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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Falling European aluminium premiums reflect concerns over a potential 2012 economic slump, but German industrial demand and financing deals are buttressing demand for now, traders said on Thursday. Traders noted a divide between countries in the north versus the south of the European Union. German industry has kept orders ticking over, while consumers in the debt-plagued south have preferred to de-risk and de-stock as 2011 business begins to wind down. Strength is coming from the auto sector for now at least, while traders pointed to weakness in extrusions, where aluminium is used in packaging and construction. "The economy is not as bad as people might perceive it," said a physical trader at a European merchant. "Especially in the northern part of Europe, or in Germany. We have a lot of...
National Aluminium Co, India's third-largest producer of the metal, said it agreed to buy coal from MEC Coal for its planned US$4 billion smelter and power plant in Indonesia. The state-run Indian company is also likely to acquire a 24 per cent stake in the Indonesian miner, National Aluminium chairman B L Bagra said in an interview. MEC Coal, which owns mines in East Kalimantan province, will supply five million tonnes of the fuel every year, he said. MEC and Bumi Murau Coal were shortlisted as potential suppliers in December. National Aluminium plans to build a 500,000 tonne a year smelter and a coal-fired power plant in East Kalimantan on Borneo island in a joint venture. Demand for the lightweight metal is rising in Indonesia, where the economy is forecast to grow 6.6 per cent this...
Aluminum stocks held at major Japanese ports at the end of September fell 4.1% from a month earlier, a trader at a major Japanese house said Thursday. Aluminum stocks totaled 231,400 metric tons, with 126,700 tons in Yokohama, 90,700 tons in Nagoya and 14,000 tons in Osaka. End-August stocks were at 241,200 tons. Stocks were up 0.4% from 230,400 tons a year earlier.
Expectations for China to loosen monetary policies towards medium-to-small businesses led to a strong rebound in Shanghai Composite Index on October 12th, with the index ending with the largest daily gain of the year. Investors’ optimism towards the European debt crisis also strengthened on expectations the EFSF expansion and bank recapitalization in Europe will be completed during the meeting of European finance ministers on October 23rd. The US Fed’s meeting minutes showed that easing monetary policies of the US will not change, dragging the US dollar index to below 77. LME metals gained overnight with stock prices. The many positive news helped LME aluminum hit USD 2,270/mt, a new monthly high overnight. However, without any material progress on solving the European debt crisis, the...
The chief executives of two of the five largest aluminium businesses in the world — Jacynthe Côté from Rio Tinto Alcan and Svein Richard Brandtzaeg of Hydro Aluminium — will be keynote speakers at this year’s International Aluminium (Arabal) conference, being hosted by the world’s most modern smelter, Sohar Aluminium, and takes place between November 14 and 16 here. The theme of the Arabal conference is ‘Global challenges for sustainable growth in the aluminium industry and the role of the Gulf smelters’ — issues affecting regional and global manufacturers, downstream industries and suppliers. Speakers from the aluminium industry’s global giants will be joined by speakers from the Government of Oman including Shaikh Saad bin Mohammad Al Saadi, minister of commerce and industry and Nasser...
An insatiable demand for consumer electronic products could threaten worldwide shortages and bottlenecks of some metals, British scientists warn. Leading geologists, writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, say there's danger in the ongoing surge in demand for metals. Mobile phones contain aluminium among many other metals,as per Gawen Jenkin of the University of Leicester. "More than a billion people will buy a mobile in a year -- so that's quite a lot of metal. "And then there's the aluminium in that soft drink can and many others -- the list goes on." Scientists gathered at a meeting of the Geological Society of London to discuss the issue. "With ever-greater use of these metals, are we running out? That was one of the questions we addressed at our meeting," Jenkin said. "It is...
Slovakia vetoed the EFSF expansion plan overnight, Greece may not be able to receive the new round of 8 billion euro loan scheduled in early November, Standard & Poor’s downgraded ratings of 10 Spanish banks… With negative news continuously coming out, the European debt crisis seemed still far away from even alleviation. Though the euro kept its gains during the previous trading day, the bearish sentiment still prevailed in the market. As a result, LME aluminum erased gains during Monday's trading and hit an intraday low of USD 2,200.3/mt on Tuesday October 11th. The metal slightly rebounded at the tail of trading and finally closed at USD 2,224/mt, down USD 31/mt or 1.37% from previous trading day. Total positions increased 8,478 lots to 832,466 lots. The bearish market sentiment is...
Alcoa Inc. (AA) Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld said the company has raised its Chinese aluminum demand forecast to 17 percent for this year. Chinese demand will exceed supply by 800,000 metric tons, he said today during the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call.
The long search of an ideal site for building a new 500,000-tonne smelter by National Aluminium Company (Nalco) is a statement of the many hurdles to be overcome to make good use of available natural resources in Orissa. The point not to be missed here is the experience of a company, 87.15 per cent owned by the government of India and claims to enjoy the confidence of the local Orissa administration. For any aluminium maker, Orissa, endowed as it is with rich bauxite (1.7 billion tonnes) and coal (62 billion tonnes) deposits, is the ideal centre to run a smelter. As for Nalco, it is deeply anchored in the state, with every part of its integrated operation from bauxite mining to aluminium smelting to value addition to the metal done there. Moreover, for the citizens of the state not having...
The UAE's primary aluminium smelters, Dubai Aluminium Company Limited (Dubal) and Emirates Aluminium Company Limited (Emal) will jointly take part in a major industry event in Turkey which opens tomorrow (October 13). The joint participation at "Alu Expo 2011" in Istanbul is aimed at increasing the Emirati market share in Turkey, which remains a strong regional economy. This is endorsed by the Commodities Research Unit (”CRU”), which has predicted 20 per cent year-on-year growth in aluminium consumption in Turkey to 847,000 metric tonnes in 2011 (2010: 705,000 metric tonnes). The Emirati smelters boast of a combined production capacity of 1.8 million metric tonnes of hot metal per annum, said a senior official. “Given the UAE’s convenient geographic location, and the strong relationships...
Russian state bank VEB will sign a deal with China Development Bank (CDB) under which CDB will provide $1.43 billion for building the first stage of UC RUSAL's 750,000-tonne Taishet aluminium smelter, VEB head Vladimir Dmitriev said. The deal, to be signed on Tuesday during a visit by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, will ease financing concerns on the Russian side and seek to address supply constraints in China, a high-cost producer that is not self-sufficient in aluminium. "It is easier for us to estimate risks this way," Dmitriev told reporters in Beijing, commenting on the Chinese loan. At the end of September VEB's National Council approved project financing for Taishet of 40 billion roubles ($1.27 billion). Hong Kong-listed RUSAL, the world's largest aluminium producer, confirmed that...
The most active SHFE 1112 aluminum contract opened higher at RMB 16,600/mt on October 10th following LME copper’s gains in the holiday period. After hitting RMB 16,700/mt in the afternoon with position increases among both longs and shorts, the contract finally closed at RMB 16,675/mt, up RMB 115/mt or 0.69% from previous trading day. Positions of the contract decreased 1,740 lots to 98,980 lots. Transactions of the contract were less than 40,000 lots during the day as most investors stood on the sidelines following the holiday. Since aluminum consumption will stay weak due to frustrating macro economic environment, the most active SHFE aluminum contract is expected to test support at RMB 16,500/mt in the short term.
SHFE aluminum prices opened high on Monday after China’s National Day holiday. Meanwhile, downstream buyers in south China were eager to purchase for replenishment on the first weekend after the holiday, leading to a slight increase of spot aluminum prices in the local. Mainstream transactions were done at RMB 17,050-17,090/mt, resulting in premiums of RMB 50/mt over Shanghai from discounts seen in the pre-holiday market. With stock replenishment in the weekend and low orders, buying interest turned down on Monday, leading to inactive trading sentiment.
Traded prices of spot aluminum in Shanghai were between RMB 17,000-17,040/mt on October 10th, with premiums of RMB 80-130/mt over the SHFE current-month aluminum price. Low-iron aluminum was traded between RMB 17,050-17,070/mt. Traded prices of spot aluminum in Wuxi were between RMB 17,000-17,040/mt. The SHFE current-month aluminum contract opened higher to test RMB 16,900/mt. Spot prices, however, failed to follow the climb due to significant increase of goods arrivals following the National Day holiday, as well as the approaching change in the current-month aluminum contract. Spot premiums over the current-month contract also dropped below RMB 100/mt as goods holders were actively lowering stocks. Downstream stock replenishment was only made as-needed due to the prevailing bearish...
MCX Aluminum may trade with positive bias tracking international exchange. Prices may continue to seek support from falling stocks at exchange warehouses. Stocks at LME fell 18600 tonnes last week. Support for Aluminum October contract is seen at Rs.107 while resistance of Rs.110.5.
Prices for aluminum will bounce back from the current level to between $2,400 and $2,500 a metric ton by the end of the year, deputy head of Russia's aluminum giant United Co. Rusal (0486.HK) said Friday. Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of an investment conference Oleg Mukhamedshin, equity and corporate development director of Rusal said he is "relatively optimistic" about the market. "There are no fundamental factors for the price to go down," he said, adding that he expects the market for the metal has already reached the bottom and will bounce back. He also said he sees the ruble hitting RUB36 a US dollar by the end of the next year, if the current troubles on the global market continue. A weaker ruble will reduce Russia's commodity exporters' costs, he added. Separately he...
Long investors exited the market before China’s National Day holiday due to weak macro economic conditions, and SHFE aluminum prices fluctuated widely last week due to strong short selling pressures. SHFE three-month aluminum contract prices fell below RMB 16,000/mt for the first time in 2011 on Monday and hit a new low of RMB 15,850/mt. Later SHFE three-month aluminum contract prices found solid support at RMB 16,000/mt on Thursday after opening significantly lower, with prices struggling at RMB 16,500/mt and returning above the 5-day moving average. As China’s National Day holiday neared, short investors also exited the market due to uncertainties over international economic conditions. Weaker selling pressure helped support SHFE aluminum prices to fall slower than other base metals,...
Though China and the US reported some improving economic data during the Chinese National Day holiday period, the global economic recovery remained out of sight. Investors’ pessimism towards the global economy therefore only saw slight comfort. In the contrary, the spreading and worsening debt crisis in Europe had kept investors’ nerves tight throughout the week. LME aluminum dropped to a new yearly low at USD 2,130/mt on Monday, October 3rd, which is also the lowest price since September 15th, 2010. The metal later narrowly fluctuated at USD 2,200/mt, and broke through the 10-day moving average on Friday to finally close at USD 2,209/mt, up USD 49/mt or 2.27% from the previous week. Lacking participation of Chinese investors, transactions only broke through 16,600 lots on Monday, and...
