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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Financing deals that have tied up most aluminium inventories in warehouses could unravel as the global economic crisis deepens and banks look to unlock funds, said William Adams, an analyst at Basemetals.com, on Wednesday. "There is a potential for further problems on the banking side of things, whether it's another banking crisis or a liquidity crisis," Adams said at a Sucden Financial press briefing. "A lot of the banks involved in these financing deals, if they need money they might look around and say, 'There's a lot of money tied up in these financing deals, maybe we utilise some of that.' That's something we need to keep in mind." Total aluminium stocks in London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses hit a record high above 4.71 million tonnes in May and are currently around 4.6...
The United Arab Emirates plans to invest $9.5 billion in aluminium smelters in Indonesia's Kalimantan region, Indonesia's ambassador to the UAE said on Wednesday. "Emirates Alumunium will invest $4 billion in West Kalimantan to build an alumunium smelter and a power plant...Ras Al Khaima Investment Authority will invest $5.5 billion in East Kalimantan to build an alumunium smelter, a power plant and a railway line related to the projects," M Wahid Supriyadi told reporters. Earlier this month, Indonesia's trade minister said India's state-run National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO) will invest $4 billion in an aluminium smelter and power plant in Indonesia's East Kalimantan province.
Aluminum producer Alcoa may have fallen short of analysts’ expectations when it reported its third-quarter earnings, but CEO Klaus Kleinfeld is positive about the company and where it’s going. “Aluminum fundamentals are great,” Kleinfeld told Cramer. “We had 13 percent growth of demand last year. We project 12 percent growth of demand this year ... We believe the market is going to double until 2020.” The company has also guided up in China, increasing its demand forecast from 15 percent to 17 percent. The stock was hammered after Alcoa reported a 7 cent earnings miss off a 22 cent basis last week. It regained its footing over the next few days, but pulled back again Wednesday. It is down 37 percent-year-to-date. “This was a very difficult quarter. A lot of things happened. We saw the...
Owners of an aluminium smelting plant facing closure in Northumberland say no decision has been taken on its future. Rio Tinto, which owns the Alcan plant at Lynemouth, says it will try to sell the plant but might have to close if a buyer does not come forward. The company is putting a task force together to help the 630 workers while a decision is being made. It claims the plant brings in profit, but UK legislation will wipe that out by 2013.
The most active SHFE 1112 aluminum contract gapped lower at RMB 16,570/mt on October 18th after Germany denied a final solution deadline for the euro zone debt crisis. Due to strong short selling, the contract plunged over 2% to RMB 16,320/mt after its opening, and narrowed losses with profit-taking by the shorts in the afternoon to finally close at RMB 16,400/mt, down RMB 285/mt or 1.71% from previous trading day. Positions of the contract increased 2,164 lots to 94,396 lots. Transactions during the day broke through 50,000 lots for the first time following the National Day holiday due to strong short selling. With a bearish economic outlook, the most active SHFE aluminum contract is expected to stay below RMB 16,500/mt in the short term. Mainstream traded prices of spot aluminum in...
PT Indal Aluminium Industry Tbk (INAI) targets sales volume in 2012 to rise 30 percent to approximately 12,500 tons. Sales volume target in 2011 is 9,600 tons.
Since China’s GDP growth during the third quarter stayed high above 9%, its tight monetary policies are expected to continue until the CPI growth drops below 6%. This will add to the already strong capital pressure among Chinese businesses, which in turn will lead to a weaker Chinese demand for metals. Meanwhile, pessimism towards the euro zone debt crisis still exists due to limited progress made on solving the issue. LME aluminum struggled near USD 2,200/mt at initial trading hours overnight. After hitting an intraday low of USD 2,181/mt, the metal recovered losses at the tail of trading with climbing US stock prices, and finally closed at USD 2,210/mt, up USD 4.3/mt or 0.19% from previous trading day. Total positions increased 4,880 lots to 851,925 lots. SMM expects LME aluminum to...
National Aluminum Company Limited, the Navratna PSU under the Ministry of Mines, Government of India has paid a total dividend amount of INR 257.72 crore for the financial year 2010 to 2011 which includes the final dividend of INR 128.86 crore at INR 0.50 per equity share on expanded capital ie 10% on face value of INR 5 each, in addition to interim dividend of same amount paid at INR 2.00 per equity share on pre revised equity share capital ie 20% on face value of INR 10 each. This sum is 60% higher than total sum of INR 161.08 crore paid for the previous fiscal. The cheque for final dividend amounting to INR 112.30 crore on the 87.15% shares held by the government of India was handed over to Mr Dinsha J Patel Union Minister of Mines, by Mr BL Bagra CMD of NALCO in the presence of Mr S...
Aluminum Bahrain sales volume for the Q3 surged 8.4% to 220,608 tonnes compared to 203,474 tonnes last year beating the company’s own forecast. Mr Laurent Schmitt CEO of Alba said that the production figures for the Q3 hit 222,552 tonnes up 5% compared to 211,854 tonnes last year. In addition, the value added sales represented 67% of the total sales in the Q3 versus 62% for the same period in 2010. Mr Schmitt said that the sales for September alone increased by 16% compared to 66,191 tonnes in the Q3. Overall, the increase in sales came as a result of higher production by the company thanks to the continuous improvement of its operational efficiency. He said that the success Alba has delivered in Q3 is primarily due to the dynamic teamwork shown by Alba workforce in enabling the company...
Aluminum prices were pounded in September by growing concerns for global demand prospects and while the market has steadied above those lows, some analysts expect it to fall back to levels where producers will start to curb output. Mr Will Adams analyst of Fastmarkets said that "I think metals prices generally will move up in the next week or so but after that they'll fall again. He unconvinced that efforts to deal with the euro zone debt crisis will succeed. Were aluminum prices to fall to USD 2,000 per tonne to USD 1,900 a tonne market watchers would start to talk more seriously about cutbacks. The London Metal Exchange three months aluminum price was last indicated at USD 2,224 per tonne. Earlier this month the market fell to USD 2,130 per tonne it’s lowest in around a year. Mr Neil...
A bearish target at $2,130 per tonne has been established for LME aluminum as it has resumed a long-term downtrend. A preceding wave (4) rebound that started at the Oct. 3 low of $2,130 has completed, briefly piecing above $2,248, the 38.2 percent level, but narrowly missing the 50 percent level at $2,284. A moderate fall on Tuesday may only be able to reach $2,160, a level around the middle point between $2,130 and $2,200.
Traded prices of spot aluminum in Shanghai were between RMB 16,530-16,560/mt on October 18th, with premiums of RMB 50-80/mt over the SHFE current-month aluminum price. Low-iron aluminum was traded between RMB 16,600-16,640/mt. Traded prices of spot aluminum in Wuxi were between RMB 16,490-16,520/mt. After SHFE aluminum prices plunged nearly 2%, spot aluminum prices dropped to near RMB 16,500/mt. The selling interest also cooled among goods holders. Despite this drop, downstream buyers stayed on the sidelines. Spot premiums over the current-month aluminum contract only fluctuated near RMB 50/mt following a change in month. That compared with surges in premiums during previous changes in month. Only middlemen were actively inquiring at lower prices, but transactions were quite limited.
Price declines in the SHFE aluminum market narrowed on Tuesday after tumbling. Spot aluminum prices in south China fell by about RMB 300/mt, with mainstream transactions done at RMB 16,600-16,640/mt. Since there was limited room for aluminum prices to drop further after plunges, middlemen and downstream buyers were encouraged to replenish goods at low prices. A small number of cargo holders were still unwilling to sell at low prices, but supply was sufficient in the market. Overall transactions improved from a day earlier.
Nine steel and aluminium companies operating in the state have been found to have defaulted on sales tax evasion worth Rs 3,164 crore, according to a report by Special Investigation Team of the State Vigilance. The defaulters' list includes Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL), Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd, JSL Ltd (formerly Jindal Stainless Ltd), Visa Steel Ltd and Rathi Steel Ltd among others. The evasion mostly pertained to showing some of the taxable components of operation as non-taxable by these companies, said an official source. Taking note of the serious evasion by these companies, the state finance department has decided to serve notices on these firms. A departmental review meeting would be held on Tuesday in this connection. “The state finance department will issue showcause notices to...
South Korea has issued tenders to buy 5,000 tonnes of aluminum ingot with non western origin for December 30 shipping. The state run Public Procurement Service said that the agency is seeking 3,000 tonnes of the metal to be shipped to the port of Incheon and 2,000 tonnes to Busan. The electronic tender will close at 1:30 PM on October 26th 2011.
Kazakhstan produced 1.4 million metric tons of primary aluminum in January-September. This is 2.5% more than what it was in the corresponding period last year, the state statistics agency reported Monday. Zinc output during the period was the same as last year at 239,700 tons. Copper output fell by 1.4% to 248,700 tons. Gold output increased by 31.3% on the year to 27.5 tons and silver output increased by 18.7% to 476.7 tons.
The global market sentiment turned bearish again after Germany denied the final solution deadline and the New York Fed said October manufacturing activities contracted for a fifth straight month. The US dollar index again returned to above 77. After hitting an intraday high of USD 2,256.5/mt, LME aluminum plunged following above news and finally closed at USD 2,205.8/mt, down USD 22.3/mt or 1%. Total positions decreased 2,139 lots to 847,045 lots. As the bearishness dominated global markets, LME aluminum is expected to drop below the USD 2,200/mt mark after opening today and fluctuate between USD 2,170-2,220/mt. The most active SHFE 1112 aluminum contract is expected to open lower below RMB 16,600/mt and fluctuate between RMB 16,500-16,650/mt. As the SHFE 1111 aluminum contract becomes...
Azerbaijan has launched a new aluminium plant with an annual capacity of 50,000 tonnes and plans to restart production of alumina later this year at another plant, an official from the company, which manages both plants, said on Monday. An old Soviet-era aluminium plant in the town of Sumgait was closed down in February 2009 due to the global financial crisis, dragged down by debt obligations it could not meet. A new plant in the town of Gyanja was constructed by a Chinese branch of Australia-based engineering company SMEC. "We have launched first 18 electrolytic cells at a new plant in Gyanja in October and plan to launch all 80 cells by Dec. 5-6, which means that annual output will reach 50,000 tonnes," an official from the Azeraluminium company, who did not want to be named, told...
