1. Macro perspective The US-Iran conflict entered its second week. After the escort coalition intervened, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz partially recovered, but war risk insurance rates remained elevated. Brent crude pulled back from a high of USD 101 to consolidate around USD 95, with energy cost support weakening from earlier levels but not yet fading. The US Fed delivered a 25bp rate hike at its September FOMC meeting, and the dot plot indicated one more hike may still occur this year. Chair Warsh struck a hawkish tone in his post-meeting remarks, and the US dollar index held at a 13-month high. Next week, attention turns to China's official PMI on September 30, as well as US PCE and non-farm payrolls data during the National Day holiday—with China's market closed for seven days...
According to data released by the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC), China's total primary aluminium imports reached 185,500 tonnes in August 2026, down 14.65 per cent year-on-year but up 0.16 per cent month-on-month. Total imports for January-August amounted to 1.66 million tonnes, a decrease of 3.41 per cent year-on-year. The 14.65 per cent year-on-year decline in August imports, coupled with a nearly flat month-on-month performance, indicates that imports have not collapsed but rather maintained a steady inflow. In August, China's total primary aluminium exports stood at 21,900 tonnes, down 14.53 per cent year-on-year and 30.48 per cent month-on-month. Cumulative exports for January-August totalled 167,500 tonnes, up 9.26 per cent year-on-year....
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Sanjeev Gupta’s global GFG Alliance has inaugurated Liberty Aluminium Dunkerque, Europe’s largest smelter, declaring its intention to expand into France’s industrial supply chain. GFG purchased the smelter for around US$500 million from Rio Tinto in December last year. GFG aims to make the 570-worker plant the hub of a manufacturing supply chain providing materials and components for French industry, particularly the automotive sector. The smelter currently produces 285,000 tonnes of primary aluminium per year. Mr Gupta also announced that Liberty Wheels France, already a major customer of the Dunkerque smelter, has won it first major contract since the London-headquartered Alliance took over the plant in May last year. GFG Chairman and CEO, Sanjeev Gupta said: “Our aim is to make this...
With the biggest number of US jobs created in 11 months for January and a rebound in US manufacturing, the US dollar index held stable on Friday. Mild wage inflation, shown in the US nonfarm payrolls, kept the dollar's gains in check. LME base metals traded mixed on Friday. LME aluminium dropped 1.7%. Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange dropped to close at US$ 1872.5 tonne on Friday, February 1. As on February 1, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1871.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1872.50per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1892.50 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1893 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2037 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price stands at US$ 2042 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock decreased to...
The US dollar index fell in the beginning of the week. The dollar extended its loss on Monday after US President Donald Trump decided to extend a March 1 deadline for additional tariffs on Chinese goods, suggesting progressive trade negotiations between the two countries. It rebounded from earlier lows on Thursday, after US data showed growth in the world's largest economy was stronger than expected in the fourth quarter. Both LME and SHFE base metals traded mixed over the week. LME aluminium touched its highest on February 27 at US$ 1898.5 per tonne. News on full production recovery of Hydro’s Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil buoyed the market. The prices then consolidated towards the end of the week and stood at US$ 1890.50 per tonne on Friday March 1. The contract is expected to...
Rio Tinto's BC Works smelter and Kemano Power Operations in British Columbia, Canada, have been certified for responsible production by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI). The company’s aluminium operations in Canada have all been certified to the industry’s highest standards for responsible production, sourcing and stewardship of aluminium. Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive Alf Barrios said "We are committed to leading the industry by meeting the highest international production standards and having ASI Certified Aluminium available to our customers globally, to respond to the increasing demand from end consumers for responsibly sourced products. "This is an essential step to unlock the full potential of aluminium as a key material in our modern world and grow its use in...
Chinese state-owned company China Hongqiao Group announced on Friday, February 1, that it would gradually recommence aluminium production from some of its pots after the shorter set of winter output curbs expired on January 31, 2019. During the winter heating season in November 2018, China Hongqiao Group was asked to close up its annual aluminium smelting capacity. The city of Binzhou in Shandong province, where all of Hongqiao’s 6.46 million tonnes per year of aluminium capacity is located, reportedly listed pot closures at five Hongqiao smelting facilities in a document outlining winter restrictions. Some of the closures which had a total production capacity of 8.5 per cent of that of Hongqiao’s were to cut production for December and January instead of the full four-months winter...
According to a report by Business Standard, Vedanta intends to cut down its aluminium production cost to US$1,700 per tonne from the current cost of US$ 1,900 per tonne. Per the report, the company aims to do this by the end of the financial year. Ajay Dixit, chief executive officer (CEO) of Vedanta’s aluminium and power vertical, said: “We are putting in place a plan to reduce our production cost by the end of this year. The work to this effect has already started.” Vedanta expects that this production cost cut will improve the viability of its aluminium business, especially in the backdrop of recent softening of metal prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME). The LME price of aluminium in April 2018 was at US$2,600 per tonne and now came down to US$1,870 per tonne by January-end of...
The US dollar index recovered on Thursday as the euro slid against the greenback after Jens Weidmann, the Bundesbank president and a member of the European Central Bank Governing Council, painted a bleak picture of the German economy, saying the country's slump will last longer than thought. LME base metals traded higher across the board on Thursday. LME aluminium inched up 0.08% and SHFE aluminium grew 0.2%. LME aluminium closed Thursday's trading at US$ 1880.50 per tonne. LME aluminium jumped past the 60-day moving average to a day-high of US$1,924 per tonne on Thursday before it lost most of those gains to end below the 60-day moving average at US$1,906.5 per tonne. SMM expects the contract to trade at US$1,890-1,920 per tonne today. LME aluminium is expected to see relatively weak...
The Aluminium Corp of China (Chalco) announced on Wednesday, January 30, that it was implementing “flexible production” on about 200,000 tonnes per year of capacity at its Shandong Huayu facility. High electricity tariffs, environmental restrictions, and market environment are some of the factors that prompted the Beijing-based state-owned company for this action. Shanndong Huayu Aluminium and Electricity, with capacity of 220,000 tonnes per year suspended all output on Wednesday, SMM learned. The plant’s capacity of 100,000 tonnes per tonne operated after production cuts in December and November. Huayu’s capacity cut of 50,000 tonnes per year in November was included in Chalco’s announcement of 470,000 tonnes capacity cut on November 30. Chalco had said to the Shanghai Stock Exchange...
Emirates Global Aluminium announced the successful completion of a $6.5 billion term loan facility with a group of leading global and regional banks. Danny Dweik, EGA’s Chief Financial Officer, said: “This refinancing is another major step in the implementation of our capital structure strategy. Building on the previous transaction in 2015, this transaction further consolidates our debt at the EGA level, and strengthens our credit profile. Going forward, EGA will strive to further fortify its balance sheet and diversify its sources of financing.” The term loan facility amends, extends and upsizes the company’s existing $4.9 billion term loan facility agreed in December 2015 and will also be used to fully repay a $1.8 billion term loan facility extended to EGA’s subsidiary Dubai Aluminium...
Social inventories of primary aluminium across eight major consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, came in at 1.378 million tonnes as of Thursday January 31. This marked a growth of 75,000 tonnes from Thursday January 24, Shanghai Metals Market data showed. For the same period, stocks in Wuxi, Jiangsu and Hangzhou, Zhejiang rose by 24,000 tonnes and 14,000 tonnes to stand at 513,000 tonnes and 131,000 tonnes. Stocks in Nanhai, Guangdong and Gongyi, Henan increased by 29,000 tonnes and 8,000 tonnes to stand at 211,000 tonnes and 127,000 tonnes. The below chart indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across China: Most downstream consumers began their Chinese New Year break and this accounted for the increase in primary aluminium inventories.
Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley on Wednesday called on the Trump administration to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico before Congress begins considering legislation to implement the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal. The three countries on Nov. 30 signed the pact replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which governs more than $1.2 trillion in trade. The agreement must be approved by the U.S. Congress and Canadian and Mexican legislators before becoming law. “Unfortunately, our producers are unlikely to realize the market access promises of USMCA while the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico remain,” Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement. His committee is...
The US dollar fell to a low not seen since January 11 after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady as expected and sounded caution on the economy and future interest rate increases. LME aluminium rose 0.4% and SHFE aluminium nudged up 0.04%. LME aluminium closed Wednesday's trading at US$ 1871 per tonne. Shanghai Metals Market is expected to trade rangebound at US$1880-1919 per tonne today. As on January 30, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1870.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1871 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1889 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1890 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2038 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price stands at US$ 2043 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock decreased to 1289775 tonnes....
Aluminium has been the most talked-about non-ferrous metal in the year 2018 for many reasons. New tariffs, sanctions, trade wars on one hand; and developments and expansions on the other across the entire value chain emerged as non-avoidable circumstances in the year gone by. To start with, the temporary closure of Hydro’s Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil and uncertainties surrounding U.S. sanctions on Rusal pushed up alumina price sky high driving the export market and boosting profits for integrated aluminium producers. Joining this, the levy of 25 per cent US tariffs on imported steel and 10 per cent on aluminium pushed the benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange to its highest in almost 7 years at US$2602.5 per tonne in April 2018. Well, if the prices saw some...
According to The Financial Express report, India is likely to defer the levy of retaliatory tariffs to another 30 to 45 days from the revised deadline of January 31, 2019. This will be the fifth time that India would postpone its tit-for-tat duties worth close to US$235 million on 29 American products. New Delhi had initially planned to impose the retaliatory tariffs from August 4, 2018, but later on postponed to September 18, in a bid for the two nations to find a mutual solution. The Government then again deferred the deadline to November 2 and December 17. The Indian Government is repeatedly extending the tariffs deadline with an expectation to keep a tariff war between the two countries from flaring up, at least temporarily. Washington already raised the stake in its trade war against...
LME base metals traded mixed on Tuesday and aluminium rose 1.6%. SHFE base metals performed similarly overnight and aluminium gained 0.5%. LME aluminium closed Tuesday's trading at US$ 1853 per tonne. After hovering in a tight range above the daily moving average during Asian trading hours, the contract broke through the 10-, five- and 40-day moving averages to a high of US$1,901 per tonne during European trading hours. It finished Tuesday night higher at US$1,898 per tonne, and is expected to trade rangebound at US$1,880-1,905 per tonne today. As on January 29, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1852 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1853 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1875 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1875.50 per tonne; Dec 19 bid...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, Shandong Weiqiao Group reduced its prebaked anode purchasing prices by RMB 140 per tonne for February after it cut prices for January by RMB 1300 per tonne. This brought February’s purchasing prices to RMB 3,320 per tonne in cash and RMB 3,355 per tonne on acceptance. The prebaked anode price in east China market, however, remained the same at RMB 3,495 per tonne, as on January 30, 2019. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 3,395 per tonne and RMB 3,595 per tonne. The pre-baked anode price in the east China hovered at this price throughout the month of January, with no intermittent drops or rises. On the other hand, the A00 aluminium ingot price rose today, January 30, by RMB 70 per tonne to stand at RMB 13,360 per tonne, SMM found. The...
Shanghai Metals Market found that decline in primary aluminium prices today, on January 29, has fuelled purchasing enthusiasm among downstream consumers and triggered spot aluminium transactions across east-China as a result. The front-month aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange pared some overnight losses earlier in the morning, but later lost those gains. Spot discounts in Shanghai were seen at RMB 60 per tonne to RMB 50 per tonne against the SHFE 1902 contract, compared to RMB 70 per tonne to RMB 60 per tonne as on Monday, January 28. In Shanghai, Wuxi and Hangzhou, spot transactions were at RMB 13,290 per tonne to RMB 13,300 per tonne, which indicates that traded prices fell some RMB 120 per tonne from Monday morning. With arbitrage opportunities, traders were keen to...
A delegation of 6 equipment manufacturers and technology suppliers from Québec’s aluminium value chain and AluQuébec, the apex business cluster of Québec in the aluminium sector, is visiting India from 28 th January to 3 rd February, 2019. The 6 companies having wide-ranging expertise in the primary production and transformation of aluminium are Advanced Dynamics, Comaintel, Groupe EDS, Mecfor, Masteria Solutions and Stas. The objective of their visit is to meet with leaders from the Indian aluminium sector to better understand local industry requirements and identify partnership opportunities. The said companies will visit Jharsuguda, Lapanga, Hirakud, Angul and Bhubaneshwar. In the final stage of its visit to India, the delegation will be present at Kiosk B-36 at the Aluminium India and...
