this stage. Other sources have named the Chinese company as Jiuquan Iron & Steel (Group) Co Ltd (JISCO) - a producer of carbon steel, stainless & special steel and...
Emirates Global Aluminium set for Dubai summit
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) is all set to highligh its corporate commitment to integrity and transparency at the conference of Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Middle East in Dubai, UAE. A joint venture between Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Company and the Investment Corporation of Dubai, EGA is platinum sponsor at the two-day event which kicked off on February 14. The summit is being organised in association with the Financial Audit Department (FAD) of Dubai. Over 300 anti-fraud professionals from around the world - including employees from EGA - will gather at the 2016 ACFE Middle East Fraud Conference to discuss the latest trends and strategies in fraud prevention. The delegates will also have the opportunity to meet high-ranking and reputable speakers from leading...
Sumitomo says Japan's Q2 aluminium premiums to hit $120-$130
Japan's aluminium premiums will likely rise to $120-$130 per tonne over April-June from the current quarter's $110 per tonne as falling imports are trimming local inventories, Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp said on Friday. Japan is Asia's top aluminium importer and the premiums it agrees to pay each quarter over the London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price for primary metal shipments PREM-ALUM-JP set the benchmark for the region. The premiums for January-March shipments are up 22 percent from the last quarter of 2015 on higher overseas rates and shrinking inventory at home. "Aluminium imports will drop further as Japanese trading houses and end-users want to cut their stocks by the end of their business year in March," Shingi Yamagiwa, manager of Sumitomo light metals trading team,...
Rio tipped for alumina takeover
Some of the world’s biggest miners are believed to be positioning themselves for transformational takeover deals, with speculation mounting that Rio Tinto could be circling Alcoa’s $5 billion alumina business and that the coal giant Glencore is poised to buy the struggling Western Australia miner Atlas Iron. Many view Rio Tinto’s move last week to come clean early about its plan to cut dividends as interesting. One theory is that it will be followed by a play for Alcoa’s alumina operation following news of a decision by the company to split its upstream and downstream assets into separate entities. Rio, which is mulling a move to introduce a Chinese partner to help fund its $US1.9bn Amrun bauxite project on Cape York, is the only diversified player in alumina. Alcoa’s alumina upstream...
Rio considering Chinese JV partner for Amrun bauxite mine expansion
Profit or no profit, mining giant Rio Tinto remains committed to the $2.6 billion Amrun bauxite mine expansion near Weipa. And for that, the conglomerate is considering a joint venture partner that would help it fund the wholly owned project. It is known from the company sources that construction work at the site has already started. It will provide around average 600 jobs over three years, peaking at 1100. Rio’s profits have been falling 51 per cent to $6.3 billion and accessing capital for major investments has been becoming tougher of late. Nevertheless, the company wants to go ahead with the extension. Rio chief executive Sam Walsh said Chinese investment in Amrun was under consideration. It was most likely to be state-owned Chinalco, Rio Tinto’s biggest shareholder with a 9.9 per...
