Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) reviewed its production operations and development projects during a visit by the Deputy King, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who also welcomed the company’s recent acquisition of Aluminium Dunkerque, the largest aluminium smelter in the European Union. During the visit, His Royal Highness conveyed the greetings and appreciation of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to Alba’s national workforce. He reviewed the progress of operations across Alba’s production lines and the development projects currently being undertaken by the company. He also commended the company’s achievements, including the milestone of recording 50 million safe working hours. He also commended the efforts and dedication of Alba’s national workforce in maintaining...
LME aluminium prices softened on September 22, with the cash and three-month contracts declining from the previous trading session, while LME aluminium opening stocks also edged lower on September 23. On September 22, the LME aluminium cash bid price stood at USD 3,240 per tonne, down 0.66 per cent from USD 3,261.5 per tonne on September 21. The cash offer price was USD 3,242 per tonne , down 0.63 per cent from USD 3,262.5 per tonne. The LME aluminium 3-month bid price stood at USD 3,263.5 per tonne on September 22, compared with USD 3,272.5 per tonne on September 21, representing a decline of 0.28 per cent. The 3-month offer price fell 0.27 per cent to USD 3,264 per tonne from USD 3,273 per tonne. Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our...
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Indian aluminium producers are keeping their eyes at the possibility of accumulating of metal as COVID-19 outbreak has compressed the domestic consumption besides leading to a demand shrinking among importing countries. The present situation is like hocus-pocus for the aluminium companies that were already struggling due to weak commodity prices. The major global auto companies have reduced their production and the construction industry has also remained standstill, while the demand from the user industries has dropped immensely. The production of aluminium is expected to outpace demand which will exert pressure on aluminium prices unless substantial production cuts are announced by smelters in China and the rest of the world. In the Indian market, the flagging demand, whereas the slow...
Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange slightly increased by 0.24 per cent to US$ 1452 per tonne on Friday, April 3, from US$ 1448.5 per tonne on April 2. As of Friday, April 3, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1452 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1452 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1486 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1486 per tonne; Dec 21 bid price stands at US$ 1624 per tonne, and Dec 21 offer price stands at US$ 1624 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock stood at 1207925 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled 1062750 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 145175 tonnes. <iframe width="500" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ltTDKEXzCzg" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope;...
On Tuesday, March 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a countrywide lockdown for 21 days starting Tuesday midnight. Since the announcement, no report of production cuts at smelters and refineries of three major Indian aluminium giants have arrived so far, except that Hindalco has temporarily scaled down operations at some of its aluminium and copper manufacturing facilities in line with the government's directives, according to a report last week. The government has, however, exempted key production facilities from having a continuous production process during the lockdown. Reports say there is enough availability of raw material and consumable stock with the plant premises for the next 15 days, at least, which is helping carry out the production seamlessly. The government has...
Australian Bauxite Limited (ABx) has reportedly appointed Clough for the design and construction of its first Alcore production plant in New South Wales. After six months of test work, Alcore has now decided to construct the first commercial plant where byproducts from aluminium smelters will be converted into aluminium fluoride. This aluminium fluoride can then be again sold back to the smelters as an essential electrolyte for smelting. On bagging the contract, Peter Bennett, CEO and Managing Director of Clough said: "Clough is a pioneering engineering and construction company, and our expertise with technology readiness, front-end engineering and EPC delivery will ensure a smooth transition for Alcore from the lab research stage to their first commercial plant." Alcore COO Phillip Hall...
According to the latest report from the US Geological Survey, US domestic primary aluminium production came in at 92,000 tonnes in January 2020. The average daily production was 2,980 tonnes, slightly less than that in January 2019. The output was essentially unchanged from that in December 2019. Total aluminium recovered from scrap was 269,000 tonnes in January, 8% less than the amount in January 2019. That was slightly more than the revised amount in December 2019 and 12% less than that in January 2018. Of this, 146,000 tonnes of aluminium was recovered from new scrap and 123,000 tonnes was recovered from old scrap. In January, the average U.S. spot market price of primary aluminium ingot was $0.945 per pound, essentially unchanged from December 2019. Inventories of primary aluminium in...
Vedanta for the sixth consecutive time has cut its aluminium ingots prices by nearly 1 per cent, with effect from Wednesday, April 1. The company had cut the prices of these products by 2 to 3 per cent. After the cut with effect from April 1, Vedanta is now selling ingots at INR 127,250 per tonne to INR 140,250 per tonne, down by 10 to 11 per cent from that the end of 2019. The last aluminium ingot price cut by Vedanta was with effect from March 27 , which brought the prices to INR 128,500 per tonne to INR 141,500 per tonne, down from INR 131,750-144,750 per tonne on March 24. The billet price after the cut on Wednesday came in at INR 135,250 per tonne, 0.91 per cent lower than INR 136,500 per tonne last week. The Indian aluminium producers generally link their product prices to the...
Multiple US aluminium rolling mills and extrusion plants declared temporary suspensions to their operations this week as the COVID-19 epidemic has continued to disrupt markets and erode demand. Aleris Aluminium at its Lewisport, Kentucky, rolling mill has suspended its production from 30th March’20 until 13th April’20. Jason Saragian, Communications Director of Aleris said: "In response to our major automotive customers announcing temporary production shutdowns, coupled with uncertainty in other markets, we are making the difficult decision to temporarily suspend production at our Lewisport site for two weeks, or until we have worked through the full extent of COVID-19's impact on our customers.” "These are very dedicated and committed employees, and we will remain in close contact with...
With the beginning of this week, the US dollar rebounded against major currencies and riskier emerging market units, snapping a week of declines as investors braced for prolonged uncertainty and governments tightened lockdowns and launched monetary and fiscal measures to fight the coronavirus pandemic. However, on Tuesday, March 31, the dollar fell against a basket of major currencies, but again on April 1 advanced, with the index up 0.6 per cent at 99.52. Three-month LME aluminium resumed its downtrend on Monday, March 30, slipping to its lowest since April 2016 at US$ 1,522 per tonne in North American trading hours before closing the day sharply lower at US$ 1,529 per tonne. On March 31, it slipped to the further lowest at US$1,507 per tonne and closed the day at US$1,525.5 per tonne....
The Russian aluminium giant Rusal has approved a new long-term aluminium supply contract with Glencore worth up to $16.3 billion, as announced in a Hong-Kong regulatory statement on 03 rd April. The British born Swiss trader and metals producer Glencore Plc has long been one of the principal clients of Hong Kong-listed Rusal, the world's largest aluminium producer outside China. Glencore holds a stake in Rusal parent Group En+. <iframe width="500" height="300" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G4gK_YvzyuU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> Rusal stated that the new contract is set for 2020-24 and can also get extended to 2025. The board of director had already approved the deal in December’19. This...
Aluminium Corporation of China Limited, popularly known as Chalco, may consider carrying out maintenance or even shut some aluminium production if prices fall below its cash costs, said a company executive on Friday, April 3. With the weak demand for aluminium in China and also across the globe due to the outbreak of COVID19, the social inventories of primary aluminium ingot have been witnessing incessant hikes, resulting in continuous declines in aluminium prices over the past 2 months. On Thursday, April 2, aluminium prices in Shanghai hit a more than four-year low of RMB 11,250 per tonne. However, as far as the alumina production is concerned, Chalco’s Finance Chief Wang Jun said that there had been no change in Chalco’s production capacity for alumina. He also said the company would...
According to the latest Reuters update, the premium for aluminium shipments to Japanese buyers has been set at $82 per tonne for April to June. The premium is lower by 1.2 per cent from the last quarter, reported sources involved in market pricing. Japan is the biggest importer of aluminium in Asia and the premiums it agrees to pay for primary aluminium shipments for each quarter over the cash price settled at the London Metal Exchange (LME) set the benchmark for the region. During January-March quarter, the premiums for aluminium shipments were $83 per tonne. This marks the third consecutive quarterly drop. The premiums for Q2 2020 are also lower than the initial offers of $98-$105 made by producers. “We have struck all deals at $82 a tonne by early this week,” a source at an aluminium...
Hydro has postponed the restart of 95, 000 tonnes capacity at the Husnes aluminium plant in Norway. The ramp-up, which was planned to start in the first half of 2020, is now postponed to the third quarter of 2020 at the earliest. The company has also decided to freeze around 25 percent of remaining capital expenditure in 2020 by NOK 2 billion. Hydro has reduced cost across the company, including forced vacations, delaying projects, and temporary layoffs. President and CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim said: “With forceful mitigating actions and contingency plans across the company, we will continue operations to the extent possible, keeping the wheels turning, to the benefit of our people, our business, local communities and society at large.” “We will continuously evaluate further measures as the...
Three-month LME aluminium rallied from a new four-year trough of US$ 1,481 per tonne touched in North American trading hours, finishing the day higher at US$ 1,504 per tonne. The build-up of long positions primarily accounted for the gains on the day. LME aluminium is expected to continue to trade at US$ 1,480 per tonne to US$ 1,530 per tonne today. As of Thursday, April 2, both LME aluminium cash (bid) price and LME official settlement price declined from US$ 1463.50 per tonne to US$ 1448.50 per tonne. 3-months bid price and 3-months offer price slipped to US$ 1482.50 per tonne from US$ 1498 per tonne, while Dec 21 bid price and Dec 21 offer price stood at US$ 1618.50 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock stood at 1210475 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at 1062750 tonnes, and...
At the desert complex of Saudi Arabia’s north-eastern Gulf coast, refineries, smelters and casting machines transform dull pink rocks into silver aluminium bars, a symbol of the kingdom’s attempt to diversify its economy. After only two years in operation, the $10.8 billion aluminium project at Ras al-Khair, an industrial city 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the oil hub of Dammam, is already the world’s largest integrated aluminium facility. Aluminium is the company’s single-largest cash generator, at 4.8 billion riyals ($1.3 billion) in revenue in 2015, and mining is a pillar of Saudi Arabia’s shift away from oil. The Kingdom’s aluminium ingot export has been showing dip, as between 2017-19 it reflected an unsteady export demand, whereas in 2020 it has been projected a decline of...
As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, stood at 1.676 million tonnes in the week ended April 2. That was up 9,000 tonnes compared to a build of 20,000 tonnes in the previous week. The chart below shows the current status of the primary aluminium inventories across China in more details: Primary aluminium stocks in Shanghai and Wuxi increased by 11,000 tonnes and 9,000 tonnes from March 26 to stand at 169,000 tonnes and 661,000 tonnes on Thursday, 02 April 2020. Stocks in Hangzhou stood at 143,000 tonnes, an increase of 11,000 tonnes. But the inventories in Nanhai, Gongyi, Chongqing dropped by 10,000 tonnes, 6,000 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes from last week to stand at 431,000 tonnes,...
The US dollar advanced against a basket of major currencies on Wednesday, April 1. The US dollar index was up 0.6% at 99.52. Aluminium extended its decline to a four-year trough and shed 2% on the day. The SHFE kept its night trading session suspended. Three-month LME aluminium extended its decline and touched a four-year trough of US$1,483.5 per tonne in early North American trading hours. It closed at $1,495 per tonne. Shanghai Metals Market expects the contract to trade at US$1,480-1,530 per tonne today. As on Wednesday April 1, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1463.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1463.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1498 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1498 per tonne; Dec 21 bid price stands at US$ 1628.50...
Africa produced 127,000 tonnes of primary aluminium in February 2020. That was unchanged from 2019. The output reduced by 6.62 per cent from January 2020’s production of 136,000 tonnes and 8.63 per cent from December 2019’s production of 139,000 tonnes, according to the latest data showed by the International Aluminium Institute (IAI). Aluminium production came in at 263,000 tonnes in the first two months of 2020 as compared to 267,000 tonnes in the first two months of 2019. That was down 1.5 per cent year-on-year. IAI reported that primary aluminium production in Africa came in at 1.643 million tonnes in 2019 as compared to 1.668 million tonnes in 2018. That was down 1.5 per cent year-on-year.
The Argentine giant Aluar Aluminio Argentino SAIC has been slashing production at one of its aluminium plants amid close-down related to the coronavirus pandemic apart from the indication that global light metal production is slowing down. The Buenos Aires-based producer said in a statement that “it is reducing production by an additional 25% at its Puerto Madryn plant in the south, in response to country's nationwide shutdown.” As per the government’s notice companies in core businesses can continue to operate, but must take mitigation measures, including employing as few people as possible. Following a similar cut this month, Aluar said “it had now put 50% of its capacity in Puerto Madryn out of business. The plant has a total capacity of 460,000 tonnes and produced 427,000 tonnes in...
