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....
Grow with
AL Circle
The growing importance of the UAE's primary aluminium industry in the global market has once again been highlighted, thanks to the joint presence of Dubai Aluminium Company Limited ("DUBAL") and Emirates Aluminium Company Limited ("EMAL"), at 26th International Aluminium Conference, organised and hosted by Metal Bulletin in Paris, France, from 7 to 9 September 2011 ("MBI 2011"). The combined production volume of the two companies, forecast at 1.8 million metric tonnes in 2011, represents 4.1 per cent of the estimated 43.8 million metric tonnes of annual global production; and 51 per cent of the 3.5 million metric tonnes produced in the greater Gulf region (itself equivalent to 7 per cent of global production in 2011).
Aluminium stocks held at three major Japanese ports came to 241,200 tonnes at the end of August, up 37,700 tonnes or 18.5 percent from a month earlier, trading house Marubeni Corp said on Monday.
Technology will advance the growth in aluminum smelting capacity, with key innovation coming from producers, an executive at engineering and project management consultancy Hatch said Friday. Martin Desmeules, a global director of Hatch's aluminum division, told a Metal Bulletin conference in Paris that there are a "good number" of technology providers in the market. "Core reduction technology development will continue to be driven by producers," he said. "Technologies are evolving towards higher amperage and greater efficiency," he added. But "breakthrough" technologies are not expected to hit the market soon, he said. It can take up to 65 months to build a greenfield smelter from scratch, including the various studies required,he noted.
Insufficient power supply has forced state-run National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO) to cut its daily aluminium output by about 6 per cent, a senior company official said on Saturday. The disruption caused by a scarcity of coal however will not affect the company's quarterly or yearly output target although the production may decline slightly by around 2,100-2,400 tonnes for a month, said A.K. Sharma, director (Production). Sharma said the shortfall will be subsequently made up by enhanced productions after receipt of coal. "We are going ahead with bulk imports of coals in few days. We have also requested ministry of coal to help us" he said. MCL chief A.N. Sahay told Reuters earlier this month a near week-long strike by contract labourers, a lethal outbreak of dengue and continuous rains...
Gulf News reported that Aluminum Bahrain will focus on modernizing its older production facilities if and when it has approved an expansion and bedded that down. Mr Laurent Schmitt CEO of Alba said that the expansion which would add a new sixth smelter potline would see first metal produced in 2015 and increase production by 400,000 tonnes. The smelter currently produces 870,000 tonnes a year. Mr Schmitt said that a pre feasibility study into energy and smelting technology will be completed by year end and the company aims to launch a bankable feasibility study in early 2012 for completion and then the potential green light to go ahead by the end of next year. He said that this is already a nice step ahead and we want to focus our attention on this for the next 5 years. Beyond that we'll...
Base metals, with the exception of tin, slid last week at LME in London as deepening concerns about Europe's debt crisis and sluggish global growth pushed investors out of growth sensitive metals. A new economic stimulus proposal of USD 447 billion package of tax cuts and spending designed to boost the flagging US economy and cut unemployment in US did not overcome the worries among the investors that Europe's debt crisis is worsening. LME rates - Cash buyer for Aluminium slid by 1% last week.
Most active SHFE 1111 aluminum contract opened slightly higher at RMB 17,455/mt on September 9th, and narrowly fluctuated in the morning session due to a lack of upward momentum on remaining high inflation pressure as reflected by August CPI data. The contract fluctuated upward to an intraday high of RMB 17,500/mt in the afternoon after long capital took up the dominant position and forced shorts to exit. Finally closed price was RMB 17,485/mt, up RMB 60/mt or 0.34% from previous trading day. SHFE aluminum led other base metals to gain in the morning, and was the only metal that reported gains on all contracts. Transactions of the most active contract dropped further to near 20,000 lots. Considering output cuts in some aluminum producers in South China, SMM expects most active SHFE...
Spot aluminum market in South China was extremely quiet today, the last trading day before China’s Mid-Autumn Festival starts. Only a few purchases were seen as downstream buyers purchased as needed with fewer orders. SHFE aluminum consolidated after a higher opening today, which pushed spot aluminum prices in South China a little bit higher. Market transactions, however, were quite sparse.
Traded prices of spot aluminum in Shanghai were between RMB 17,850-17,890/mt on September 9th, with premiums of RMB 0-40/mt over SHFE current-month aluminum prices. Low-iron aluminum was traded between RMB 17,890-17,930/mt. Traded prices of spot aluminum in Wuxi were between RMB 17,830-17,870/mt. SHFE aluminum not only led other base metals to gain, but also pushed spot aluminum prices slightly higher. Position building was not seen before the coming Mid-Autumn Festival, and goods movements were mainly seen among middlemen. Market sentiment was slightly active.
With British and European central banks’ decisions to keep interest rates unchanged and European Central Bank President Trichet’s warning against high inflation pressure, increasing economic risk and a huge dial-back in economic growth in the euro zone on September 8th, the euro plunged to USD 1.3872, a new low since July 12th, while the US dollar index stood back above 76. Later during the day, the US Department of Labor announced that new unemployment claims surged unexpectedly to 414,000 during previous week, indicating unemployment rate remained high, and US Fed president Bernanke did not mention any economic stimulation policy either during later speech, which caused US stock prices to close lower. Base metals only slightly trimmed gains during European trading hours, however, with...
Morgan Stanley has downgraded Hindalco Industries to 'underweight' from 'overweight' and slashed its price target by nearly half to 126 rupees from 236 rupees as it expects near-term roadblocks for the Indian aluminum industry, relating to coal and bauxite availability. The lack of any sign of a resolution of regulatory deadlock prompts a cut in production forecasts for Hindalco by up to 14 percent for FY12 and up to 12 percent for FY13, the investment banker said in a note.
Most active SHFE 1111 aluminum contract opened higher at RMB 17,450/mt on September 8th, and fluctuated below the opening price due to profit-taking by the longs and position building at higher prices among the shorts. The contract rebounded at the tail of trading to the daily moving average on profit-taking by the shorts, and finally closed at RMB 17,435/mt, up RMB 60/mt or 0.35% from previous trading day. Positions of the contract increased 728 lots to 118,196 lots. Transactions of the contract dropped to over 20,000 lots as investors were cautious while waiting for China’s August CPI scheduled to be announced today. SMM expects resistance at RMB 17,450/mt to remain strong in the short term due to strong short momentum. Traded prices of spot aluminum in Shanghai were between RMB...
The world's top aluminum producer UC Rusal expects global demand for the metal to stay robust despite economic worries in the West, a senior executive said on Thursday. The group see worldwide demand growing by 10 percent in both 2011 and 2012, Vladislav Soloviev, Rusal's first deputy CEO, said. "Demand is continuously strong, I don't see any softening in demand," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Metal Bulletin aluminum conference in Paris. Geographically, China should again outpace global aluminum demand next year, he said. Fears about the economy were gripping investors currently but weakness in the United States should lead to more liquidity being injected by the U.S. Federal Reserve, which would in turn boost commodity demand and prices, he said.
The increase in orders to take aluminum out of Detroit warehouses is related to banks using the metal for financing, said Martin Abbott, chief executive officer of the London Metal Exchange. The increase in so-called canceled orders at Detroit warehouses monitored by the LME is unrelated to “real” consumption of metal, Abbott said at a Metal Bulletin conference in Paris. Cancelled warrants are orders to take metal out of warehouses. The canceled warrants in Detroit warehouses have more than doubled this year, to 205,100 metric tons, according to LME data. They make up 67 percent of all aluminum cancelled warrants and 4.4 percent of the global inventory. Banks are using cancelled warrants to shift metal to “non- listed storage” warehouses that are not monitored by the LME for financing...
Below are the top companies in the Aluminum industry as measured by the potential gains between the current stock price and the projected average analyst target. Noranda Aluminum (NYSE:NOR - Snapshot Report) has a potential upside of 61.4% based on a current price of $10.78 and an average consensus analyst price target of $17.4. Alcoa (NYSE:AA - Analyst Report) has a potential upside of 47.6% based on a current price of $12.25 and an average consensus analyst price target of $18.08. Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX - Snapshot Report) has a potential upside of 25.9% based on a current price of $11.65 and an average consensus analyst price target of $14.67. Alumina (NYSE:AWC - Snapshot Report) has a potential upside of 23.5% based on a current price of $7.29 and an average consensus analyst...
The position of future aluminum production will continue to be driven by the availability of cheap energy, senior industry executives said Thursday. Jean-Philippe Puig, president of primary metal for Europe Middle East and Africa at Rio Tinto Alcan, said the aluminum market continues to face a scarcity of energy and this is making regions like Canada and Iceland--abundant in hydro-electric energy--and the Middle East preferred locations for new smelters. Europe and China are losing out as a result of high energy costs. "The energy issue is getting more and more difficult as the size of smelter projects grows," he said. The first deputy chief executive of United Co. Rusal, Vladislav Soloviev, meanwhile said that cheap energy is key but there are "not a lot of places in the world that we...
LME Aluminium prices haven't received as much of a boost, SHFE Aluminium prices have gained today as the potential impact on Chinese aluminium smelter output from power curbs across China lent some strength. Chinese aluminium smelter production cuts have become more intense with smelters in Guizhou province the latest to suffer. Power supply to smelters has reportedly been unstable since last week. Brook Hunt data show Guizhou accounts for 5% of Chinese production and Reuters has reported that it could be down by 10-20% m/m in September. The power shortages come from a combination of higher residential demand due to warm weather, while in Guangxi province droughts have reduced hydroelectricity power supply cutting Aluminium production by 200Kt.
Global aluminum output has been steadily rising since the start of the year, supported mainly by Chinese and Middle East/Gulf growth with the market in a net surplus of 221,300 metric tons, according to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics. Long-awaited production cutbacks in China failed to materialize in the early summer and, if anything, growth continued, with China producing some 41 percent of global production by the middle of this year. However, a Reuters article reports aluminum producers in China’s Guangxi province will start cutting production in September due to power shortages there, a move that is expected to support prices in the fourth quarter, the news service says. Around 15 percent, or over 120,000 tons per year, of Guangxi’s 810,000-ton annual production capacity of...
