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...
Grow with
AL Circle
According to Shanghai Metal Market, cargoes transactions with invoices for May dominated the spot aluminium market in East China on April 27, 2018. This was primarily because market participants rushed to take advantage of the last trading day before that value-added tax (VAT) came into effect. The SHFE 1805 contract rose in the morning. While on one hand, Shanghai saw most transactions done at RMB 14410 per tonne to RMB 14420 per tonne with premiums RMB 0 to RMB 10 per tonne against the SHFE contract, on the other hand, Wuxi and Hangzhou witnessed transactions at RMB 14410 per tonne to RMB 14420 per tonne and RMB 14460 per tonne to RMB 14470 per tonne respectively. East China also witnessed stable shipments while traders stockpiled less and downstream consumers purchased on demand for...
The Canadian government announced today new measures to prevent transhipment and metal diversion in Canada, in addition to those announced on March 27, 2018. “This announcement reinforces Canada’s position as a reliable jurisdiction to be counted by other countries” said Jean Simard, President and CEO of the Aluminium Association of Canada (AAC). In the context of the U.S. section 232 investigation and the threat of a 10% tariff on Canadian aluminum exported to the U.S., the alignment with American rules for marking of aluminium products demonstrates Canada’s willingness to collaborate with the United States. According to Jean Simard, “This is another manifestation of our shared interest in managing the continental commercial border for the entire North American aluminum industry”. “We...
After showing some gain and closing at US$2248 per tonne on Wednesday April 25 after three days of falling, LME aluminium closed down at US$ 2204 per tonne on Thursday April 26. The light metal contract then surged to a high of US$2,316 per tonne overnight after the news that Oleg Deripaska, Rusal’s major shareholder would continue to maintain control over Rusal. Shanghai Metals Market expects it to trade strongly rangebound at US$2,220-2,350 per tonne today. As on April 26, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2,203 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2,204 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2205.5 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2206 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2192 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price stands at US$ 2197 per tonne....
The average A00 aluminium ingot price has risen up marginally on Shanghai Metal Market on 27 th of April, 2018, from RMB 14360 per tonne to RMB 14430 per tonne. The prices are expected to range between RMB 14410 per tonne and RMB 14450 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 20 to RMB 60 per tonne. All the major Chinese markets have also seen a surge. While in East, including Wuxi city and Jiangsu, the price has increased from 14350 to 14415; in South and North, the prices have soared from RMB 14345 per tonne to RMB 14475 per tonne and RMB 14390 per tonne to RMB 14440 per tonne respectively. Average alumina spot price, on the other hand, according to Shanghai Metal Market, has been continuing to remain stable since 24 th of April to 27 th of April, 2018 to close at RMB 3135 per...
The European Union official journal reported on Thursday that EU has started monitoring imports of aluminium to determine whether the imported aluminium and steel tariffs imposed by the US have triggered a surge in metal shipments into the Europe or not. The European Union collects data on the quantity and value of incoming aluminium products in order to analyse if measures are needed to be taken to limit imports. The surveillance will apply to imports of aluminium exceeding 2.5 tonnes. The European Commission, which overseas trade policy in the 28-nation EU, believes that the 10 per cent tariff levied by the US on aluminium would increase the risk of more aluminium being diverted to Europe at depressed prices. According to the EU official journal data, the aluminium product imports have...
The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) stands in support of the Aluminum Association’s position that the Trump Administration must not impose quotas on imported primary aluminum products. Considering the disruption of this vital supply chain because of the Russian sanctions, any additional restraint of imported aluminum into the U.S. aluminum supply chain will lead to work stoppages at extrusion plants and their customers. Extrusion buyers will be forced to source parts from foreign suppliers as an alternative source to maintain production. In this case, the country most likely to supply these parts will be China. The entire U.S. aluminum industry has made it clear to the Administration during the 232 Investigation that China IS THE THREAT to our industry. We are sure that President Trump...
Asia’s largest integrated aluminium complex, National Aluminium Company (Nalco) hopes to have a double EBITDA margin in FY19. According to Tapan Kumar Chand, CMD of Nalco, EBITDA margin is expected to increase from 20 per cent at the end of Q3 FY 19 to 40 per cent by the end of FY19 backed by the soaring demand and prices of both alumina and aluminium. “Prices of alumina and aluminium have been firming up, if this trend is maintained, then we expect our margins to double by the end of FY19,” Chand told on the sidelines of The People Management Conclave, organised by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Aluminium prices, which were always on the uptrend since August 2017 owing to the global deficit in production, are continuing to grow even higher in the recent time on the back of...
After a three-day losing streak in the previous session, driven by the deadline extension to comply with U.S. sanctions on Rusal, LME aluminium contract finally saw some gain and closed at US$2248 per tonne on Wednesday April 25 from US$ 2222 per tonne on Tuesday April 24. The metal saw the seven-year high of $2,602.5 on April 19 in the wake of the sanctions, which left the market fearing a supply shortage. Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange was down 1.3 per cent at $2,217 a tonne, as of 0219 GMT. LME aluminium slipped 1.3 per cent lower on Thursday morning. As seen by Shanghai Metals Market, LME aluminium would remain rangebound today with a trading range at $2,185-2,275/t. As on April 25, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2,247 per tonne, LME official...
After a decline of aluminium inventory on 23 rd of April 2018, from 2.248 million tonnes to 2.231 million tonnes, it witnessed a further plunge to 2.21 million tonnes on Thursday April 26, 2018, down 21,000 tonnes from 2.231 million tonnes on April 23 and RMB 38,000 tonnes from 2.248 million tonnes on April 19, according to Shanghai Metal Market. This decline of the aluminium inventory on Thursday was primarily due to the lowering of future price, as a large number of downstream consumers are now putting less money on the future contract and more on the spot price, therefore, resulting in forbidding stockpile for the time ahead. Transactions across the major Chinese cities also went down or remained unchanged, as SMM observed. More details are as follows: On the other hand, SMM updates...
Iran is rapidly progressing to launch a new aluminium smelter South Aluminium Company (Salco) in early 2019 in the Lamerd special economic zone in the south of the country near the Persian Gulf. The smelter is expected to boost the country’s aluminium production by 70 per cent and make it self-sufficient by taking advantage of rich natural gas reserves. Media Barbadian, deputy minister of industry, mining and trade told the CRU Aluminium conference in London on Tuesday, April 24, 2018, the construction of the smelter is underway and due to produce 300,000 tonnes per year in the first phase. Karbasian, the chairman of IMIRDO, the state-owned Iranian Mines and Mining, Industries, Development and Renovation Organisation, owns 49 per cent share of the smelter, while another 51 per cent is...
After a wild week of surging, LME aluminium fell 7 per cent on Monday, its biggest one-day drop in eight years, after the United States had extended the deadline for companies to complete business with sanctions-hit Russian producer Rusal. LME aluminium fell further yesterday and hit a low of US$2,175 per tonne as Rusal’s Kubal smelter in Sweden said it has resumed part of the deliveries and operations. Finally the aluminium contract closed at US$2,222 per tonne on Tuesday April 24. Shanghai Metals Market expects the LME aluminium contract to trade at US$2,165-2,255 per tonne today. As on April 24, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2,221 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2,222 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2221 per tonne, 3-months offer price...
Hydro recorded underlying earnings before financial items and tax of NOK 3,147 million in Q1 2018, up from NOK 2,284 million in Q1 2017.The increase mainly reflects a higher all-in metal and alumina prices that was partly offset by increased raw material costs. The production cut at Alunorte and Paragominas during March had a negative impact on the results for Bauxite & Alumina in Q1 2018. The results were driven by higher realized alumina sales prices offset by higher raw material prices and reduced output at both plants. "The US sanctions on Rusal have caused great uncertainty in the world’s aluminium markets and will impact trade flows and availability of metal and raw materials throughout the aluminium value chain. The Brazilian authorities’ embargo on Alunorte adds to the uncertainty...
Alba’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Murray said on Tuesday that the company is seeking an exemption from U.S tariff on aluminium. “We are in the process of doing that application,” Murray told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in London. If an exemption is not granted, “Ultimately the tariffs will be passed along in terms of the mid-west pricing... the consumer is going to pay,” he said. The company currently exports 120,000 tonnes of aluminium to the United States. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the European Union, Mexico, and South Korea were granted temporary exemptions until May 1, 2018. He said: “Alba is currently the fifth largest smelter in the world; I am proud to say that in CRU 2019, Alba will be the world’s largest smelter with an annual production capacity of 1.5...
After witnessing a marginal rise from RMB 14870 per tonne to 14940 per tonne on April 23, 2018, the average A00 aluminium ingot price reversed its course to close at RMB 14480 per tonne today April 24, 2018, according to Shanghai Metal Market. The prices are expected to range between RMB 14460 per tonne and RMB 14500 per tonne, with spot discounts to settle at RMB 50 to RMB 90 per tonne. To say the truth, aluminium ingot price has been oscillating at an interval over a period of time following the production cut at aluminium plants across the globe due to unavailability of alumina, owing to 50 per cent production curtail at Norsk Hydro’s alumina refinery. On 20 th of April, 2018, the aluminium ingot price had plunged considerably from RMB 15070 per tonne to RMB 14870 per tonne and just...
LME aluminium registered the biggest one-day decline in history and lost close to 10 per cent. The metal tumbled to a low of US$ 2,237 per tonne following the US Treasury Department’s announcement to extend the time limit for US and non-US citizens to wind up business with Rusal, according to SMM. LME aluminium closed lower at US$ 2452 per tonne on Monday April 23. The US Treasury on Monday said that it would consider lifting the sanctions if Russian aluminium giant Rusal’s major shareholder Oleg Deripaska ceded control of the company SMM expects LME aluminium to remain weak in the near term and test support at the 20-day moving average with a trading range of US$ 2,170-2,270 per tonne. As on April 23, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2451.50 per tonne, LME official settlement...
According to Iran’s annual performance report of aluminium sector FY2017-18, released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIRDO) today April 23, 2018, about 340,000 tonnes of aluminium ingots were produced over the year, with the production capacity of 487,000 tonnes and estimated to rise to 780,000 tonnes by 2020 and 1.2 million tonnes by 2025. However, the country’s aluminium ingot production accounted for 18,300 tonnes in the one-month period. Iran’s three leading companies Iranian Aluminium Company (IRALCO), Al-Mahdi Aluminium Corporation (AAC) and Hormozal produced 337,608 tonnes of aluminium ingots in the 12-month period, down 1 percent less year-on-year. In the meanwhile, the demand for aluminium in Iran stands at about 500,000 tonnes....
Chinese aluminium giant Chalco reported a 19.4 per cent drop in the first quarter net profit due to lower aluminium prices. The company’s net profit declined to 308.6 million yuan ($48.94 million) in the first three months of 2018 as against 382.9 million yuan in the corresponding period last year. The company said in a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange that it generated revenue of 36.7 billion yuan, down 10.5 per cent, according to a report published by Reuters. The price decline continued in January-March period, with Shanghai aluminium futures falling 10.6 per cent, the worst quarter since the middle of 2010, as Chinese inventories rose, Reuters reported. According to a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company produced around 3.61 million tonnes of...
Poland imported US$230.5 billion worth of goods from around the globe in 2017. Aluminium represents 5.7 per cent of the total imports of the country. Norway is one of the top aluminium suppliers to Poland. Poland imported an estimated 177734 tonnes of aluminium from Norway in 2017. Other top countries which supplied aluminium to the country were Russian Federations, Netherlands, Sweden, and United Arab Emirates among others. On a quarterly basis, Poland imported an estimated 205928 tonnes of aluminium in the third quarter of 2017 (July- September), and in fourth quarter of 2017, the volume stood at about 203738 tonnes. Poland imported aluminium worth US$ 419 million and US$ 409 million in third and fourth quarter of 2017 respectively. In the first quarter of 2018, estimated aluminium...
