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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Bosnian aluminium smelter Aluminij on Friday, December 29, said that the company expects an increase in aluminium production following the abolition of import tax on unalloyed aluminium, according to Reuters report. This year, Aluminij will boost annual production by 15% to 184,000 tonnes and raise exports by $55 million. The company expects to smelt 24,000 tonnes of unalloyed aluminium. Bosnian aluminium smelter produces 130,000 tonnes of primary aluminium annually and 30,000 tonnes of alloyed ingots. The company had asked state-level government to put an end to the import tax on unalloyed aluminium in order to reduce cost of production and boost productivity. The government of Bosnia's Federation owns 44% of Aluminij, small shareholders own another 44% and the Croatian government holds...
However, primary ingot prices are trending high at the end of the year despite higher inventory in China. Trading is closed today due to the New Year Holiday. Average A00 ingot price stands at RMB 14,700 per tonne today and expected to move within a range of RMB 14,680-14,720 per tonne. Spot discount is set to widen further to RMB 400-360/t. Aluminium ingot price in the South China market is trending the highest at RMB 14,880/t. The last updated A00 ingot prices in the major Chinese markets can be seen in the following table: Spot Alumina price has seen some substantial increase in 2017. This has been one of the reasons behind the growth of primary ingot prices in the country. Alumina price trend in China in 2017 can be seen in the following table. Increasing deficit in ex China world in...
The last week of 2017 gave LME aluminium strong upward momentum lifting up to a high not seen since March 2012. Open interest has also increased to 690,000 lots from 662,000 mt, while the SHFE-LME ratios moved lower to around 6.7. The aluminium contract in LME which started from the lows of US$1,700 per tonne in the beginning of this calendar year to US$2,175 per tonne in October closed at US$ 2241.50 per tonne on Friday, December 29, slightly down from US$2246. As on December 29, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,241 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,241.5 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,250.50 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,251 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,288 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,293 per...
Alcoa’s recently-sold smelter at Portovesme has already found a private-sector buyer, as Swiss firm Sider Alloys is on the cusp of closing a deal to purchase the plant from the Italian government. Per industry media, Sider Alloys is planning to close the transaction by mid-February. The assets of Alcoa Italy will still pass through the hands of the Italian government’s investment branch Invitalia, but it will remain the possession of the state only briefly. According to the union source, the state designed the sales plan in this manner in order to shield Alcoa from responsibility for an incoming investor’s potential failure at reviving the business. This is the first time a deal has been carried out in this manner by the Italian government. Though no sales figures were released, it is a...
SHFE aluminium is following the movement of its western counterpart and growing despite the growing inventories in China. According to SMM statistics, offsetting all the efforts of winter capacity cut, China’s social inventory of refined aluminium including SHFE warrants surged to near-10-year high at 1.76 million tonnes on Thursday December 28. This was up 22,000 million tonnes from a week ago. However, primary ingot prices are trending high despite higher invenotory. Today’s increase in A00 ingot price in the major Chinese markets can be seen in the following table: Average A00 ingot price stands at RMB 14,700 per tonne today and expected to move within a range of RMB 14,680-14,720 today. Spot discount is set to widen further to RMB 400-360/t. Aluminium ingot price in the South China...
LME aluminium is nearing a stupendous 2017 close. The light metal contract which has been seen rising from the lows of US$1,700 per tonne in the beginning of this calendar year to US$2,175 per tonne in October closed at US$2,246 per tonne yesterday, December 28. The bullish trend is influenced by improved marginal demand in the international market. This is expected to add positions today. Technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium will rise further and stay strong at US$2,255-2,290 per tonne on Friday, December 29- the highest in last 12-month period. Source: www.lme.com As on December 28, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,245 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,246 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,256 per tonne,...
One of the reasons China’s total aluminium capacity has not seen a substantial drop despite the winter cut is because China’s smelters are making use of ‘capacity swap quotas’. While announcing winter closure, smelters were directed to close excess/unused capacity or sell it as a quota to others seeking to expand. Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note. “While the strategy constrains capacity growth and boosts the industry’s utilisation rate, it is likely to see China’s total output lift too.” According to SMM senior analyst Liu Xiaolei there would be little impact on the capacity of primary aluminium in Binzhou, Shandong province even though the city was said to have exceeded its allowed capacity. The smelters used the capacity swap quotas and the total capacity remained almost same. On...
Alcoa, a global industry leader in bauxite, alumina and aluminium products, announced that the company will release its fourth quarter and full-year 2017 financial results on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Alcoa will also host conference call that day at 5:00 p.m. ET to review its financial results. The live webcast of the conference call can be accessed at www.alcoa.com. Roy Harvey, President and Chief Executive Officer and William Oplinger, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer will host the conference call to discuss the results. The press release with financial results, and a related presentation, will be available on the “Investors” section of Alcoa’s website, www.alcoa.com. A link to the press release will also...
Weak alumina prices have not much affected the primary ingot prices in China as the A00 ingot prices have seen another rise across all markets today. Average A00 ingot price stands at RMB 14,380 per tonne today and expected to move within a range of RMB 14,360-14,400 today. Christmas trading holiday in LME has temporarily improved the market in China lifting the aluminium prices. The momentum of average A00 ingot price in last one month can be seen in the following graph. SMM predicted SHFE aluminium would test the RMB 15,000/t level, trading at RMB 14,700-15,000/t. Spot discount, on the other hand, is set to go deeper at RMB 370-330/t today. However, in the short and medium term aluminium prices in China would be under pressure because of growing inventory despite the capacity cut...
The Dak Nong Aluminum Company has produced 501,000 tonnes of aluminium from its Nhan Co AluminIum Plant so far this year. The Dak Nong Aluminum Company is a part of the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin). The Dak Nong Aluminum Company has earned approximately 185 million USD from aluminium exports in 2017. The company expects to produce 580,000 tonnes of aluminium in 2018. The plant was constructed with total cost of VND16.8 trillion (739 million USD) with a designed capacity of 650,000 tonnes of aluminium per year. It was operational in November, 2016 at Nhan Co industrial park. Most of the products are sold to Japan, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong (China), Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland.
LME aluminium opened higher on the first day of trading after Christmas Holidays. The global macroeconomics remaining positive, the light metal contract rose by 2.9 per cent from the previous week’s close at US$2,137 per cent to US$2,199 per cent on Wednesday, December 27. Technical analysis suggests that the rise in LME aluminium will continue and the contract will break above US$2,200 per tonne mark today. Shanghai Metals Market forecasts that LME aluminium will trade at US$2,230-2,260 per tonne range on Thursday, December 28. As on December 27, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,199 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,199.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,207 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,209 per tonne, Dec1 Bid...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), one of the world’s leading aluminium smelters in Safety and Health, is proud to announce the significant safety achievement of 5 million work-hours without Lost Time Injury (LTI) by its Line 6 Smelter on Sunday, December 24, 2017. Commenting on this accomplishment, Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray, said: “We, at Alba, are proud of our Safety Culture. The 5 million work-hours without LTI is a further testament of Alba’s commitment to a zero-injuries work environment. I express my gratitude and appreciation to the Line 6 Owner’s Team and contractors for achieving this milestone together. As we congratulate ourselves on this sound Safety performance, we must remain focussed on maintaining the same momentum as we progress with Line 6 Expansion...
Indian market put up a good show during end-of-the-day trading hours on Tuesday, December 26, after a lacklustre performance throughout the day. Despite the uptrend in the market, aluminium prices on Multi Commodity Exchange fell by 0.5 per cent to INR 138.90 per kg. Speculators were seen limiting their exposure to trading the light metal contract on the bourse as demand was tepid in the spot market. Global cues were weak too to provide adequate support to MCX aluminium. Source: www.moneycontrol.com Aluminium contract for December delivery was down by 0.5 per cent to INR138.9 per kg in a business turnover of 589 lots. Analysts opined that offloading of position by participants owning to weak demand from the end user industries and in the physical market alongside weak trend in the...
Aluminium contract traded on London Metal Exchange is expected to see some corrections in the short term once the bourse resumes trading after the Christmas Holidays toady. LME aluminium increased steadily last week and closed at US$2,137 per tonne on Friday, December 22. Technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium will trade at US$2,155-2,195 per tonne on Wednesday, December 27, raising the benchmark price by 1.77 per cent. A weaker US dollar is set to provide some support to LME aluminium. SME and SHFE Aluminium Price Trend The benchmark aluminium price on Shanghai Metal Exchange has retraced the earlier highs of US$2,174 per tonne today rising from US$2,150 per tonne on December 26. On Shanghai Futures Exchange, SHFE aluminium price movement on December 26, as updated by Shanghai...
Without much support from alumina prices and due to low consumption at the year end, primary aluminium price in China has plunged again to stand at a level slightly above RMB 14,000 per tonne. A00 ingot prices have dropped to RMB14,130 per tonne on December 26 from RMB 14, 420 per tonne yesterday. The price is expected to range within RMB 14,110 – 14,150 per tonne. Spot discounts are expected to be deeper at a range of RMB 320-280 yuan/mt. The fall continues in all the individual markets registering a drop ranging from RMB 245 to 315 per tonne. Currently, the average price of A00 ingot is trending the highest in the South China market at RMB 14,275/t. The below table shows the price drop in the other major Chinese markets: As a ripple effect of lower primary aluminium price, aluminium...
LME has registered some substantial growth last week at the start of the holiday season with the benchmark LME prices rising above US$ 2130/t. LME aluminium closed at US$ 2137 per tonne on Friday December 22 registering a growth of 1.4%. Trading was closed on December 25 due to Christmas holiday. As on December 22, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$ 2136 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$ 2137 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$ 2153 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$ 2153.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$ 2193per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,198 per tonne. LME aluminium Opening Stock or the LME aluminium inventory level stands at 1104950 tonnes, slightly down from the last closing. Total Live Warrants is 891525...
As a part of the industry and its associates, we all know about the exceptional performance of aluminium as a metal in 2017. LME aluminium has seen one of the most positive years reaching the highest in five years. China has moved the market with its decision to cut coal, alumina and aluminium capacity. But how well do we know that? The series of developments that shaped the entire aluminium value chain over 2017 cannot really be seen independently as they are part of a bigger dynamics that actually shaped the momentum of the industry. Aluminium as an industry cannot be complete without its raw materials and semi-finished and finished products and so are the developments that have taken place in the value chain. AlCircle, being an aluminium ecosystem has been covering the industry...
The Smelter Plant of National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), located at Angul, has bagged the National Energy Conservation Award in Aluminium Sector for the year 2017. On behalf the company, Dr. P K Pradhan, Regional Manager (Northern Region), NALCO, received the award from Shri Abhay Bakre, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, at the National Energy Conservation Award ceremony held in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Hon’ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, graced the National Energy Conservation Day celebrations as the Chief Guest. Besides, Shri Raj Kumar Singh, Hon’ble Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy was also present on the occasion. It may be mentioned here that NALCO has always given importance to energy conservation through its...
