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 and Alcoa Foundation announced two commitments to prepare U.S. workers for manufacturing jobs and to increase the energy efficiency of its operations today at the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, a convening of global leaders founded by President Bill Clinton. The first commitment is a $200,000 Alcoa Foundation investment to fund eight training programs in California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas that will prepare almost 900 adults for current and future manufacturing jobs. Each training program will address its community’s local job demands, from a machinist training program in Southern California, to an industrial maintenance technology program in Tennessee. Alcoa will also provide the programs with insight into industry needs, program curriculum and...
Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.5 percent to $2,284 a tonne, the lowest level since December 8, on the Federal Reserve's warning of "significant" dangers to the U.S. economy and gloomy data out of China. The Fed's comment came as it unveiled a $400 billion long-term debt purchase plan. Investors disappointed with the stimulus program sold off commodities, which were also weighed down by a firmer dollar. China's factory sector contracted for a third consecutive month in September as flagging overseas demand put the brakes on new orders, HSBC's China Flash PMI showed on Thursday. Analysts said that bargain hunting by Chinese investors was expected to limit losses in LME alumnium. "With LME prices getting interesting enough to ramp up aluminum imports by China,...
United Co. Rusal, the world’s biggest aluminum maker, isn’t holding talks on building a plant in Iran, while saying the Persian Gulf country is a possible opportunity as it expands in developing markets. “Iran is one of numerous options for examination,” the aluminum producer’s Moscow-based press service said by e-mail. “There are no exact plans and the company does not hold any project discussions in this country.” Rusal was responding to a report today in the Kommersant newspaper, citing a government document, that the alumimum producer is in talks about building a plant in the Persian Gulf country with output of as much as 375,000 tons a year, equal to 9 percent of its existing capacity. Such an investment could violate U.S. sanctions against Iran, depriving Rusal of access to the U.S....
Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) hit a new 52-week low Wednesday as it is currently trading at $10.93, below its previous 52-week low of $10.99 with 23.7 million shares traded as of 3:50 p.m. ET. Average volume has been 25 million shares over the past 30 days. Alcoa has a market cap of $12.3 billion and is part of the basic materials sector and metals & mining industry. Shares are down 26.9% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.
Bahrain is to increase natural gas prices for one of its biggest consumers, Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), from 2012 in a subsidy-slashing move analysts say is overdue in the Middle East and may mark the start of a trend towards international price levels. Many energy intensive industries in the Middle East have thrived on huge gas price subsidies that industry observers say should be phased out to encourage investment in regional gas exploration and discourage waste. From from Jan. 1, Bahrain's state run energy supplier will raise the price of gas it supplies to Alba by $0.75 per million British thermal units (mmbtu) to $2.25/mmbtu, Alba said on Wednesday. This will increase Alba's costs significantly while still offering the plant cheaper fuel than most of its competitors outside the region....
The global aluminum market was in surplus by 373,100 metric tons in the first seven months of the year, the World Bureau of Metal Statistics said Wednesday. This compares with a surplus of 562,800 tons in the same period a year before. Demand for primary aluminum in the first seven months of 2011 was 24.62 million tons, 959,000 tons more than in the same period the previous year. Production in January to July rose by 770,000 tons following a 3.9 million ton increase over the whole of 2010. The WBMS did not provide a production figure for the year-earlier period.
Most active SHFE 1111 aluminum contract opened lower at RMB 17,155/mt on September 21st, and rebounded later with climbing Shanghai stock prices to broke through the 5-day moving average. The contract remained strong in the afternoon, and finally closed at RMB 17,290/mt, up RMB 115/mt or 0.67% from previous trading day. Positions of the contract decreased 5,576 lots to 103,036 lots. Position transfer to SHFE 1112 aluminum contract continued during the day. Traded prices of spot aluminum in Shanghai were between RMB 17,530-17,560/mt on September 21st, with premiums of RMB 100-120/mt over SHFE current-month aluminum price. Mainstream traded prices of spot aluminum climbed in the morning with gaining SHFE aluminum prices. Goods holders’ selling interest at lower prices was weak and...
After US Fed launched its USD 400 billion operation twist to buy in long-term debt and sold out short-term debt, which hugely damped investor confidence, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index plunged 2.5%. US crude oil prices also plummeted, with the crude contract for delivery in November falling below USD 85/bbl. Before this operation twist is announced, Moody’s already downgraded credit ratings for Bank of America, Citibank as well as Wells Fargo, and Standard & Poor’s downgraded ratings for seven Italian banks. The positive economic data from China helped LME aluminum prices open at USD 2,323/mt overnight. However, the metal dropped with other base metals to an intraday low of USD 2,288/mt after US Fed announced its operation twist. After rebounding for a short while following...
In recent quarters, aluminum demand has been on the upswing. Emerging markets have been a huge source of revenue as populations and economies in China, Brazil and Russia have become richer, leading to higher levels of building. Meanwhile, aluminum has been taking on a bigger role in electronic products as designers have started to use more environmentally friendly materials. Industry experts explain that the metal is easily recycled with no loss in quality. In addition, the push by automotive and aerospace companies to create lighter and consequently more fuel efficient vehicles has also helped to bolster demand for lightweight aluminum. Alcoa spokesman Kevin Lowery said Aluminum's density is one-third that of steel. Recent reports from Reuters acknowledge that Alcoa is expanding an...
South Korea, Asia’s leading metals consumer plans to boost metals purchases to build up stockpiles after prices dropped, according to the state purchasing agency. The Public Procurement Service, which manages strategic commodities,bought about 26,000 metric tons which includes aluminum between January and August, falling short of an original plan, Im Byeong Cheol, director of commodity stockpile division, said in an interview yesterday. The agency’s full-year target is 56,000 tons, he said, without elaborating. Metals are hard hit by concerns about the economic slowdown and prices do not seem to be able to recover to previous highs any time soon.
A bearish target at USD 2,295 per tonne is unchanged for LME aluminium as a downward wave C is unfolding. This wave is expected to travel the same length as the wave A, to eventually arrive at USD 2,261, a 100% Fibonacci projection level, while a realistic target for Wednesday is USD 2,295, the 76.4% level. It will not be a surprise if the metal reaches USD 2,261 on Wednesday as the current bearish momentum is very strong.
Gansu Dongxing Aluminum Co., Ltd has finished its Electrolyzer Technical Improvement Project.This project adopts top class advanced new equipments,new process and control technique,applied to power distribution,electrolysis production and gas cleaning. Company’s annual production can reach 375 thousand tons after second phase is put into operation.
China’s primary aluminium market is still showing every sign of being in supply-demand deficit. Stocks registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) are still falling. As of last Friday they totalled 110,016 tonnes, down by 331,153 tonnes on the start of 2011 and the lowest level since the opening days of 2008. The change in visible inventory is widely believed to be part and parcel of a broader run-down of stocks in the country, including those held off-market. The front part of the SHFE curve, meanwhile, remains in steep backwardation, suggesting continued short-term tightness. The question is whether Chinese producers can respond to this deficit or whether China will return to the import market in a big way for the first time since 2009. Non-Chinese producers such as RUSAL are...
With the exceptions of aluminum and titanium mill shapes and aluminum base scrap, August price indices for various metals and metal scrap products fell compared with July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data show.
Rebounding SHFE aluminum prices today helped push up spot aluminum prices in Nanhai, boosting market confidence. As goods holders were more confident towards future aluminum prices, their quotations were generally held stable. Middlemen were active, while only limited downstream buyers entered the market. Overall market transactions slightly improved from previous trading day. Mainstream traded prices of spot aluminum in Nanhai were between RMB 17,610-17,630/mt.
Traded prices of spot aluminum in Shanghai were between RMB 17,530-17,560/mt on September 21st, with premiums of RMB 100-120/mt over SHFE current-month aluminum price. Low-iron aluminum was traded between RMB 17,600-17,640/mt. Traded prices of spot aluminum in Wuxi were between RMB 17,530-17,550/mt. Mainstream traded prices climbed with gaining SHFE aluminum prices. Goods holders’ selling interest at lower prices was weak and downstream buyers were also cautious. Transactions slightly rose in the market, but were mainly reselling among traders.
Shares of Aluminum of China (NYSE:ACH - Analyst Report) traded at a new 52-week low yesterday of $13.72. Approximately 295,000 shares have traded hands yesterday vs. average 30-day volume of 454,000 shares. Aluminum of China closed at $13.77, approximately 23.3% below its 50-day moving average of $17.96. SmarTrend will be monitoring shares of ACH to see if this bearish momentum will continue.
Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) has identified assets within its aluminum business that could be sold off and is targeting a margin on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 40% within its aluminum business, the company's chief financial officer said Tuesday. At the company's investor day conference, Guy Elliott told analysts that "through divestment of non-core assets ...plus targeted investment [in its aluminum business] we are confident that we will achieve 40% Ebitda margin."
