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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Russian aluminum giant United Co. Rusal (0486.HK) Thursday said it has signed a loan agreement of up to $4.75 billion with 13 international banks, but according to a document seen by Dow Jones Newswires, the company was asking for more. According to the document, after agreeing with the banks on $4.75 billion, Rusal was seeking to increase it by $500 million to $5.25 billion. Rusal wasn't available for comments Thursday. The company said it will use the pre-export finance facility to refinance its debt, which stood at $11.4 billion at the end of the second quarter. Rusal said in its statement a portion of the loan of $1 billion will have will have a 7-year maturity and carry interest at the rate of 3-month LIBOR plus 3.85% per annum, while the rest will have a 5-years maturity with...
A rebound from the Sept. 26 low of $2,155 has not completed, and LME aluminium will gain more to $2,280 per tonne. The metal failed to fall below $2,155 during the previous trading session, instead rebounding sharply after touching $2,184, signaling an "a-b-c" corrective cycle has extended, with the wave "c" progressing towards $2,280, as pointed to by an upper channel line of a rising channel. Only a fall below pivotal support at $2,184 would confirm a preceding downtrend has resumed.
German parliament approved the EFSF expansion overnight, boosting investors' optimism over the second bailout fund for Greece. US new unemployment claims dropped below 400,000 unexpectedly to a 5-month low. The country’s 2Q GDP growth was also revised upward. As a result, investor worries towards a global recession weakened, which in turn damped investors’ haven demand in the US dollar, thereby pushing LME aluminum prices to an intraday high of USD 2,250/mt. However, as investors were still cautious about bailout for the European debt crisis, the US dollar index slightly rebounded later, trimming gains in LME aluminum prices. The metal finally closed at USD 2,242/mt, up USD 41/mt or 1.86% from previous trading day. Total positions increased 1,302 lots to 804,988 lots. SMM expects LME...
According to statistics released by the International Aluminum Institute, the global aluminum stocks in August increased 15,000 tonnes to reach 2.662 million tonnes from 2.647 million tonnes in July. In addition, the figures increased by 210,000 tonnes in comparison of 2.452 million tonnes in August, 2010. Among them, the aluminum stocks in Africa was 160,000 tonnes that in North America was 629,000 tonnes that in South America was 202,000 tonnes that in Asia was 463,000 tonnes that in Europe is 1.12 million tonnes and that in Oceania is 88,000 tonnes.
State-run aluminium major NALCO today said it plans to diversify into nuclear power generation by investing Rs 11,450 crore jointly with Nuclear Power Corporation of India in a project. Addressing at the annual general meeting, NALCO CMD B L Bagra said that the company has identified Kakarapar Atomic Power Station (KAPS) - 3 & 4 project for development, jointly with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd at a cost of Rs 11,450 crore. The recommendation for the investment is under consideration by the government, he said. Bagra said the company had been pursuing to set up a smelter and power project in Orissa. However, considering uncertainty on location, company might have to explore for an alternate location elsewhere in the country, he said. Nalco is actively pursuing to set up a...
A rebound of LME aluminium from $2,155 per tonne is ending, to be followed by a drop towards $2,192. The wave "4" rebound has not violated a downtrend that started at the Sept 16 high of $2,403.75, as the metal is riding on a downward wave (3), which will complete a five-wave cycle, with the wave "5" to eventually drive the price down to $2,155, the wave "3" trough. A Fibonacci retracement on the fall from $2,340 to $2,155, coupled with a rising wedge pattern, indicate the rebound could be peaking around $2,248, the 50 percent level.
Traded prices of spot aluminum in Shanghai were between RMB 16,920-16,950/mt on September 29th, with premiums of RMB 200-220/mt over the SHFE current-month aluminum price. Low-iron aluminum was traded between RMB 16,980-17,020/mt. Traded prices of spot aluminum in Wuxi were between RMB 16,920-16,950/mt. After SHFE aluminum prices gapped over 2% lower, spot aluminum prices plunged in response. Since traders were gradually exiting the market, spot aluminum supply dropped significantly during the day. Meanwhile, due to low stock levels among traders, spot premiums held steady above RMB 200/mt. Downstream purchases were also quite limited, therefore transactions were rarely seen.
Market staged sparse transactions in the Guangdong spot aluminum market on Thursday, as market players generally stayed away from the market for the upcoming National Day Holiday. Spot aluminum prices in Guangdong dropped sharply by RMB 200/mt, with prices below RMB 16,900/mt. Mainstream transactions were traded at RMB 16,880-16,900/mt. Sparse deals were done before noon, and transactions were hardly seen in the afternoon.
The most active SHFE 1112 aluminum contract gapped over 2% lower at RMB 16,160/mt on September 29th due to reignited investor worries towards a default by Greece. The contract was pressed to an intraday low of RMB 16,020/mt by increased short selling during early trading hours, but rebounded later to hit RMB 16,570/mt with bargain hunting by the longs and profit-taking by the shorts. At the tail of trading, due to profit-taking by the longs, the most active contract slightly slipped to finally close at RMB 16,475/mt, down RMB 60/mt or 0.36% from previous trading day. Positions of the contract decreased 2,020 lots to 104,338 lots. With strong support at the RMB 16,000.mt mark, the most active SHFE aluminum contract rebounded to above the 5-day moving average during the day. As most longs...
Investors’ worries towards the European debt crisis soared again overnight due to divisions among European leaders on efforts to prevent Greece from bankruptcy . Later, the US Department of Commerce said August durable goods orders fell unexpectedly by 0.1% from July, which followed slips in previous two months, indicating severe challenges for a recovery in US industrial production. As a result, the US dollar index climbed during European trading hours as investors dashed to the safer US dollar. The index returned to above the 5-day moving average and finally closed at 78.147, up 0.49%. LME aluminum only hit USD 2,263/mt overnight as the strong US dollar eroded upward momentum of the metal. It later dropped to an intraday low of USD 2,198/mt due to increased short selling on weak US...
Two of India’s largest family-run groups plan to invest billion of dollars around the globe as they seek to boost revenues by expanding in fast-growing emerging markets and by acquiring distressed assets of companies based in developed markets. Aditya Birla Group, India’s aluminium-to-retail and mobile telephony conglomerate, plans investments of $17bn across its 33 companies aimed at almost doubling the group’s revenues to $65bn by 2015. The 44-year-old Mr Birla said the majority of the investment – about $10bn – would go to developing greenfield projects at its aluminium companies among others, needed to meet the nation’s rising demand for construction materials for nascent infrastructure projects.
For the first time in its 28-year history, the Arab International Aluminium (Arabal) conference will take place in Oman, hosted by Sohar Aluminium. The conference is scheduled between November 14 and 16 in Muscat. It will bring over 400 international aluminium industry executives and experts to Oman, where they will see the developments made by Sohar Aluminium. “We are trying to bring people to the area from different parts of the world to show them the effectiveness of Oman,” said Hilal Al Hinai, from Sohar Aluminium, at a press conference held here yesterday. Al Hinai added that Arabal attracts big decision-makers, financers, technology buyers and industries that manufacture with aluminium. “It’s really a holistic, complete network of people interested in this area,” he said. There will...
The revival of the global economy, increasing price of metals and cost competitiveness of large, vertically integrated companies are adding sheen to the Russian metal industry. In 2010, metallurgy and metal products generated over four times higher revenues than the mining industry. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (industrialautomation.frost.com), Overview of the Russian Metal Industry, finds that the industry produced 76.2 million tonnes of raw metals in 2010 and estimates this to reach 129 million tonnes in 2017. The research covers among others,non-ferrous metal aluminium. “Although the metal industry has been growing for decades, it is still maintaining a dynamic pace and is likely to experience a CAGR of approximately 7.8% in terms of volume during 2011-2017,” notes Frost &...
MCX Aluminum may note some decline tracking copper prices. However, falling stocks at SHFE warehouses may cap the downside. Stocks at SHFE fell 9.6% or 10537 tonnes last week while those at LME fell by 5575 tonnes yesterday. Support for Aluminum September contract is seen at Rs.107 while resistance of Rs.110.
Primary aluminium production is steady and so are inventories—both with producers and LME warehouse stocks. Aluminium has been an outperformer among non-ferrous metals. Between January and now, its price on the London Metal Exchange (LME) has fallen by 12%, only half of the decline suffered by base metals such as copper, zinc and lead. The market is not showing any tightness. Inventories are up compared with the beginning of the year.Maybe, an improved outlook for key consuming sectors such as aerospace, automobiles and beverages may explain the optimism. Either way, aluminium producers aren’t complaining.
One of today's notable stocks on the rise is Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX), up 8.4% to $10.15. The S&P is trading higher by 2.3% to 1,189 and the Dow is trading 2.3% higher to 11,298. Century Aluminum has overhead space with shares priced $10.35, or 29.4% below the average consensus analyst price target of $14.67. The stock should find initial resistance at its 50-day moving average (MA) of $11.45 and further resistance at its 200-day MA of $15.13. In the past 52 weeks, shares of Century Aluminum have traded between a low of $8.72 and a high of $20.76 and are now at $10.15, which is 16% above that low price. Over the past week, the 200-day moving average (MA) has gone down 0.6% while the 50-day MA has declined 2.5%.
The most active SHFE 1112 aluminum contract opened higher at RMB 16,630/mt on September 28th, and stood steady at the 5-day moving average in the morning supported by profit-taking by the shorts. In the afternoon, after Shanghai Composite Index dipped below the 2,400 mark, increased short selling dragged the contract below the 5-day moving average again. The profit taking at the tail of trading, however, helped the contract rebound and finally close at RMB 16,595/mt, up RMB 120/mt or 0.73% from previous trading day. Positions of the contract decreased 3,488 lots to 106,358 lots. Poor economic situation before the National Day holiday forced long capital to exit and the shorts dominated the market with repeated short selling and profit taking, eroding upward momentum of the aluminum...
Few deals were done in the spot aluminum market in Guangdong on Wednesday, with downstream producers making limited purchases. Despite that SHFE aluminum prices narrowly fluctuated after opening higher on Wednesday, cargo-holders were still bearish towards the outlook, and actively sold goods at low prices before the coming Chinese National Day holiday, pulling down spot traded prices. Mainstream transactions were done at RMB 17,070-17,110/mt, with prices lower than Shanghai spot aluminum prices. In general, transactions were sparse in south China aluminum market.
