South32 expects the sale of its aluminium value chain assets to Alcoa to be completed in the six months ending June 2027. The proposed transaction covers its aluminium operations and related bauxite and alumina assets in South Africa, Australia and Brazil. The sale follows a binding conditional agreement signed by the two companies, under which Alcoa agreed to acquire the assets for up to USD 5.6 billion . The assets include South32's Hillside Aluminium smelter and the idled Bayside smelter in South Africa, its interests in the Boddington bauxite mine and Worsley alumina refinery in Australia, and the Mineração Rio do Norte bauxite mine and Alumar alumina refinery and aluminium smelter in Brazil. Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our...
LME aluminium cash prices recorded an increase on November 5, 2026, with the cash offer price rising by 0.80 per cent day on day to USD 3,160 per tonne from USD 3,135 per tonne on November 4. On November 5, the LME aluminium cash bid price stood at USD 3,158 per tonne, up by 0.75 per cent from USD 3,134.5 per tonne recorded on November 4. The cash offer price increased by USD 25 per tonne. Similarly, LME aluminium 3-month prices moved higher. The 3-month bid price rose by 0.78 per cent to USD 3,097 per tonne on November 5 from USD 3,073 per tonne on November 4. The 3-month offer price increased by 0.76 per cent to USD 3,097.5 per tonne from USD 3,074 per tonne. For December 27 contracts, the bid price advanced by 0.33 per cent to USD 2,997 per tonne on November 5 from USD 2,987 per tonne...
Grow with
AL Circle
According to reports cited by Reuters on Sunday, 16 th April, the three aluminium projects have been stopped in Xinjiang in western China. The reason mentioned is due to breaking laws. The authority halted construction in order to curb capacity expansion. The aluminium projects have a production capacity of 2 million tonnes. The state-owned China Securities Times reported this on Sunday. It cited a post on the government website of Changji County in Xinjiang dated on April 14. According to the post, Xinjiang East Hope Ferrous Metals Co. Ltd., Xinjiang Qiya Energy Aluminium Electric Co. Ltd. and Xinjiang Jiarun Resources Co. Ltd. are behind the three aluminium projects. However, the officials from these three companies have not commented yet on halting of the aluminium projects. The report...
The London Metal Exchange market will remain closed on Monday, April 17, for the Easter Holidays. LME aluminium that ended the week last Friday, April 14, on a volatile note is expected to keep diverging this week. As on April 13, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,889.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,890 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,902 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,902.50 per tonne, Dec1 buyer price is US$1,943 per tonne, and Dec1 seller price is US$1948 per tonne. The current LME official Opening Stock of aluminium is estimated at 1759850 tonnes, total Live Warrants is 1099250 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrant is 660600 tonnes. LME aluminium premiums remain unchanged at their previous levels across major global markets. As on April 12,...
More than 500 industry leaders and decision makers from around the world to converge in Muscat Sohar Aluminium has announced that it will host the 21st edition of the prestigious Arab International Aluminium (ARABAL) Conference and Exhibition in the Sultanate of Oman. The conference will take place from 6th to 9th November 2017 at the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa in Muscat. This year’s conference agenda will focus on “Driving Strategic Growth Across the Global Aluminium Industry”. Since it’s inauguration in 1981, ARABAL has grown in both size and prestige and is today considered the premium platform for the aluminium industry in the Arab world. Hosted on a rotational basis, this event comprises of a strategic conference, an international exhibition, workshops and meetings...
Primary aluminium industry this week was abuzz with news of big companies merging to create leading global entities, aluminium smelters signing technology partnerships with automation giants, and India showing strong aluminium demand prospects for the long-term. Here’s a review of the news that made an impact in the world of aluminium: Aluminium Bahrain ( Alba ) announced that it has resumed all power operations after power outage happened at its complex on April 5. The company said it expects to suffer a loss of 3% to 5% of its total production for 2017 due to this incident. Reduction Lines 1-4 are operating at normal levels though Reduction Line 5 is running partially and is expected to be fully operational by early Q3 2017. The company safely managed through the incident with no...
What drives aluminium producers' earnings up? There are many factors such as optimized cost of production, shipment cost control initiatives, raw material procurement and logistics, inventory management; but of all factors it is the price of the metal that has the biggest impact. The higher the aluminium prices, the better are the earnings. And based on this simple correlation, Alcoa expects that its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) for 2017 will rise US$226 million for every increase in aluminium prices by US$100 per tonne. Aluminium prices have built on 2016 gains and have risen 14.7 per cent in 2017, vis-a-vis a 13.4 per cent rise in 2016. Over the last one week the lightmetal has lost some ground and declined below US$1,900 per tonne. However,...
Vedanta Ltd, the mining subsidiary of the UK-listed Vedanta Resources that recently completed its merger with Cairn India, will get an access to $4 billion of cash and another about $700 million a year from the merger, said S&P Global Ratings. The fund will allow Vedanta Ltd to repay its US$9 billion debt. "In our view, the merger will improve the cash flow fungibility within Vedanta Ltd by simplifying the group structure to some extent. However, it will not change Vedanta Resources' financial metrics nor will it materially improve cash flow fungibility between Vedanta Ltd and the holding company Vedanta Resources," S&P said in a statement recently. "Vedanta Ltd would get access to about $4 billion of cash at Cairn India and its free operating cash flows, which we estimate to be about...
LME aluminium comes down below US$1,900 per tonne as the US dollar index representing greenback's strength against a basket of six major currencies edges higher. The lightmetal contract closed at US$1,890 per tonne on Thursday, April 13, down 0.89 per cent from its previous close of US$1,907 per tonne on Wednesday, April 12. Financial markets in the US, UK and European countries will close on Friday and resume trading next Tuesday, April 18. Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) forecasts that LME aluminium will hover at US$1,890-1,900 per tonne on Friday, April 14. As on April 13, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,889.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,890 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,902 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,902.50 per tonne, Dec1...
The Bahrain-based global aluminium smelter Alba experienced a power station outage on Wednesday April 5, 2017. The company had faced a temporary loss of power in all five Reduction Lines for approximately 3 hours. The company has restored all power operations. Due to the power outage, the company is expecting a loss of 3 per cent to 5 per cent of its total production for 2017. The losses from the incident will be part of an insurance claim, the company said in a statement. Reduction Lines 1-4 are operating at normal levels though Reduction Line 5 is running partially and is expected to be fully operational by early Q3 2017. The company safely managed through the incident with no injuries. The Company is conducting an investigation into the root causes of this power outage. The recovery...
Outotec has agreed with Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (ALBA) on the design and delivery of anode rodding shop facility for ALBA's aluminium smelter expansion in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The parties have agreed not to disclose the contract price, but this is the largest order for Outotec in close to two years. The order has been booked in Outotec's 2017 first quarter order intake. Outotec is to deliver fully equipped anode rodding shop as well as bath and butts material recycling facility. The scope of delivery includes process engineering, proprietary and other process equipment as well as procurement and construction. Once operational this will be the world's most modern rodding shop. ALBA is now expanding their annual production capacity from about 971,000 metric tonnes to 1.5 million tonnes...
Chinese-controlled Yancoal has won the approval of Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) to purchase Rio Tinto's Hunter Valley coal mine involving a $US2.45 billion ($3.2 billion) investment in New South Wales. Yancoal said the FIRB approval was “a critical milestone”. The deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2017. Yancoal said that FIRB had no objections buying Coal & Allied Industries, the Rio Tinto subsidiary which owns majority shares in the Hunter Valley, Mount Thorley and Warkworth coal mines. Yancoal chief executive officer Reinhold Schmidt commented: “Today’s FIRB approval is a positive step forward for Yancoal, its shareholders and the Hunter Valley, demonstrating the Australian Government’s support for continued investment into the local...
LME aluminium is swinging in a tight range. The lightmetal which has been showing sideways movement of late closed unchanged at US$1,907 per tonne on Wednesday, April 12. Reuters' analysis says LME aluminium may edge up to US$1,930 per tonne, as it has pierced a resistance at $1,914. However, the bearish divergence on the daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) suggests that the contract could head further south-ward. As per Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) forecast, LME aluminium is likely to move at US$1,891-1,922/mt on Thursday, April 13. The volatility in LME aluminium price is in normal inverse correlation with the US dollar index showing steady uptrend since last week Monday. As on April 12, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,906.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement...
CME Group has announced that it intends to close its London-based derivatives exchange and clearing house, CME Europe and CME Clearing Europe, by year-end 2017. During the coming months, CME Group will work closely with all market participants and regulators to ensure a smooth transition and an orderly wind down of business operations, including the provision of CME Group market alternatives for actively traded products on CME Europe. “While Europe continues to be a critically important and expanding market for CME Group, with average volumes of more than 2.6 million contracts per day from European clients during 2016, our customers have shown that they prefer to access our global products, deep liquidity and greater capital efficiencies through our U.S. Infrastructure,” said William...
Vedanta Limited and Cairn India Limited have announced that the merger of Cairn India with Vedanta has become effective from today, April 12 2017. Based on CY 2016 reported EBITDA of diversified natural resources companies globally, Vedanta is ranked #6 among the global diversified natural resources companies and the only one with majority of its sales to the Indian market. This merger consolidates Vedanta’s position as one of the world's largest diversified natural resources companies, with world-class, low-cost assets in Metals & Mining and Oil & Gas. The merged company will have a larger pro forma market cap of $15.6 billion and higher free float of 49.9% and one of the strongest balance sheets. As a premier natural resources company, the newly merged company is committed to enhancing...
The aluminium futures contract traded on India's Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) lost ground after scaling a high of INR 125.7 on Monday April 10. The increase was basically a bounce back from last week's decline when the contract tested support at INR 124 on Friday, April 8. MCX aluminium is facing a strong resistance around INR 128 per kilogram and is projected to hover around INR 124 in the near-term. This is 3.1 per cent down from last Tuesday's trading price when MCX aluminium touched a high of INR 128 per kg. Market analysis suggests the broader range of INR 122-130 that has been defining MCX aluminium since January remains intact. There is a possibility that the contract might decline to INR 122 within this range; a breakout from this range, on either side, will decide the next...
Vedanta Resources releases production report for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year ended 31 March 2017 and registers record annual production for the aluminium segment. Commenting on the results, the present Chief Executive Officer, Tom Albanese said: "In line with our strategic priority to ramp up production at our Zinc, Aluminium, Power and Iron Ore businesses, I am happy to say that we have achieved strong results on this front during the year." Vedanta reports a record aluminium production of 353,000 tonnes in Q4 FY 2017, registering a growth of 11% QoQ and 56% higher YoY. This was attributed to production ramp ups at the Jharsuguda-II and BALCO-II smelters which are taking place on schedule, following the pot outages during 2016. The complete potline is expected to stabilize in the...
The slide in LME aluminium price continues. The lightmetal which closed at US$1,929 per tonne on Monday, April 10, dipped by 1.11 per cent to close at US$1,907.50 per tonne after night trading on Tuesday, April 11. The price fall is in line with Reuters' analysis which said that LME aluminium may slide to US$1,914 per tonne on Tuesday, as it is evident from its wave pattern and Fibonacci projection. According to Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) forecast, LME aluminium will escalate during Asian trading hours moving in the range of US$1,913-1,950 per tonne on Wednesday, April 12. As on April 10, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1907 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,907.50 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,918.50 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,919 per...
The giant Tomago aluminium smelter has put itself forward as a foundation customer for any low emissions coal-fired electricity generator to be built in the Hunter Valley as it warns continued power supply instability and rising prices threatens its future. With the plant accounting for 12 per cent of NSW’s electricity consumption, a commitment from Tomago would help underwrite any new power plant. Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg and Resources Minister Matt Canavan have both floated ultra-supercritical coal-fired power stations as potential solutions to stabilise the energy grid and drive down emissions. A question about the role for low-emissions coal technologies was also included in the national energy market security review being conducted by Chief Scientist Alan Finkel....
National Aluminium Company (Nalco), a central government-owned entity, is set to join the club of million-tonne producers in the segment by 2020. It has readied about INR 25,000 crore of investment to expand its aluminium, alumina and power capacities. In the country, Hindalco and Vedanta have metal capacities of over one million tonnes (mt) a year. Nalco’s smelter at Angul can now produce up to 0.46 mt annually. “A fifth pot line with capacity to produce 0.6 mt will be added to the existing four. The cost of the project is INR 12,000 crore. Normally, such work would take 3.5-4 years to complete; we are trying to complete it within three years,” said a top official. It has also initiated steps to augment its power generation and alumina production, to support the metal capacity expansion....
