Canada and China have extended a bilateral trade arrangement that links Chinese market access for Canadian agricultural products with Canada's access for Chinese steel and aluminum. The decision provides greater certainty for exporters on both sides as Ottawa seeks to expand its trade relationships beyond the United States. The extension, announced on November 4, 2026, will keep the existing arrangement in place until the end of 2028. It comes amid renewed efforts by the two countries to strengthen economic ties and address outstanding trade issues. For the aluminum industry, the agreement offers a clearer timeline for market access, while its agricultural provisions provide Canadian producers with greater predictability in one of their key export markets. Canada-China trade agreement...
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...
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The Trump administration is reportedly planning to impose hefty tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Canada and EU. According to the Wall Street Journal, dropping EU from the exemption list for import tariffs of 25% on steel, and 10% on aluminium may take place as early as Thursday May 31. The Globe and Mail says imposing tariffs on Canada may take place on Thursday itself and it may soon spark a trade war and complicate the negotiations over the North American Free-Trade Agreement. Washington Post first reported Donald Trump’s decision to hit Canada, Mexico and the European Union with tariffs on Wednesday. The news was also confirmed to The Globe and Mail by a Canadian official and a U.S. industry source. This is to be noted that the President has not made an official announcement...
The US dollar index fell from a six-month high to around 94 overnight due to the lower-than-expected employment data and GDP from the US, intensified worries over US-Sino trade conflicts and a rebound in the euro. LME base metals rose for the most part. The contract recovered from the 40-day moving average and closed at US$2265.5 per tonne from US$2260 per tonne on previous closing. LME aluminium traded range-bound last night. It touched a high of US$2,284 per tonne after it was dragged down by its SHFE counterpart. It is likely to retain its range bound pattern today. As on May 30, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2264.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2265.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2271.50 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$...
China’s primary aluminium inventory has been witnessing a continual decline on limited deliveries to warehouses since the beginning of the month, and today, May 31, 2018, did not display any exceptions. According to the Shanghai Metal Market, including SHFE warrants, the inventory saw a plunge from 2.05 million tonnes to 2.03 million tonnes. Deliveries to warehouses at major markets continued to be limited, SMM learned. This drop in aluminium inventory indicates that it dipped 45,000 tonnes from Thursday, May 24, and fell 20,000 tonnes from Monday, May 28. The week-on-week decline today was relatively slower than the decline of 60,000 tonnes last Thursday, and marked a fifth consecutive week of decline. The table below shows the movements of inventories across the major Chinese cities....
National Aluminum Associations, government officials and major industry players would gather in Montreal to discuss overcapacity “Roadmap” during a summit. The leaders from the Aluminium Associations of Canada, the United States, Europe and Japan will host a summit in Montreal on June 3rd and 4th to address the China overcapacity issues and discuss how it has affected the international trade scenario. This is expected to open up the discussions prior to the G7 meeting later in the week in Charlevoix, Québec. The organizers are of the view that global aluminium industry is facing great challenges considering the current market conditions, and it is vital for the industry to initiate a top level process to address overcapacity through policy changes. They want to find a solution to the...
The US dollar index surged to a high since November last year at 95.03 overnight and closed 0.47% higher from Monday at 94.85 on the plunging Euro. Base metals went down across the board as a result. LME aluminium contract tumbled to a low of US$2,248 per tonne overnight. The contract plunged below the 40-day moving average after the holiday on Tuesday and closed at US$2260 from US$2282 per tonne on previous closing. It failed to break its rangebound pattern last night. Shanghai Metals Market sees it trading at a range of US$2,250-2,280 per tonne today. As on May 29, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2259 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2260 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2262 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2263 per tonne; Dec 19 bid...
According to the update by Shanghai Metal Market, sellers in the spot aluminium market in East China showed reluctance in offloading their cargoes on Tuesday, May 29, 2018. Supply was, therefore, down from the previous day and spot discounts slightly narrowed. The SHFE 1806 contract fell as low as RMB 14, 660 per tonne on Tuesday morning, while on Monday morning, May 28, it hovered at RMB 14775 per tonne. In Shanghai, transactions were seen at RMB 14640-14650 per tonne with spot discounts settled at RMB 60 to 50 per tonne to the SHFE 1806 contract, compared to the transactions at RMB 14680-14690 per tonne with discounts of RMB 70 to 60 per tonne on the previous day (May 28, 2018). Transactions in Wuxi and Hangzhou also plunged from RMB 14680-14690 per tonne to RMB 14640-14650 per tonne...
In a local media update, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said that the Russian authorities are developing measures to support the national aluminium industry after the US imposed punitive sanctions on RUSAL. “The measures aimed at supporting our aluminium industry are being developed. I have already met with the business [circles] and discussed that,” Kozak said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). In March, US President Donald Trump signed an order imposing tariffs for steel and aluminium imports over national security reasons. This was followed by the imposition of sanctions on Rusal, the world’s biggest aluminium producer and Rusal branded aluminium leading to LME delisting all aluminium stocks supplied by Rusal. Treasury has...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba)’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray paid a scheduled visit to Ahmed Mansoor Al Aali (AMA Group), one of the major Bahraini contractors for its Line 6 Expansion Project, to celebrate the successful fabrication of 427 Pot Shells in early-May 2018. Murray was accompanied by Line 6 Project Director Shawqi Al Hashmi and a delegation of Line 6 Owners’ Team and Bechtel managers. Commenting about this accomplishment, Murray said: “AMA Group expertise was fundamental to complete the fabrication of pot shells safely and ahead of time. This achievement is a milestone for Alba as we bring to close the construction and delivery of Line 6 Expansion Project.” AMA Group was awarded the contract to manufacture 427 pot shells (each weighing 44 metric tonnes) for Alba’s...
China’s largest state aluminium producer Chinalco is all set to close the gap on privately run China Hongqiao Group, the world’s top aluminium producer, as it signs a deal with the Yunnan government, which will give access to the company to more smelting capacity of around 1.6 million tonnes, with another 1.45 million tonnes in the pipeline or under construction. A spokesman for Chinalco confirmed it would be Chinalco’s first aluminium asset in the province. According to a Yunnan aluminium statement on Monday, May 28, 2018, Yunnan metallurgy group, that controls Yunnan Aluminium Co. Ltd., will get merged into China Copper Co., a joint venture between Chinalco and the Yunnan provincial government. Chinalco, officially the Aluminium Corp of China owns 58 per cent of the joint venture, while...
A global aluminium producer has offered Japanese buyers a premium of $159 per tonne for primary metal shipments for the July-September quarter, up 23 percent from the current quarter, four sources directly involved in pricing talks said on Tuesday. Another producer has sought a premium of $160 a tonne, up 24 percent from the premium PREM-ALUM-JP of $129 agreed for the April-June quarter, the sources said. Japan is Asia’s biggest aluminium importer and the premiums for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price set the benchmark for the region.
The two top aluminium producers Vedanta Ltd. and National Aluminium Company Ltd. (Nalco) are wary about the rise in production costs, even after posting robust earnings from aluminium business in the financial year 2017 ended on 31 st of March, 2018. Vedanta’s cost of aluminium production escalated to US$ 1887 per tonne, which was higher by about 30 per cent from the previous fiscal due to input commodity inflation. However, for the current fiscal, the company has projected to bring down the cost in the range of US$ 1725 to US$ 1775 per tonne, assuming the costs of imported alumina, coal e-auctions and carbon to remain at the average price levels of 2017-18. Each year, Vedanta imports over 1 million tonnes of alumina to power its aluminium smelters. To ward off the sharp price...
The US dollar index touched a five-month high last night at nearly 94.5 before it closed 0.18% higher at 94.41, on US-North Korea discussions and a weakening euro. Trading was off in LME on May 28 on the occasion of Late May Bank Holiday. LME aluminium was depressed by a rising US dollar index on Friday May 25 and the LME official settlement priceclosed last week with US$2282 per tonne from US$ 2270 per tonne on previous closing. The contract tumbled to a low of US$2,248 per tonne overnight. LME aluminium is expected to trade rangebound today at US$2,260-3,000 per tonne. SME and SHFE Aluminium Price Trend The benchmark aluminium price on Shanghai Metal Exchange dropped to US$ 2285 per tonne on May 29 from US$ 2301 per tonne on May 28. The SHFE 1807 contract initially hit a high of RMB...
Alcoa Corporation said on Tuesday, May 29, that the company has shut down one of the three potlines that are part of its Warrick aluminium smelter restart due to a temporary power outage at the plant near Evansville, Indiana. The annual capacity of the affected potline is approximately 50,000 tonnes. “The decision was made with a focus on safety and to protect the assets,” the company said. “Alcoa is assessing the effects of this event, including the timing of the overall restart, and will provide an update as more information is available.” Last July, Alcoa announced plans to restart three of five potlines, with 161,400 tonnes of annual capacity, at its Warrick Operations aluminium smelter. The process to restart is originally expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year....
According to CEO Tim Murray, Alba would be achieving the aluminium production capacity of 1.5 million tonnes or 25 per cent of total output across the GCC, on completing Line 6 Expansion Project worth US$3billion. In an interview with Oxford Business Group’s online broadcasting channel, Global Platform, Murray said that this new line will not only make Alba the biggest single-site facility in the world but also take the GCC’s total aluminium production to around 6 million tonnes a year, roughly equal to 10 per cent of global aluminium production. In the interview, he also noted that the world consumes around 60 million tonnes of aluminium, while China alone consumes 35 million tonnes. So, considering the production footprint, the GCC stands as the next biggest market, with six million...
Indonesia's state-owned aluminium producer PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) has produced 215,192 tonnes and 3,625 tonnes of aluminium ingots and billet and alloy respectively in 2017, according to news reported by ANTARA news. The company has produced 73,315 tonnes of aluminium ingots and 5,372 tons of billet and alloy in the first four months of 2018. The company has registered a net profit of Rp1.5 trillion in 2017."Of course, it is quite encouraging. We hope it will increase in the future," said Oggy Achmad Kosasih, PT Inalum Business Development Director. In 2017, the company’s aluminium ingot sale reached 205,980 tonnes and billet and alloy sale reached 1,296 tonnes.During January-April 2018, aluminium ingot sale stood at 58,661 tonnes and billet and alloy sale stood at 3,706...
National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO) has proved its mettle by registering high in terms of both physical and financial performances in the financial year 2017-18. The company has registered net profit of INR 1342 crore against INR 669 crore in previous year. In the fourth quarter, the company has earned a net profit of INR 257.06 crore. The net sales turnover for the year stood at INR 9,377 crore, registering a growth of 26% year-on-year, the highest ever since inception. Export earning of INR 4,076 crore also highest ever since inception registering a growth of 12% YoY. Panchpatmali Bauxite mines has been rated as the 2nd lowest cost producer in the World in 2017 as per report of Wood Mackenzie, according to company’s press release. The bauxite mines (North-Central block of...
The US dollar index touched a high of 94.3 last Friday and closed 0.62% higher at 94.24 due to robust US manufacturing data and weakened euro. LME aluminium was depressed by a rising US dollar index on Friday May 25 and closed the week with US$2282 per tonne from US$ 2270 per tonne on previous closing. The contract tumbled to a low of US$2,248 per tonne overnight. The contract is expected to trade at a range of US$2,266.5 to US$2282 per tonne. As on May 25, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2280 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2282 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2284 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2285per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2258 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price stands at US$ 2263 per tonne. Currently, 3 months LME...
After reporting a great weak-on-weak decline on Thursday, May 24, 2018, China’s primary aluminium inventory shrinks further today on May 28, 2018, including SHFE warrants, from 2.08 million tonnes to 2.05 million tonnes on fewer deliveries to warehouses at major markets in China, Shanghai Metal Market learned. The inventory today was down 25,000 million tonnes from Thursday, May 24 and 70,000 down from Monday, May 21, which indicates a faster weak-on-weak decline than the previous Monday. Almost all the major Chinese markets witnessed a drop as well like in Wuxi and Jiangsu, the inventory dipped from 853,000 tonnes, as on Thursday, to 844,000 tonnes on Monday and Shanghai saw a plunge from 448,000 tonnes to 446,000 tonnes. Other major cities also saw a decline in inventory because of...
