LME aluminium prices gained ground on November 4, with cash and futures contracts moving higher. The Asian Reference Price also edged up, while exchange inventories declined. Alumina Platts prices, however, moved slightly lower. The cash bid rose by USD 53.50 per tonne , or 1.74 per cent, to USD 3,134.50 per tonne from USD 3,081 per tonne. The cash offer increased 1.72 per cent to USD 3,135 per tonne from USD 3,082 per tonne. Three-month aluminium prices also advanced. The bid climbed 1.08 per cent to USD 3,073 per tonne on November 4 from USD 3,040 per tonne, while the offer gained 1.05 per cent to USD 3,074 per tonne. It was previously at USD 3,042 per tonne . Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our report: " Global Bauxite & Alumina Market...
Global primary aluminium production experienced a sequential recovery in the third quarter of 2026, supported by the gradual restoration of disrupted smelting capacity in the GCC countries, stronger operational performance in Europe and Oceania, and incremental production gains across Asia and China. But beneath this quarterly improvement lies a contrasting reality - global output remained below the corresponding levels of both 2025 and 2024. According to data from the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), global primary aluminium production reached 18.377 million tonnes in Q3 2026, an increase of 2.1 per cent from 18.003 million tonnes in the preceding quarter. However, compared with Q3 2025, when production totalled 18.683 million tonnes, output declined by 1.64 per cent. Production...
Grow with
AL Circle
Aluminium smelting is the most important power-intensive industry in Iceland. Rio Tinto Alcan operates Iceland’s first aluminium smelter (ISAL) while Century Aluminium Company operates the second plant. United States-based aluminium manufacturer Alcoa also runs another plant near the town of Reyðarfjörður. With these three major smelting companies present in Iceland, aluminium is one of the main materials exported by the country, which reportedly drives its economy as well. According to the global export-import data, Iceland’s aluminium (both alloyed and non-alloyed) export is seeing a year-on-year rise. In the first half of 2016, Iceland had exported 282,694 tonnes, which in the same period next year rose to 463,000 tonnes. This means the country witnessed a rise in aluminium export by...
The US dollar index rebounded and closed at 96.49 last Friday on upbeat US non-farm payrolls. However, concerns about data for the upcoming service purchasing managers’ index (PMI) limited the rise of the US dollar. LME and SHFE base metals ended higher for the most part on Friday night. Aluminium rose 0.56%. LME aluminium surged twice and touched a high of US$2,005.5 per tonne last Friday night after closing the day’s trading at US$ 1967 per tonne. Limited support brought it to settle at US$1,987 per tonne. It is expected to trade at US$1,960-2,010 per tonne today. As on November 2, Friday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1966.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1967per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1984.50 per tonne, 3-months offer price is...
Social inventories of primary aluminium across eight consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, dropped some 25,000 tonnes from Thursday November 1 to stand at 1.5 million tonnes as of Monday November 5, Shanghai Metals Market data showed. Supplies shrank while outflows from social warehouses remained stable and this accounted for the decline in inventories of primary aluminium over the weekend. In Wuxi and Jiangsu, the inventory declined to 643,000 tonnes today, from 659,000 tonnes on Thursday November 1; in Shanghai and Nanhai, Guangdong, the inventory came in at 342,000 tonnes and 225,000 tonnes respectively. In Gongyi, Henan, the inventory declined to 89,000 tonnes today. The current inventory status in the major Chinese cities is as follow: In another update from SMM, China...
Vedanta Limited, Jharsuguda’s Aluminum Smelting Business & Captive Power Plant (CPP) and Thermal Power Plant Business received Golds of the Kalinga Safety Awards for the 2017 for its excellent safety practices at the Odisha State Safety Conclave (OSSC) 2018 on 2nd November 2018 at Bhubaneshwar. Mr. Abhijit Pati, CEO of Vedanta Ltd. Jharsuguda said: “this award is a recognition of our consistence effort to ensure a zero harm environment in and around our operation. We dedicate it towards the vision of our chairman Mr. Anil Agrawal and committed effort of our employees and partners in imbibing a safety first culture’. The awards were presented to Vedanta Ltd., Jharsuguda by the Honorable Governor of Odisha – Prof. Ganesh Lal along with the President of Odisha State productivity council –...
According to the data shared by Shanghai Metals Market on Friday, November 2, spot aluminium discounts across eastern markets expanded while sellers held offers firm after prices of futures came off from earlier highs. The SHFE aluminium contract for November delivery fell below RMB 13,480 per tonne after initially climbing to a high at RMB 13, 915 per tonne in morning trade. In Shanghai, spot discounts were found at RMB 50 per tonne to RMB 40 per tonne, compared to RMB 40 per tonne to RMB 30 per tonne in the previous day. Transactions, on the other hand, wer e mostly done at RMB 13,790 per tonne to RMB 13,800 per tonne in Shanghai and Wuxi, while that in Hangzhou were at RMB 13,820 per tonne to RMB 13,830 per tonne. The drop in prices over the last three days, however, provoked the...
The US dollar reached multi-month highs last week and reversed some of the gains by the end of the week. The strong dollar along with the absence of strong market fundamentals put pressure on LME and the LME official settlement price plunged to the lowest since August 2017. The LME aluminium contract started the week with a gain at US$1980.5 per tonne and continued falling to reach US$ 1946 per tonne on November 1. The contract closed the week slightly higher at US$ 1967 per tonne on Friday November 2. Though it is slightly higher than the lowest, it continued its three-day losing streak and ended the week in the black. LME aluminium is likely to trade at US$1,960-2,000 per tonne over next week. As on November 2, Friday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1966.50 per tonne, LME...
Hindalco Industries Limited, the metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, announced Q2 FY19 results for Utkal Alumina, Hindalco standalone, as well as Aluminium Business. The company reported 5% increase in its Q2 FY2019 revenue at INR10,833 crore against INR10,313 crore in Q2 FY18. EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation) at Rs.1,922 crore in Q2 FY19, compared to INR1825 crore in Q2 FY18. Net profit jumped 54% to INR 725 crore in Q2FY19 against INR470 crore in Q2FY18. The performance rode on the back of supporting macros, improvement in operational efficiencies and better realisation. This was despite increase in input costs, mainly of coal and furnace oil. Revenue from its aluminium segment rose 18% to INR 6,135 crore, as compared to INR5,218 crore...
The Government of India is likely to postpone the imposition of higher import duties once again on American goods by another 45 days, a finance ministry official told Cogencis. “The government will soon issue the notification regarding the same. The hike in import duty on US goods is likely to be deferred by another 45 days,” the official said. The new deadline for imposing higher tariffs on the US would be December 17 to December 18. This will be the third time for India to have extended the deadline for imposing higher tariffs on US imports following President Donald Trump’s decision to raise tariffs on imported aluminium and steel products. In June, the government had decided to impose tariffs on US goods from August 4, which later on, got extended to September 18 and then to November...
The US dollar retreated from multi-month highs on Thursday while the pound rose the most in nine months on reports that London is close to a financial services deal with Brussels. Most LME and SHFE base metals ended in the black overnight and aluminium dipped 0.1%. LME aluminium closed Thursday's trading at US$ 1961 per tonne, slightly lower than the day before. While the aluminium contract reversed some gains it made on dips in the dollar, it continued its three-day losing streak and ended in the black overnight. Positive momentum from the US-China talk and gains in US stocks might grow risk sentiment among investors. LME aluminium is likely to trade at US$1,960-2,000 per tonne today. As on November 1, Thursday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1959 per tonne, LME official...
According to an update by Shanghai Metals Market, a carbon plant in Jiaozuo of Henan province that produces anode for aluminium smelting has been asked to cut one-third of its production capacity from November 1 to November 5, 2018. The city has issued a yellow alert to the plant for heavy air pollution on Thursday November 1. A yellow alert is the third most-severe notice in a four-tier-air-pollution response system in China. It is issued when there is severe pollution for a day or heavy pollution for three consecutive days. However, SMM found that the instruction has been issued to the plant even though it already met ultra-low emission standards. On the other hand, local winter cuts would not affect production across alumina and aluminium producers in Lvliang of Shanxi province, as...
According to trade sources both Vedanta and Hindalco have cut prices of their products on Wednesday October 31. Vedanta Ltd has cut prices of aluminium ingots by more than 1% from October 31, after raising the prices of the same products by over 1%, which came after eight consecutive price cuts. With yesterday’s cut, prices of Vedanta’s aluminium ingots stand at their lowest levels since late August. Rates of these products are now down 2% for the third quarter. The three-month aluminium price in London Metal Exchange has fallen 3% since the start of the month and stood at US$ 1966.50 per tonne on October 31. After the cut, the price for Vedanta aluminium ingot stands at INR 163000 (USD2217.78) per tonne, down from INR 165000 (USD2245) per tonne on October 30. Vedanta generates the...
Egypt exported US$25.9 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2017, up by 15 per cent from 2016 to 2017. The country’s non-alloyed aluminium ingot exports have been logging a year-on-year growth over the last three years. Non-alloyed aluminium is used as a raw material for further downstream processing. The top destination of non-alloyed aluminium ingot exports from Egypt in 2017 was Italy. Egypt's exports of non-alloyed aluminium ingot to Italy stood at 37064 tonnes and amounted to US$76 million last year. Egypt exported a total volume of 39547 tonnes non-alloyed aluminium ingots in 2016, which increased 14 per cent year-over-year to reach an estimated 44887 tonnes in 2017. In 2018, the country is forecasted to export 49535 tonnes of non-alloyed aluminium ingots, up 10.3 per cent...
One of the world’s largest mining and resources conference, the International Mining and Resources Conference is being held from October 29 to November 1 at Melbourne, Australia, the leading mining hub of the world. The conference is being attended by over 6,000 delegates from more than 90 countries. The event will bring together decision makers, mining leaders, policy makers, investors, commodity buyers, technical experts, innovators and educators for four days of learning, deal-making and networking. National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has been designated as the representative organisation to set up an India Pavilion and promote “Make in India” during the event. The India Pavilion is showcasing the achievement of India as a hub for mining and mineral resources, highlighting the aluminium...
The US dollar edged up to a fresh 16-month high against a basket of key currencies on Wednesday as the US economy continued to strengthen, putting the greenback on pace for a seventh straight month of gains. Most LME and SHFE base metals ended in negative territory overnight and aluminium lost 0.5%. LME aluminium closed the day’s trading at a new low of US$ 1946 per tonne. It started recovering at night; however, as the US dollar extended its gains, the contract reversed its earlier gains and dropped to US$1,953.5 per tonne. Finally the contract closed at US$1,955.5 per tonne overnight. It is expected to trade at US$1,940-1,980 per tonne today with a strong US dollar. As on October 31, Wednesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1945.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price...
Social inventories of primary aluminium across major consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, dropped some 13,000 tonnes week-on-week to stand at 1.525 million tonnes today, November 1, Shanghai Metals Market found. This decline in social inventories could be attributed to molten aluminium consumption replaced by aluminium ingots in the downstream industry. Today, the inventories in Wuxi and Jiangsu reportedly dropped 10,000 tonnes from a week ago and stood at 659,000 tonnes. In Shanghai and Nanhai, Guangdong, the inventories dropped as well, by 2,000 tonnes and 3,000 tonnes W-o-W to settle at 346,000 tonnes and 227,000 respectively, as of today. However, inventories in Gongyi, Henan and Hangzhou, Zhejiang showed an exception by rising from 91,000 tonnes to 95,000 tonnes and...
Vedanta Resources plc's subsidiary Vedanta Limited announced results on Wednesday, October 31, for the second quarter ended 30 September 2018. Metals and mining major reported net profit of INR 1,343 crore in the July-September quarter of 2018, up 34.3 per cent from INR 2045 crore in the July-September quarter of 2017. Revenue stood at INR 22,705 crore, an increase of 5 per cent, as compared with INR21, 590 crore in the same period previous year. The increase in revenue was attributable to higher volumes at aluminium, higher availability at TSPL, acquisition of Electrosteel, currency depreciation and higher commodity prices partially offset by, lower volumes at Zinc India, Zinc International and closure of Tuticorin smelter. EBITDA in Q2 FY2019 was at INR 5,342 compared to INR 5,776 crore...
On Monday, October 29, China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) announced that it would begin the second round of environmental reviews soon. Five inspection teams would settle in Shanxi, Liaoning, Jilin, Anhui, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Shaanxi provinces to supervise local environmental conditions and review the implementation of rectification plans that were made during previous environmental checks. The start date and duration of the new round of probes, however, was not revealed then, until the MEE updated us further on Tuesday, October 30. The first round of environmental reviews lasted for about a month in June and covered Hebei, Henan, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan provinces. According to the...
The US dollar index rose to the highest thus far this year on Tuesday, amid growing signs the US economy is outperforming its peers. US consumer confidence rose to an 18-year high in October, driven largely a robust labour market, suggesting strong economic growth could persist in the near term. Most LME and SHFE base metals ended in negative territory overnight. LME aluminium slid some 0.7%. LME aluminium fluctuated and closed Tuesday's trading at US$ 1952 per tonne, the lowest since August 8, 2017. It recovered some losses and closed the night trading at US$1,965 per tonne. Shanghai Metal Market expects it to trade at US$1,960-1,990 per tonne today. As on October 30, Tuesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1951per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1952 per...
