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...
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LME aluminium maintained a fairly steady uptrend last week. The lightmetal which started the week at US$1,908 per tonne on Monday, March 20, ended at US$1,917.50 per tonne on Friday, March 24. The rise was moderate at 0.49 per cent over the past seven days. Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) says LME aluminium will continue its rising momentum this week as well. The contract after meeting resistance at US$1,940 per tonne on Friday is expected to keep testing US$1,940 per tonne on Monday, March 27. As on March 24, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,917 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,917.50 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,929.50 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,930 per tonne, Dec1 buyer price is US$1,965 per tonne, and Dec1 seller price is US$1,970...
Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco), a state-controlled leading producer of alumina and primary aluminium in China, reported its full-year result for the financial year ended 31 December, 2016. The aluminium giant's net profit more than doubled for the year under review. This marks the second straight year of improved profitability for Chalco which, the producer says is attributable to the recovery in global aluminium prices and production cost cuts. Chalco, one of the world's biggest aluminium producers, posted a net profit of 402.5 million yuan (US$58.5 million) in 2016, up from 148.6 million yuan (revised) in 2015, it disclosed in a filing with the Shanghai stock exchange. In the context of the improved global non-ferrous metal market, Chalco said it expects to leverage upon...
LME aluminium leapt to US$1,913 per tonne on Thursday's night trading reversing its temporary dip at US$1,910 per tonne on Wednesday as positions and trading volumes improved. However, market watchers believe that the contract has somewhat shed its rising strength. According to Reuters' analysis, LME aluminium is biased to break below a support at US$1,916 per tonne and fall towards the next support at US$1,891. Shanghai Metals Market foresees range-bound trading for the metal with a short-term uptrend. It says LME aluminium will move at US$1,920-1,950 per tonne on Friday, March 24. As on March 23, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,912 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,913 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,922.50 per tonne, 3M seller price is...
Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of metal & mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources, has made an announcement today that National Company Law Tribunal has approved the merger of Cairn India Limited with Vedanta Limited. It is to be noted that the equity shareholders of Vedanta Resources, Cairn India Limited and Vedanta Limited approved the Scheme of Arrangement of Cairn India Limited with Vedanta Limited in September 2016. The scheme was then subjected to the approval of the jurisdictional High Courts and other regulatory approvals. According to Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Resources plc, “the simplified corporate structure will better align interests between all shareholders for the creation of long-term, sustainable value.” “With our focus on simplifying the group structure, the Vedanta...
The Middle East is marching ahead to emerge as the next biggest aluminium market in the world after the U.S. and China. From being an exclusively oil-based economy it has already grown on to establish itself as a key producing region in the global aluminium map. With five of the GCC’s principal aluminium producers manufacturing 5,229,115 tonnes of primary aluminium in 2016 it now constitutes 10 per cent of the total world production. Of the total GCC's aluminium production, 40 per cent is utilised by the downstream aluminium industries in the Gulf while the rest 60 per cent is exported to different parts of the world. {newsStudioGallery} Total export of aluminium (alloyed and non-alloyed ingot) from the Middle East has grown at a moderate rate over the last two years. International trade...
According to a Platts report, the second-quarter aluminium contract premium has settled at $128 per tonne plus London Metal Exchange cash CIF Japan between a Japanese buyer and an aluminium producer, up 35% from $95 per tonne plus LME cash CIF Japan in Q1. The producers first offered $135 per tonne plus LME cash CIF Japan, which settled down at $128 per tonne after negotiation. The deal that was agreed upon was for the supply of over 500 ton of P1020A aluminium ingot per month for the period from April to June 2017. According to Platts’ buyer sources, a second producer has also agreed to a premium at $128 per ton plus LME cash CIF Japan, but there have been no official confirmation from the producer. Five major aluminium producers and 10 to 15 Japanese buyers have been in negotiations...
The Asian countries are going slow with their coal-based power project expansion plans. A recent report titled 'Boom and Bust 2017: Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline' says Asian super powers China and India have frozen 68 GW of coal power plant construction at over 100 sites across the two nations. When viewed in the context of the rising prospects of renewable energy, this trend seems to be driven in the right direction. The survey also divulged a parallel trend of ongoing over-investment in coal projects in India. These investments invariably indicate towards a potential waste of capital over the time, the authors of the report- Sierra Club, Greenpeace and Coalswarm opines. It has been found that there has been a significant 48 per cent drop in the overall pre-construction...
Shandong Qixing Group Co., Ltd, an aluminium producer in China has suspended operations of its 130,000tpy aluminium smelter and is planning to halt operations at its 500,000 tpy alumina refinery due to heavy debt burden, as reported by Aladdiny, a Chinese information provider. The report also says that the company might consider re-starting production in six months if the market conditions turn favourable. Huge debts have become a serious issue in the Chinese aluminium industry recently as many producers borrowed heavily to expand capacity. Such random capacity expansion has also contributed towards drop in global aluminium price pushing those smelters towards loss. As an aftermath of such huge borrowing in the market, credit of all kinds dried up, causing a drop in investment in the...
The continuous rise in LME aluminium prices came to a halt as the falling crude oil prices in Asia weighed on the lightmetal contract traded globally. Aluminium prices on the bourse dropped 0.41 per cent from its previous close of US$1,918 per tonne on Tuesday, March 21 to US$1,1910 per tonne on Wednesday, March 22. Reuters' technical analysis infers LME aluminium is neutral in a range of US$1,916-US$1,937 per tonne, and an escape could suggest a direction. According to Shanghai Metals Market forecast, the effect of crude oil prices on aluminium will be only marginal and the contract will keep moving higher in the short term. LME aluminium is expected to move at US$1,910-1,940 per tonne on Thursday, March 23. As on March 22, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,908...
President Donald Trump said on Monday, March 20 that he was preparing new executive actions to save coal mining in the U.S. and put miners back to work. "As we speak we are preparing new executive actions to save our coal industry and to save our wonderful coal miners from continuing to be put out of work. The miners are coming back," Trump told in a rally in Louisville, Kentucky, without giving any further ddetails. It is to be noted that coal miners turned out in huge numbers for the 2016 US election. Along with manufacturing workers, coal miners came to represent the condition of working-class white Americans. Donald Trump even donned a hard hat at one rally in West Virginia as a symbol of coal mining. There is a new sense of optimism among the coal miners mostly from coal mining towns...
Hindalco Industries, the metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, is planning to commission a 24 Megawatt solar power plant in Odisha, reported sources aware of the matter. The INR 150-crore project will come up at the company's aluminium smelter-power plant site at Lapanga in Sambalpur district. The solar power generated will be utilized by Hindalco for metal production under renewable purchase obligation (RPO). The leading aluminium producer has approached the Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol) for approving the project. The investment promotion agency has sought regulatory clearance Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Gedcol), the source added. Gedcol is the nodal agency responsible for implementing renewable energy projects...
The rising momentum in LME aluminium is continuing. The light metal which crossed the US$1,900 per tonne mark on Friday last week again rose on Tuesday's night trading to close at US$1,918 per tonne, up 0.52 per cent from its previous day's close of US$1,908 per tonne. Reuters observes LME aluminium is neutral in a range of US$1,916-$1,937 per tonne, and an escape could suggest a direction. As per Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) forecast, the contract will move at US$1,915-1,950 per tonne on Wednesday, March 22. As on March 21, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,916 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,918 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,929.50 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,930 per tonne, Dec1 buyer price is US$1,963 per tonne, and Dec1 seller price...
As reported by Platts, China’s MIIT projected a surge in the China’s production of nonferrous metals such as copper, aluminium, lead and zinc by 4.8% YoY in 2017. The rise is equal to 55.37 million tonnes. This announcement was made by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in a recent post. According to the MIIT’s projection, aluminium would lead the primary targets among other nonferrous metals as the China government has always listed aluminium together with steel, coal, glass and cement. MIIT also stated that for the nonferrous metals sector, excess capacity cuts, and restructuring, optimization and concentration of metals producers in China would remain among the core tasks for this year. The ministry did not provide any further information on it. Last year, the ministry...
Power prices for the aluminium producers in China's Guizhou province will be raised by 0.07-0.08 yuan per kilo watt hour (kwh) from April this year, reported industry sources. The decision is seen by the industry watchers as a logical one since coal has become costlier over the past six months. Power prices, after the hike, will increase to 0.36 yuan /kwh for Guizhou aluminium producers. Shanghai Metals Market estimates the hike will take power costs at the at Guizhou aluminium smelters to 900-1,200 yuan per tonne leading to escalating losses at current aluminium prices. At present, the total aluminium capacity in Guizhou stands at 940,000 tonnes, which accounts for approximately 2.16 per cent of China's total aluminium output of 43.50 million tonnes in 2016. Since 80 per cent of the...
LME aluminium has cleared a support at US$1,916. The contract inched higher during Monday's night trading hours closing at US$1,908 per tonne, up 0.36 per cent from the previous close of US$1,901 per tonne. Reuters observes LME aluminium is now up for a fall to US$1,891 per tonne- the next support and an immediate target. As per Shanghai Metals Market forecast, the lightmetal will move in the range of US$1,910-1,930 per tonne on Tuesday, March 21, "hurt by other weak metals." As on March 20, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,907.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,908 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,923 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,924 per tonne, Dec1 buyer price is US$1,957 per tonne, and Dec1 seller price is US$1,962 per tonne. The...
In a recent update, India's Adani Enterprises said it would finalise the investment decision for its Carmichael coal project in Australia by June. The project has been delayed for last five years due to protests from environmental groups. The proposed mine in the northern state of Queensland is expected to export coal to India. The environmentalists felt that the project will require a mega-port expansion into the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area to export the huge amount of coal to India. Gautam Adani, chairman of the company said that he expected the project to materialize and the board would take a final decision on investments in May or June, including structure and planned funding. Adani said during an interaction with media that their “internal planning is 2020…(for) first...
Coal India's subsidiary Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) is planning to invite an expression of interest for coal-to-liquid (CTL) project which the company proposes to embark upon, as reported. Coal to liquid means converting coal into liquid fuel that can be used as automobile fuel. It can also be used as an alternative for imported petroleum oil. Coal India's Chairman Sutirtha Bhattacharya said, "Central Coalfields is planning to embark on a coal-to- liquid project in Chatra district (Jharkhand). We have authorised them to invite expression of interest." Coal India has already submitted an expression of interest for pre-qualification of licensers for changing coal to chemical for coal based methanol plant at Dankuni, West Bengal. While attending a meeting on coal quality organised by the...
Chairman of Vedanta Resources, Anil Agarwal announced his plans to buy as much as $2.4 billion or 13 per cent of Anglo American Plc shares in the market after a failed merger proposal last year. The purchase will make Agarwal the second-largest shareholder after South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. The purchase will take place through a mandatory exchangeable bond issued by Vedanta’s holding company, Volcan Investments, and secured by Anglo’s shares, a statement confirmed on Wednesday. “It gives him an extremely good seat at the table if there is going to be any corporate activity,” said Jeremy Wrathall, head of mining research at Investec Plc. “We expect that M&A is going to be the next phase and maybe this is firing the starting gun.” Anglo’s stock performed the best performing stock...
