The London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium price graph continues to drop across the pricing and contract segments on the September 24 trading session, reporting declines over the September 23 close . The LME aluminium cash bid slumped from USD 3,239.5 per tonne to USD 3,227 per tonne, rising 0.39 per cent. The offer price moved from USD 3,240 per tonne to USD 3,228 per tonne, dropping by 0.37 per cent. Explore- Most comprehensive and forward-looking industry-focused report — Global Bauxite & Alumina Market Forecast to 2036: Supply–Demand, Trade Flows & Price Outlook The LME aluminium three-month bid contracted from USD 3,258 per tonne to USD 3,252 per tonne, decreasing by 0.18 per cent. The offer price plunged from USD 3,260 per tonne to USD 3,252.5 per tonne, representing a 0.23 per cent...
The transition towards lower-carbon manufacturing is changing how companies evaluate aluminium and copper. Beyond availability and technical performance, buyers are increasingly examining the emissions embedded in the metals they purchase and whether reducing that footprint justifies a higher price. While low-carbon aluminium has developed into an established premium market, low-carbon copper remains at a developing stage, raising the loaded question: How much are buyers willing to pay for lower-carbon metal? Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our report: “ Global Bauxite & Alumina Market Forecast to 2036: Supply–Demand, Trade Flows & Price Outlook ” Why aluminium is further ahead Aluminium has had more time to establish a market for...
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Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) reported a double digit increase in overall sales’ volume in Q2 2019 despite trade-tensions and the downward LME price graph. Alba, which is on the course to become the largest smelter in the world with the full ramp-up of Line 6 on 31 July 2019, has been steadily reporting growth in production and sales. Alba’s sales volume increased 25% YoY to stand at 311,928 tonnes from 249,595 tonnes in Q2 2018. Year-over-Year aluminium production jumped 21% YoY to 305,727 tonnes from 252,081 tonnes in Q2 2018. Value-Added (VA) Sales averaged at 52% of total shipments in comparison with 60% for the same period in 2018. Commenting on Alba Sales’ volume and Production for Q2 2019, Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray said: “Driven by the solid progress on the Line 6...
Shanghai Metals Market found social inventories of primary aluminium further inched down by 6,000 tonnes on Monday, July 8, across eight major consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants. The inventories are thus standing at 1.022 million tonnes compared to 1.028 million tonnes on Thursday, July 4. Week-on-week, the inventories dropped 29,000 tonnes from 1.051 on June 27, 2019. Production cut at aluminium smelters and weaker arrivals at warehouses have been consistently dragging down the inventories. Since June 3 until now, the inventories recorded decreases by over 155,000 tonnes, found SMM data. On July 8, the inventories in Wuxi, Jiangsu; Shanghai; and Gongyi, Henan dropped 6,000 tonnes, 3,000 tonnes, and 2,000 tonnes to stand at 329,000 tonnes, 204,000 tonnes, and 105,000...
The US dollar traded sharply higher against all of the major currencies on the back of Friday's non-farm payrolls report and climbed to the highest in two-and-a-half weeks, to 97.446. Base metals ended mostly lower. LME aluminium dipped 0.28% and SHFE aluminium eased 0.07% during Friday night. Three-month LME aluminium rebounded after a higher US dollar drove it to a low of US$1,791 per tonne, but it failed to exceed US$1,807 per tonne and closed 0.28% lower on the day at US$1,804.5 per tonne on Friday night. LME aluminium is likely to trade at US$1,770-1,820 per tonne today. As on July 5, Friday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1779 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1779.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1801 per tonne, 3-months offer price...
Alcoa Corporation signed a conditional share purchase agreement with private equity investment firm PARTER Capital Group AG to sell its two aluminium plants in Spain. Avilés and La Coruña aluminium plants include the casthouses at both facilities and the paste plant at La Coruña, which are currently in operation, and the two curtailed smelters. Alcoa reached an agreement with the workers’ representatives relating to a transaction with PARTER Capital Group AG, based in Switzerland. But a final acquisition is subject to a buyer-provided credit facility to support future operations. If the acquisition cannot be completed by July 31, 2019, which is extended from the original June 30, 2019 deadline, the collective dismissal and social plan are expected to go into effect on August 1, 2019....
A00 aluminium ingot price started the month of July lower at RMB13760 per tonne and continued to move in a lower range till Wednesday, July 3. The price registered a hike in the last two days of the week at RMB 13760 per tonne and RMB13810 per tonne on Thursday and Friday. Aluminium price in other major China markets saw mixed performance over the week. Shanghai Metals Market study showed that a low consumption season in July-August and falling alumina prices would continue to weigh on Shanghai aluminium prices in the short term. The average premium came in at RMB10 per tonne on Thursday, June 4. As of yesterday, spot aluminium price is likely to trade at a discount of RMB 10 per tonne to a premium of RMB 30 per tonne. On the other hand, social inventories of primary aluminium across...
The US dollar rose to two-week highs at the beginning of the week as US-China trade tensions eased after the world’s two largest economies agreed to restart trade talks. The dollar index then continued to edge lower from recent highs over the week sliding down to 96.735. LME base metals started the week higher, plunged in mid-week and regained some losses towards the end. LME aluminium traded higher this week compared to the last. LME aluminium started the week with US$ 1778 per tonne but lost some gains mid-week to came down to US$1754.5 per tonne. The contract however closed the week higher at US$ 1779.5per tonne on Friday. The LME contract recovered the last week’s losses on the back of lower inventories and premiums in spot offers. Three-month LME aluminium also gained over last week...
Shanghai Metals Market believes aluminium ingots trades are likely to continue at a slow pace across the northern Chinese markets in the medium term. The current adequate supplies of aluminium ingots, the prospect of poorer downstream consumption in a slow season of July-August, and new aluminium capacity are some of the reasons for the estimated slow ingots trades. As more cargoes arrived and downstream producers cut production in a slow season, transactions of aluminium ingot across markets in the north, such as Shandong, Henan, and Tianjin, weakened considerably from the previous month, found Shanghai Metals Market survey on July 4. Aluminium ingots sold in the north-eastern Chinese markets are mainly supplied by smelters in Inner Mongolia. SMM learned that some new, recovered...
Bosnia’s regional energy and mining minister said on July 4 that Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) was reportedly showing interest in Bosnia’s debt-laden aluminium smelter Aluminij Mostar. Aluminij has been in trouble over years now as debt accumulated because of high alumina and electricity prices. Nermin Dzindic, the Federation energy and mining minster, said EGA would assess Aluminij’s value first before starting talks with the latter’s shareholders about a possible takeover. Aluminij’s 44 per cent of share is owned by the Federation Government while the remainder by the Croatian government. Dzindic also said that EGA pledged to double the output at Aluminij which is currently at13,000 tonnes a year. EGA was ready to negotiate the power purchase deal with Bosnia’s three power utilities...
China’s production of primary aluminium stood 2.91 per cent lower in June 2019, showed an SMM survey. Primary aluminium production came in at 2.93 million tonnes last month. Aluminium production decreased 1.6 per cent year-on-year to 17.5 million tonnes in the first six months of 2019. In May, primary aluminium production was 3.04 million tonnes, a drop of 1 per cent year-on-year. Built capacity of primary aluminium stood at 40.3 million tonnes as of the end of June, with 36.48 million tonnes in operation. Operating rates averaged 90.5 per cent in June, almost flat from May. Primary aluminium production received a boost from Baise Mining’s No. 2 plant in Suyuan, Yunnan Aluminium’s Haixin Aluminium in Zhaotong and Shanxi Zhongrun, but plants in the north-east such as Guangxi Xinfa and...
According to the Reuters report, Glecore is one of the companies that have shown interest in buying Rio Tinto’s aluminium assets in Iceland, Sweden, and the Netherlands for up to $350 million. Rio had started the assets sale process in late 2018 with the help of French investment bank Natixis after Norsk Hydro withdrew itself from buying them. According to Hydro, the reason was the delay in getting the European Commission’s approval. As an aluminium smelter in Iceland, Rio Tinto has put on the block a 53 per cent stake in a Dutch anode facility and 50 per cent of the shares in a Swedish aluminium fluoride plant. Both anode and aluminium fluoride are used as raw materials in aluminium production. Now, as the volatility caused by the US sanctions and supply reduction at Hydro’s massive...
The dollar continued to edge lower from recent highs and the euro was stuck near two-week lows on Thursday. The US dollar index slid 0.05% to end at 96.735. Base metals ended mostly higher. LME aluminium climbed 1.15% and SHFE aluminium advanced 1.13%. Thursday saw some bullish trading of LME aluminium and the contracts closed higher than the previous day. Both three-month LME aluminium and the most-traded SHFE August contract recovered losses since last Friday during night trading as lower inventories and premiums in spot offers depressed confidence in shorts. LME aluminium closed 1.15% higher at US$1,809.5 per tonne. LME aluminium is likely to trade at US$1,750-1,850 per tonne. As on July 4, Thursday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1771 per tonne, LME official settlement...
In July 2018, ENGIE and SUSI signed the financing agreements for Project Tonstad , a 208 MW wind farm in Norway to supply power to the aluminium sector. The project, which is currently under construction in the south of Norway will be one of the largest in Norway, and will supply all electricity generated through an off-take agreement, to the Norwegian aluminium producer Hydro. A media update from the project has confirmed that commercial operation will start from early 2020. The first turbine is planned to start operation by end of August 2019. At the end of June, the first blade (70m long) was transported from the port to the site through very challenging winding roads that needed modifications to in order to let the vehicle pass. Project Tonstad is located in the municipalities of...
According to a report from Platts; the low growth period in China’s economy has already arrived in 2019 despite stimulus measures and supply side reforms. The market outlook is bearish and China's downstream aluminium sector has already entered its off season due to poor economic data. The boom has slowed down in the construction sector and there have been fewer investments from the market participants. According to China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, slow demand from construction and electrical sector has restricted aluminium demand growth to just 1% in 2019. Despite government measures to support demand growth, the impact is not seen. Because of lacklustre demand, domestic aluminium prices are not likely to see much upward movement in 2019. The Shanghai Futures Exchange's...
The US dollar edged lower as President Donald Trump said in a tweet that the US should match China and Europe’s “currency manipulation game.” The US dollar index slid 0.02% to end at 96.76. After the day’s trading LME aluminium closed slightly lower from the previous day yesterday. As the US dollar weakened, three-month LME aluminium climbed along with the five-day moving average, to a high of US$1,793 per tonne, ending up 0.53% at US$1,789 per tonne overnight. Three months LME aluminium is likely to trade at US$1,770-1,800 per tonne today. As on July 3, Wednesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1754 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1754.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1778 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1779 per tonne; Dec 20 bid...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, social inventories of primary aluminium across eight major consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, have extended their downfalls over the week ended on July 4 by 23,000 tonnes to stand at 1.028 million tonnes. A week ago, on June 27, the primary aluminium inventories were at 1.051 tonnes, while on July 1, the inventories were at 1.041 tonne after declining by 10,000 tonnes over the weekend. This indicates that from July 1, today’s inventories have dropped by RMB 13,000 tonnes. In Wuxi, Jiangsu; Shanghai; and Nanhai, Guangdong; the inventories have dropped week-on-week by some 18,000 tonnes, 1,000 tonnes, 15,000 tonnes, and to stand at 335,000 tonnes, 207,000 tonnes, and 231,000 tonnes, respectively. In Gongyi, Henan; Hangzhou, Zhejiang,...
A00 aluminium ingot price recorded an increase of RMB 130 per tonne, after falling four days in a row. Ingot price stood at RMB 13760 per tonne on Thursday, 04 July 2019. The average price is expected to range between RMB 13740 per tonne and RMB 13780 per tonne. Spot aluminium contract is likely to be traded at a discount of RMB 10 per tonne to a premium of RMB 30 per tonne. Aluminium ingot price in Foshan registered an increase of RMB 130 per tonne on Thursday and stood at RMB 13810 per tonne. The average price is expected to hover at RMB 13790- 13830 per tonne today. Ingot price in Wuxi and Hangzhou increased RMB 90 per tonne and RMB 135 per tonne to stand at RMB 13750 per tonne and RMB 13795 per tonne respectively. Their average price is expected to hover at RMB 13740- 13760 per tonne...
SNC-Lavalin, Canadian engineering, procurement, and construction services provider, has reportedly bagged a three-year Master Services Agreement from Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) to provide engineering and project management services. The Canadian company will complement EGA’s existing resources in delivering operations capital projects at Al Taweelah and Jebel Ali Smelter Complexes, and Al Taweelah alumina refinery. As per the agreement contract, SNC-Lavalin will support EGA with integrated engineering services covering all multi-disciplinary aspects related to power plant, energy distribution, water desalination, aluminium smelting, casting and carbon plants. In addition, project management services such as construction management, cost control and planning, contract engineering, and...
The US dollar slipped from two-week highs as the boost from easing trade tensions between the US and China faded and ended 0.07% lower at 96.765. Base metals ended mostly lower. LME aluminium dropped 0.67% and SHFE aluminium dipped 0.4%. As base metals mostly weakened overnight, three-month LME aluminium traded below the five- and 10-day moving averages, and finished 0.67% lower on the day at RMB1,779.5 per tonne overnight. The cash contract also dropped after showing a bullish trend. The contract is likely to trade at US$1,760-1,800 per tonne. As on July 2, Tuesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1754.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1755.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1779.50 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1780 per tonne; Dec...
