Century Aluminum’s proposed USD 4 billion primary aluminum smelter in Inola, Oklahoma, is “moving forward on all fronts” as the company prepares for construction, despite local opposition and legal challenges, CEO Jesse Gary said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. Developed jointly by Century Aluminum and Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the project is designed to produce 750,000 tonnes of primary aluminum annually, potentially doubling U.S. primary aluminum production. The facility is expected to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs and add USD 1.5 billion to Oklahoma’s gross domestic product, according to company estimates. The partners had targeted construction to begin by the end of 2026. However, local restrictions and permitting challenges have affected the...
LME aluminium stocks declined by more than half during the first nine months of 2026, falling by 267,875 tonnes from 509,250 tonnes on January 2 to 241,375 tonnes on September 30 (52.6 per cent). The decline continued throughout the period, with average warehouse inventories falling each month. Compared with the same period in 2025, monthly average stocks were lower across all nine months, with the gap widening in the third quarter. Q1 LME aluminium stocks fall 18.2 per cent LME aluminium inventories continued to decline during Q1 2026. Month-end stocks fell from 495,725 tonnes in January to 465,550 tonnes in February, before dropping further to 416,775 tonnes in March. Monthly average inventories stood at 498,670 tonnes in January, 481,801 tonnes in February and 440,710 tonnes in March....
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Alcoa Inc. (AA), the largest U.S. aluminum producer, received a 50-year extension to its coal mining license in Australia’s Victoria state, ensuring fuel to power its Point Henry aluminum smelter. Alcoa will be allowed to expand the size of its mine by 59 percent over the period to 665 hectares (1,643 acres) under an agreement reached yesterday with the state government, according to a statement on the Department of Primary Industries’s website. The Anglesea coal mine feeds a power station that provides about 40 percent of the electricity needs of the Point Henry aluminum smelter and associated rolling mill, the company said in a statement on its website. Alcoa, which got the mining license in 1961, began negotiating to extend it in 2008, it said. Alcoa got 14 percent of its revenue from...
Century Aluminum Co.’s main priority is to secure a new power agreement for its Mount Holly, S.C., smelter in coming months. This is because the facility cannot continue to operate profitably under the existing contract, the company’s top executive said. "This is a major problem at this plant. We and our partners have brought this issue to the forefront and communicated with the power supplier and other important contingencies in South Carolina.
Positive news overnight include China said to fine regulate its macro economy at times appropriate, better-than-expected durable goods and new home sales data from the US, and that the German parliament approved the EFSF expansion plan, which helped metals prices surge. However, arguments over aids for Italy and Greece etc. countries indicated that a complete solution for the Euro zone debt crisis had to wait until the meeting later by European finance ministers, with metals trimming gains of the day. LME aluminum surged above the 30-day moving average overnight to USD 2,250/mt, but failed to break through the mark as the EU Summit failed to provide a complete solution for the Euro zone debt crisis. The metal finally closed USD 8/mt or 0.36% higher at USD 2,219/mt, with both traded...
Bosnia's sole aluminium smelter, Aluminij Mostar, said on Wednesday it would purchase a new melting and casting furnace in January to upgrade its foundry and boost annual output by an additional 50,000 tonnes. Aluminij will turn to lenders to buy the furnace from the Austrian company Hertwich Engineering GmbH, while the world's top commodities trader Glencore International will provide the banking guarantees, Aluminij Mostar spokesman Darko Juka told Reuters. Juka said the foundry line upgrade would be completed by the end of 2012. The smelter said last week that its exports in the first half of 2011 increased by 23.2 percent compared to the same period last year to 240 million marka.
The U.S. primary aluminum market is seeing a surprisingly strong burst in spot purchases at the start of the quarter, with supplier order books filling up even as volatile financial markets dispel recovery hopes. The demand pickup has caught physical market players by surprise, many of whom expected the seasonally slower fourth quarter to close out 2011 with a whimper. So far, it is shaping up to be a busier-than-normal quarter. “For the next couple of months, we are basically sold out,” said one Midwest aluminum manufacturer and distributor. “The automotive sector is good, heavy truck is good, the rail industry is busy … the casting side of the business is actually pretty busy.” A similar upbeat market view came from Alcoa Inc’s chief executive earlier this month, after the largest U.S....
LME Aluminum is expected to retrace into a range of $2,161-$2,175 per tonne, as a rebound from the Oct. 20 low of $2,077.75 could have completed. The rebound slowed after it approached a resistance at $2,230, the 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement on the fall from $2,476 to $2,077.75, and the wave pattern indicates an "a-b-c" corrective wave cycle has completed. A Fibonacci retracement on the wave "c" rise from $2,100 to $2,222 reveals a target range of $2,161-$2,175, the 50 percent and 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracements respectively.
Traded prices of spot aluminum in Shanghai were between RMB 16,460-16,500/mt on October 25th, with premiums of RMB 0-20/mt over the SHFE current-month aluminum price. Low-iron aluminum was traded between RMB 16,550-16,570/mt in Shanghai. Traded prices of spot aluminum in Wuxi were between RMB 16,420-16,480/mt. Goods holders were actively touting their goods at zero premiums over the SHFE current-month aluminum price after SHFE aluminum prices dropped, which, however, was rarely responded with purchases. Though aluminum futures gained later, spot aluminum prices were little changed as most traders stood on the sidelines. Market transactions were quite limited.
Most active SHFE aluminum contract led a drop on Tuesday morning after rising high for 2 consecutive days, but strongly rebounded later driven by SHFE copper prices which surged to limit-up. This boosted confidence in aluminum prices among downstream buyers, with relatively high buying interest in spot aluminum market in south China. Traded prices increased slightly and mainstream transactions were done at RMB 16,540-16,560/mt. However, SHFE aluminum surrendered early gains of the day after its afternoon opening with more than 1% decrease, dragging spot aluminum prices down to RMB 16,520-16,540/mt. The violent fluctuation in futures market resulted in stronger wait-and-see sentiment, and market turned quiet gradually.
Today, the Aluminum Association announced that K. Alan Dick, Executive Vice-President and President of Rolled Products North America for Aleris, has been elected to the Association's Board of Directors. Effective January 1st, 2012, Alan Dick will become the Executive Vice-President and CEO of Global Recycling at Aleris. "I am pleased to be joining the Aluminum Association's Board of Directors," said Alan Dick. "Aleris and the Aluminum Association have always represented a great partnership and I'm excited to continue and help grow that relationship from my position on the Board."
UC Rusal has signed a supply contract for aluminium vehicles with Russian automotive engineering company Gaz Group. Rusal plans to acquire from GAZ Group 11 pot crust breaking machines, 18 alumina loading machines, and 12 metal handling trucks in 2012. These vehicles were tested recently at Rusal’s facilities. The contract amounts to $4M. The diesel vehicles are to be produced by Bryansk Arsenal Plant and Tver Excavator Plant (TVEX). The two groups will also develop and produce prototype machines for alumina distribution, anode paste loading, anode cutting, metal tapping without a crane and pot cleaning. According to Rusal, vehicle park costs will reduce by 25% after introduction of the new jointly produced vehicles. The current Russian-manufactured special diesel vehicles park is...
Vedanta group firm Sterlite Industries today reported a little over one per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 997.78 crore for the quarter ended September 30, largely due to foreign exchange losses. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 1,008.03 crore for the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal. Net sales of the company, however, registered a growth of over 68 per cent at Rs 10,133.84 crore during the quarter under review from Rs 6,028.98 crore of the July-September quarter of FY'11, it said in a filing to the BSE. During this quarter, the company incurred a net forex loss of Rs 466.22 crore due to depreciation in rupee, which has declined by about 10 per cent in last 2-3 months. The company had reported a net gain of Rs 136.26 crore in the year-ago period. However,...
The surge in LME aluminum prices continued overnight amid lasting optimism towards the EU Summit solution this Wednesday, positive China PMI data in October and rumors that China will ease its monetary policies. The metal closed 3.95% higher at USD 2,217.3/mt as a result. Total positions of the metal decreased 5,621 lots to 862,958 lots. Though LME aluminum gained for two consecutive days this week, transactions have contracted, indicating that investors are still cautious, which will limit the ability of LME aluminum to surge further. The cautiousness may prevail today among investors as the EU Summit is to start tomorrow. We expect LME aluminum to consolidate at USD 2,200/mt today and will meet strong resistance at the 30-day moving average. The most active SHFE 1112 aluminum contract...
The future sale of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter near Bluff - one of seven separate assets being bundled into a new company by mining giant Rio Tinto - could become the focus of Chinese investment or stock-exchange listing. The Tiwai smelter is one of the country's largest single exporters by value and has provided hundreds of jobs in Southland during the past 40 years, manufacturing some of the highest-purity aluminium available in the world. Bids worth billions of dollars will be sought by Rio Tinto for the assets of the new company, Pacific Aluminium, which will encompass, with Tiwai Point, the Gove bauxite mine and alumina refinery; Boyne Smelters and its associated Gladstone Power Station; the Tomago smelter; and the Bell Bay smelter, all in Australia. Research by Craigs Investment...
The International Aluminium Institute (IAI) monthly production data showed global primary aluminium output continued to strengthen in September, reported Barclays Capitals. Including the Chinese production data, the IAI data showed output rising by 12.4% y/y (1% m/m) to a daily average production level of 131.7Ktd in September which converts into a record 48.1Mty annualised rate, bank stated. In terms of regional performance, there was little change in trend of production growth outside of China. Latin American production continued to contract in y/y terms (-3.2%), while North America (+8.9%), Asia (+15.5%) and Western Europe (+4.7%) all saw solid growth. In terms of the China-specific data (prereleased by the IAI on behalf of the CNIA), the official monthly production figure of 1.58Mt...
Emirates Aluminium Company (EMAL) is set to support its $4.5 billion Phase Two expansion with enhanced support and applications from SAP. The company, one of the largest and most productive single-site aluminium smelters in the world, announced in July that it is to expand production and improve efficiency, and SAP solutions will support this process, along with the addition of 1,000 employees to its existing 2,000 personnel. EMAL is already an intensive user of SAP solutions, but in the second phase, it will look to improve visibility into business processes, enhance decision making, and introduce mobile enterprise solutions. SAP recently awarded EMAL a Customer Centre of Expertise (CCOE) Certification Award. The CCOE acts a central hub to encourage collaboration between EMAL business...
The most active SHFE 1112 aluminum contract gapped higher at RMB 16,390 on October 24th, and surged 2.9% in the afternoon to an intraday high of RMB 16,700/mt. The contract trimmed gains later, however, and finally closed at RMB 16,560/mt, up RMB 330/mt or 2.03% from previous trading day. Positions of the contract decreased 6,128 lots to 72,166 lots. The most active SHFE aluminum contract stood above the RMB 16,500/mt mark again supported by encouraging performance of the financial market. However, as spot aluminum prices failed to follow the move, the most active SHFE aluminum contract is expected to test support at the RMB 16,500/mt mark in the short term.
SHFE aluminum rallied significantly in the afternoon session on Monday, up nearly 3%. By contrast, spot aluminum market was quite lackluster, and downstream buyers in south China just purchased as needed. Although cargo holders actively sold goods at low prices, limited consumption pared increase of spot aluminum. Mainstream transactions were done at RMB 16,490-16,530/mt, slightly lower than aluminum prices in Shanghai. Trading market was quiet in general.
Aluminum inventories monitored by SHFE surged by 40,000 mt following China’s National Day holiday due to the approaching delivery date and weak consumption, taking inventories which fell to a record low since February 2008 before the holiday to above 100,000 mt. SHFE three-month aluminum contract prices fell continuously for four consecutive days, following other base metals trends last week, after losing support from market fundamentals and with prices even falling below RMB 16,000/mt before stabilizing. Sluggish consumption kept spot aluminum inventories high, and SMM aluminum prices plunged by over RMB 600/mt on two occasions, moving down from RMB 16,900/mt, with prices even falling to a new low of RMB 16,290/mt later in the week due to strong willingness by some cargo-holders to move...
