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 Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, said second-quarter profit more than doubled after higher prices for the lightweight metal outweighed increasing raw-material costs. Net income rose to 28 cents a share from 13 cents a year earlier, New York-based Alcoa said yesterday in a statement. Earnings excluding $38 million of restructuring and debt tender offer costs and other one-time items were 32 cents a share, missing the 33-cent average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Sales gained 27 percent to $6.59 billion, exceeding the $6.31 billion average estimate of seven analysts. “The market should be pleased that Alcoa is still showing these strong year-on-year trends, and that we did not see them retrench on a quarter-over-quarter basis on the net income line,” Jorge...
Orders to draw aluminum from warehouses monitored by the London Metal Exchange advanced for the first time in nine days on a jump in Toledo, Ohio. The orders, known as canceled warrants, rose 2,550 metric tons to 384,550 tons, exchange data showed today. The bookings at Toledo jumped 10,125 tons. Warehouses in the port city, located about 50 miles south of Detroit, store 75,475 tons of aluminum. Aluminum inventories tracked by the LME extended declines, driven by drops in the U.S., U.K. and Singapore. Stockpiles fell 7,900 tons to 4.41 million tons, the lowest level since Jan. 12. Inventories have retreated 6.3 percent since May 24. Zinc stockpiles fell 250 tons to 893,975 tons. Canceled warrants declined 2,125 tons to 40,675 tons. They climbed to this year’s high of 54,025 tons on July...
Most active SHFE 1109 aluminum contract prices opened higher at RMB 17,400/mt today. As the US dollar index fell, SHFE 1109 aluminum contract prices rose steadily before the tail of the trading. Finally closed price was RMB 17,390/mt, up RMB 30/mt or 0.17% from previous trading day. Positions for SHFE current-month aluminum contract were 101,290 lots. Given recent weak consumption, SMM expects most active SHFE 1109 aluminum contract prices to fluctuate near RMB 17,400/mt in the near term.
Most active SHFE aluminum contract prices opened higher today but were followed by a falling trend. At the tail of trading, SHFE 1109 aluminum contract prices gradually climbed and stood steady above RMB 17,400/mt. Spot aluminum transactions in south China remained sluggish. Mainstream traded prices for spot aluminum were between RMB 17,660-17,680/mt, up RMB 20/mt from previous trading day. However, as aluminum holders were expecting higher prices, buyers gradually accepted current prices and purchased on an an-needed basis.
Shares of Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE:RS) closed the trading day higher by $0.36 or 0.75% from its previous close. Reliance's shares price action formed what is considered to be a doji close, where the open and close prices are very close to each other, mainly signaling an indecision between buyers and sellers. Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (NYSE:RS) is a dristributor and metal processing services provider. The company processes steel and aluminum. Its products include carbon, alloy, stainless and specialty steel, aluminum, brass, and copper. Reliance operates processing and distribution centers throughout the United States. Reliance's current stock range is defined by a trough, which marks calculated support at $46.52 and by a peak that marked the resistance point at $50.22....
Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan's statement late Wednesday that the country should move towards a nuclear-free energy policy has sparked concerns in the aluminum rolling mill sector that end-users will be negatively impacted, industry sources said Thursday. Nuclear power accounts for 30% of Japan's total power supply source, according to the Japan Atomic Power Industrial Forum. "Japanese manufacturers will run away from Japan, which will affect the metal industries," said a former senior official at a Tokyo-headquartered aluminum rolling mill. The mill produces aluminum sheets and extrusion used for automobiles, beverage cans and other industrial machinery. "There are possibilities of power rate hikes, and the premier's policy [plan] raises questions if there will be enough power supply,"...
Diversified mining group Rio Tinto’s Australian operations have largely recovered from the floods, which hampered production earlier this year, with the miner on Thursday reporting higher second-quarter iron-ore and coal output. “Operations largely recovered from the severe weather impacts earlier this year, although some port and rail constraints remained,” said CEO Tom Albanese. He noted that the quarter ended June 30 was also characterised by continued strong prices for most of the company’s metals and minerals, but with worsening adverse exchange rates and some input cost pressures. Rio’s global iron-ore production increased to 49-million tons during the quarter, up 12% from the previous comparable quarter, and 17% from the first quarter of the year. The Pilbara mines recovered...
Kazakhstan produced 936,724 metric tons of primary aluminum in the first six months of the year, 2.1% more than in the corresponding period last year, the state statistics agency said Thursday.
Aluminium prices traded marginally higher by 0.36% to Rs 111.05 per kg in futures trading today as speculators enlarged their positions, driven by pick-up in spot market demand. Firming trend in base metal in global markets also influenced the trading sentiment. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for July delivery edged up by 40 paise, or 0.36%, to Rs 111.05 per kg, with a business turnover of 1,456 lots. August delivery traded higher by 35 paise, or 0.22%, to Rs 112.15 per kg in 94 lots. Traders said speculators enlarged their positions in tandem with firming trend in global markets, which helped aluminium futures prices to trade higher. Meanwhile, aluminium gained 0.4% to $2,501.25 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange.
lcoa’s (NYSE:AA) efforts to diversify geographically received a significant boost late last month when its joint venture with the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) secured a $1 billion loan for the aluminum smelter and rolling mill at Ras Az Zawr. [1] Alcoa owns a 25% stake in the JV named Ma’aden Bauxite and Alumina Company which is expected to commence operations in 2013-2014. Alcoa is the world leader in the production and management of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina. Its competitors include Rusal, Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO), BHP Billiton (NYSE:BHP) and Chalco (NYSE:ACH). We have a $19.75 price estimate for Alcoa, roughly 10% above the stock’s market price. The Ma’aden-Alcoa super-project in detail Ma’aden and Alcoa agreed to work together on the $10.8 billion super...
Traded prices of spot aluminum on July 14 in Shanghai were between RMB 17,540-17,570/mt, with premiums of positive RMB 20-50/mt over SHFE current-month aluminum prices. Low-iron aluminum was traded between RMB 17,570-17,600/mt. Traded prices of spot aluminum in Wuxi were RMB 17,540-17,570/mt. SHFE current-month aluminum prices were struggling near RMB 17,500/mt. As the delivery date is drawing near, cautious sentiment was strong among purchasers and spot aluminum premiums narrowed as a result. However, aluminum traders were still unwilling to move goods and kept their quotes high. Market transactions were rarely reported as a result.
US FED president Bernanke implied overnight that more easing monetary policies will be provided due to weak US economy. Meanwhile, default risk increased in the US with no agreement reached for lifting the US debt ceiling while the deadline is approaching. Concerning this, Moody’s put US AAA ratings on review for downgrade. As a result, the US dollar index plummeted to 74.7, down 1.67%, with commodities and crude oil prices strongly rebounding at 22:00 Beijing time. During European trading hours, LME aluminum prices quickly rebounded after reaching a low point of USD 2,473.5/mt overnight. However, upward space for aluminum prices was limited due to no improvement of the US economy. Since strong resistance existed at the 5-day moving average, LME aluminum prices finally closed at USD...
Most active SHFE 1109 aluminum contract prices opened higher at RMB 17,285/mt and slightly rose to fluctuate near the 5-day moving average in the morning session. In the afternoon, as other metals prices jumped, SHFE 1109 aluminum contract prices broke through RMB 17,400/mt near the tail of trading. Since strong resistance existed at RMB 17,400/mt, the closed price slightly fell to RMB 17,400/mt, up RMB 145/mt or 0.84% from previous trading day. Total positions increased by 4,622 lots to 321,216 lots. Though most active SHFE 1109 aluminum contract prices broke through RMB 17,400/mt with positions increasing by 2,888 lots to 99,726 lots, SMM expects SHFE 1109 aluminum contract prices to fluctuate near RMB 17,400/mt in the short term due to strong resistance. Traded prices of spot aluminum...
Aluminum stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange declined for a 35th day. Inventories of the lightweight metal fell 6,275 metric tons to 4.42 million tons, LME data showed today. They are at the lowest level since Jan. 12, falling 4.2 percent in June, the biggest monthly decline since July 2006. Most declines were registered in the U.S. and the U.K. Inventories in Hull, England, have fallen 45 percent since the end of May, while Liverpool stockpiles are down 16 percent. Total orders to draw aluminum from LME warehouses, known as canceled warrants, fell 7,250 tons to 382,000 tons. The outflow of stocks from more diversified locations “is most likely to be metal merely shifting between warehouses,” according to Standard Bank Plc analysts. “Indeed, some of this metal may well be...
All the metals closed higher yesterday and have continued to firm this morning. Lead has been particularly strong with prices hitting $2,770/t, the highest since April. Today’s price rise has been largely China-driven with stronger-than-expected economic data and, particularly important for metals fundamentals, the strong growth in industrial production (up 15.1% y/y versus the market’s expectation of 13.1%). The NBS has released production data for June and the picture is one of strong growth. Copper and Aluminium production reached record highs, while nickel, lead and Zinc production all grew at a fast pace. Refined copper production rose to a monthly record of 477Kt in June, up 12% y/y and 8.7% m/m and concentrate production also reached a record high of 4.1Kt/d in June, up 24% y/y and...
Rio Tinto,in its second-quarter 2011 operations review, reported global iron ore production of 49 million tonnes attributable for the period, which was up 12 percent compared with last year. The company also noted that Mined coppee production was down 24 percent on the 2010 second quarter, mainly reflecting lower grades at Escondida and Kennecott Utah Copper; whereas Bauxite and Aluminium grew by 8 percent and 6 percent on the rain-impacted first quarter as the Queensland operations recovered. Second-quarter 2011 Bauxite production rose by 11 percent versus the same period last year, while alumina and aluminium production were flat, Rio Tinto added.
PTI reported that aluminum prices traded marginally higher by 0.36% to INR 111.05 per kilogram in futures trading as speculators enlarged their positions, driven by pick-up in spot market demand. Firming trend in base metal in global markets also influenced the trading sentiment. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminum for July delivery edged up by 40 paise or 0.36% to INR 111.05 per kilogram with a business turnover of 1,456 lots. August delivery traded higher by 35 paise or 0.22% to INR 112.15 per kilogram in 94 lots. Traders said that speculators enlarged their positions in tandem with firming trend in global markets which helped aluminum futures prices to trade higher. Meanwhile, aluminum gained 0.4% to USD 2,501.25 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.
Reuters reported that China's production of refined copper primary aluminum and its precursor raw material alumina hit monthly records in June making a strong finish to the first half of 2011. The data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that refined copper production rose 8.7% on the month to 477,000 tonnes in June after posting a 3.3% monthly fall to 439,000 tonnes in May. The June 2011 output was 12% rise from June 2010 and 1.5% higher than the previous record of 470,000 tonnes in March 2011. In the H1 of 2011 refined copper production rose 13.9% on the year to 2.644 million tonnes. Mr Fu Bin an analyst at Jinrui Futures said that "The June refined copper output was a surprise. Some producers should have increased operational rates to meet their first-half production targets....
