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....
Grow with
AL Circle
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) has announced production and sales result for the nine months of 2018. Its total sales volume reached 750,202 tonnes, up by 7 per cent Year-over-Year (YoY), compared to 700,629 tonnes in the same period previous year; while production volume increased by 8 per cent YoY to reach 762,952 tonnes during January- September period. Alba has reported a flat growth in its sales and production volume wherein total sales and production volume stood at 248,970 tonnes and 251,472 tonnes respectively, according to company press release. The company has closed the third quarter and the nine months of 2018 with value-added sales averaging 60 per cent and 59 per cent respectively. In the first half of 2018, total production was 511,480 tonnes in comparison to 453,395...
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, says the Akufo-Addo –led administration is bent on moving away from exporting the country’s resources in their raw forms. Speaking ahead of the UK-Ghana Investment Summit scheduled in Accra from October 15-16, the Minister said, adding value to resources before export is the way forward and Ghana is looking to explore the many opportunities Brexit offers to export products to the UK. “We are looking to develop our aluminium industry and the statistics are quite stunning because bauxite in its raw form is about $40 a tonne, you move to alumina and it becomes $400 a tonne, you move to aluminium and it is about $2100 a tonne, you move to tertiary and it is about $6,000 a tonne. “So the new Ghana is adding value to our resources before exporting so we are...
LME aluminium lost all its previous gains and settled at US$2,105 per tonne last Friday night after Brazil’s environment ministry granted authorization to utilize press filter technology that could allow Hydro Alunorte refinery to restart the operation at 50 per cent of capacity. After reaching the highest on last Thursday, the aluminium cash contract closed at US$ 2140 per tonne on October 5, down from US$ 2243.5 per tonne on October 4. Shanghai Metals Market expects LME aluminium to face pressure from a strong US dollar on robust economic data. Its trading range is set at US$2,080-2,140 per tonne. As on October 5, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2139.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2140 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2150 per tonne,...
After a week-long National Day holiday in China, Shanghai Metals Market research team presents an update on the primary aluminium inventory. According to the data shown, the inventories across eight major Chinese consumption areas have grown due to fewer-than-expected cargoes arrival at warehouses. Stocks, including SHFE warrants, have increased by some 14,000 tonnes from Thursday, September 27, to stand at 1.604 million tonnes, as of today, October 8, 2018. In Wuxi and Jiangsu, the inventory stood at 685,000 tonnes while that in Shanghai and Nanhai, Guangdong at 358,000 tonnes and 239,000 tonnes, respectively. For more details about the current status of primary aluminium inventories, refer to the chart below: According to SMM research, the A00 aluminium ingot price also came back with a...
LME aluminium started the week and the month of October with a gain. Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange gained significantly to close at US$ 2047.50 per tonne on Monday October 1. LME aluminium prices climbed more than 4 per cent and to their highest in nearly five weeks on Wednesday October 4 after the news broke that Norsk Hydro would halt production at its Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil as the bauxite residue deposit area 1 (DRS1) is almost in its full capacity, due to the ban on using the press filter and the newly developed bauxite residue deposit area (DRS2). This generated fear of alumina supply disruption in a market that was already tight. The aluminium cash contract closed at US$ 2243.50 per tonne on October 4, the highest in the week. After reaching the...
Tomago Aluminium says the electricity grid is at “crisis point” after power shortages this week led to it shutting off its potlines for an hour at a time to keep the state’s lights on. Its power supplier, AGL, says Tomago voluntarily reduced its electricity load as part of its commercial supply contract but the smelter, which uses 12 per cent of the state’s power, says it had no choice in the circumstances. The power shortage arose after shutdowns of various units at the Bayswater, Liddell and Vales Point power stations, as well as restrictions on the transfer of electricity from Victoria, because of demand from South Australia. Tomago lost a third of its power on Tuesday night and Thursday night and the Australian Energy Market Operator – which oversees the National Electricity Market –...
News of full curtailment of production at Norsk Hydro’s Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil spurred a 4.5% spike in the three-month aluminium price, pushing it to an intraday high of US$2,267 per tonne, its highest level since June. Aluminium prices rally in LME started consolidating at the close of trading on Thursday October 4 and the three-month aluminium price closed 1.6% lower driven by a strong US dollar index. The aluminium cash contract closed at US$ 2243.50 per tonne yesterday, up from US$2166.50 per tonne on October 3. As on October 4, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2243 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2243.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2250 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2251 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$...
South Africa's aluminium exports logged a growth over the last three years. South Africa’s exports of aluminium in 2017 grew 14 per cent from the previous year. South32’s Hillside aluminium smelter in Richards Bay, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, has been single-handedly producing the primary metal for domestic market as well as shipping ingots to the international customers. Hillside Aluminium smelter uses alumina imported from South32’s Worsley Alumina operation in Australia. According to recent estimates, in 2016, South Africa exported 511697 tonnes of aluminium in 2016, which increased to reach 583145 tonnes in 2017, an increase of 71448 tonnes from the previous year. In 2018, the country is estimated to export around 622244 tonnes of aluminium to the global market, up 7 per cent...
LME aluminium prices climbed 3 per cent and to their highest in nearly five weeks on Wednesday after the news broke that Norsk Hydro said it would halt production at its Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil, generating fear of tighter alumina supply. Aluminum outperformed all other base metals while China market is off trading due to for a week-long National Day holiday. The contract closed trading at US$2166.50 per tonne on Wednesday October 3. Reaching an intraday high of US$2,181 per tonne, the three-month aluminium price is now trading at its highest level since June 2018. As on October 3, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2166 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2166.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2175 per tonne, 3-months offer price is...
Indonesia’s primary aluminium producer PT Inalum (Persero) has exported 20,000 tonnes of aluminium ingots to Trafigura Pte. Ltd, in Port Klang, Malaysia. President- Director of Inalum Budi G. Sadikin said the export of aluminium ingots to Malaysia is a real step to make the company a leading global company. The company’s exports, especially aluminium ingots, are expected to stand at 40,000 tonnes in 2018 worth US$79 million. The export destinations are Japan, Switzerland, Singapore, Britain, Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Netherlands. "This export of aluminium ingots to Malaysia is a concrete step to make Inalum a leading global company. In the future, Inalum is expected to be able to bring Indonesia as one of the global players in the aluminium market," said Budi G....
LME aluminium started the week and the new month with a gain and closed at US$ 2047.50 per tonne on October 1. The contract gained further to close at US$2080 per tonne on October 2. Aluminium inventories in London Metal Exchange have been falling at an unforeseen speed. LME on-warrant aluminium stocks, metal not earmarked for delivery, are currently at their lowest since January 2006 at 608,050 tonnes. Though analysts are suspicious about whether the fall is as much to do with the exchange’s warehousing function as with market reality, it is also apparent that the aluminium prices are again picking up; despite the fact the market will not remain tight in the short and medium term. As on October 2, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2079.50 per tonne, LME official settlement...
Premiums for Japanese aluminium shipments for the October to December quarter were set at $103 per tonne, down 22 percent from the previous quarter, as Asian spot premiums fell amid ample supply, four sources directly involved in the pricing talks said. The new premium compares with the $132 per tonne premium in the July to September quarter and follows three quarters of rising premiums. Japan is Asia’s biggest importer of aluminium 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. “We’ve settled with all of our Japanese customers at $103 a tonne,” a source at a producer said. “All contracts were signed at $103 per tonne last week after producers made a compromise to come down as...
NALCO CMD Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand disclosed a new business plan on Monday, October 1, 2018, to increase company’s 3-digit profit figure to 4-digits and 4-digit turnover to 5-digits. Under the new business plan, the company intends to put a complete focus on business excellence so as to turn into a hardcore business organisation. While the company has already achieved 4-digit figure at INR 1342 crore in 2017-18, it now aims to achieve more than Rs.1600 crore in 2018-19. Chand said: “With the emergence of the 4th Industrial Revolution, Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Robotics, Augmented Reality etc would be the trendsetters and NALCO is all set to lead this revolution. The new technology: Industry 4.0 will bring in a substantial reduction in capital investments and Indian...
After closing the last week with a drop, LME aluminium started the week and the new month with a gain. Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange gained significantly to close at US$ 2047.50 per tonne on Monday October 1. As on October 1, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2047 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2047.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2063.50 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2064 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2115 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price stands at US$ 2120 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock dropped further and quicker to 987800 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at 616575 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 371225 tonne. LME aluminium 3-months Asian Reference Price is hovering at US$ 2050...
According to an Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development & Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) official statement, Iran’s major aluminium producers produced 151,691 tonnes of aluminium during the five-month period from March 21 to August 22, registering a growth of 10 per cent from the same period of 2017. IMIDRO data registered an aluminium output of 137,473 tons during the five-month period of 2017. Last month, Deputy Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Mehdi Karbasian announced that a large aluminium production plant with a capacity of 300,000-tonne per year will be put into operation in the south of Iran by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2019). The plant will be the largest and most modern aluminium production plant in Iran. Karbasian added that...
The dollar climbed to a two-week peak versus a currency basket on Friday, as concerns about the Italian budget weighed on the euro while the greenback drew support from an outlook for multiple US interest rate hikes until 2020. LME base metals ended in mixed performance on Friday, September 28. Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange dropped further to close at US$ 2011.5 per tonne on Friday, September 28, from the previous day’s close at US$ 2030 per tonne on Thursday September 27. As on September 28, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2011 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2011.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 2033 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 2034 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2087 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer...
The Trump administration formally turns down India’s urge for an unconditional exemption from the US aluminium and steel tariffs, reported Commerce Ministry officials to the BusinessLine . A meeting, led by Assistant US Trade Representative Mark Linscott, was held early this week in Washington with Commerce Ministry officials, where it was decided that no exemption from higher duties on aluminium and steel would be extended to India. If India wants to resolve the matter, then it should come up with a counter proposal of capping its metals exports . Though Washington had been indicating it was not in favour of giving exemptions, New Delhi had been pushing for a complete unconditional rollback. Yesterday, on September 27, Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan said India was not foreclosing any...
The dollar notched the largest daily increase in close to seven weeks against a basket of other major currencies on Thursday, boosted by the Federal Reserve's outlook for more rate hikes beyond this year as well as a weakening of the euro on worries about the Italian budget. LME aluminium was dragged down by its SHFE counterpart and the contract closed lower from the previous day at US$ 2028 per tonne on Thursday. Then it plunged further to a low of US$2,025 per tonne overnight, after it rebounded to US$2,060 per tonne. It settled at that lowest level overnight, with trading range expected at US$2,025-2,045 per tonne today. As on September 27, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 2028 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 2030 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands...
