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 touched record highs since the beginning of 2016 during Wednesday's night trading only to come down a little (-2.7 per cent from the previous closing at US$1,805 per tonne) and close at US$1,800 per tonne. According to Shanghai Metals Market forecast, the contract will move within the range of US$1,810-1,835 per tonne on Thursday, January 19. The faltering oil prices and the looming uncertainty on the U.S. Federal Reserve before Donald Trump assumes his office in another 48 hours are seemingly impacting the base metals market. As on January 18, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,800 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,800.5 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,798 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,798.5 per tonne, Dec1 buyer price is...
The Aluminum Association commended remarks today by Secretary of Commerce nominee Wilbur Ross on the continued impact of Chinese overcapacity on the domestic steel and aluminium industries. In response to a question from Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ross argued that the “fundamental problem” in the market today is in China’s overproduction of metal. Wilbur Ross made the comment while testifying before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on his nomination to serve as secretary of commerce in the Donald Trump administration. Aluminum Association President & CEO Heidi Brock commented: “We deeply appreciate Secretary-designee Ross’s understanding of the Chinese overcapacity crisis and the fundamental challenge it is creating for the full aluminium value chain. We look...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) announced Monday that it has awarded GE Power, a division of GE, an order for a turnkey combined-cycle power plant, including three HA gas turbines that it will install to power the world’s largest single-site smelter. With this order GE Power gains first ever entry to the Gulf with its H-Class turbines. In fact, this project will mark the first ever use of H-Class turbines in aluminium smelting in the entire world. For GE, winning of this order from Alba carries further significance as the multi-year agreement (MYA) it has entered with the Gulf company through it represents the first MYA for HA gas turbines in the Gulf region. Commenting on the development Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray said, “GE and GAMA Consortium have a proven track record...
Collectively the five Aluminium primary producers (EGA (UAE), Alba (Bahrain), Ma’aden Aluminium (KSA), Qatalum (Qatar) and Sohar Aluminium (Oman) have produced 5,229,115 tons of primary Aluminium in 2016. “During 2016 GCC Aluminium smelter and downstream have been going through disciplined productivity improvement and cost cutting initiatives, while maintaining key competitive advantage of having most sophisticated facilities to produce a variety of value added products for local and international market. At the same time preserving its leadership position of high environmental standards, compared to the rest of the world”, Said Mr. Daylami, Secretary General, Gulf Aluminium Council. GCC Aluminium production constitutes 10 per cent of the total world production and is considered one of...
LME aluminium price rise met resistance on Tuesday as the contract slid marginally by 0.38 per cent to close at US$1,805 per tonne after night trading yesterday. Prior to this LME aluminium has been rising for 6 days at a stretch. The marginal drop which is indicative of a short-term range-bound trading is in correlation with Monday's falling oil futures after exports from Iraq reached record highs and US drilling activity rose sowing doubts over the effectiveness of a proposed output cut by the OPEC. Shanghai Metals Market says LME aluminium will leave its rising momentum behind and hover in the range of US$1,788-1,810 per tonne on Wednesday, January 18. As on January 17, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,575 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,585...
Leading mining and minerals development company Rio Tinto released its fourth quarter production results today. Aluminium production logged a ten per cent year-over-year growth, with record per annum metal production at ten of its smelters. The recently modernised and expanded Kitimat smelter, which has been producing at its nameplate capacity since April 2016, yielded significant production results in the period under review. The quarterly production results at seven of its smelters accounted for a seven per cent rise in production vis-à-vis the production reached in the corresponding period previous year. Rio produced 925,000 tonnes of aluminium in Q4 2016, which is more than seven per cent higher than the production reached in the same period of previous year. The total aluminium...
South Korea is today one of the key aluminium markets in Asia with consumption of 21,5 kg per capita compared to 15+kg per capita for developed countries, mostly driven by growing end user demand in the automotive, construction and electronics and communication sector. Studies indicate that the industrial production in South Korea will grow by 5.9% per year until 2025, driving the growth of aluminium consumption in the country. As one of the world's fastest growing exporters of industrial products, South Korea imports significant amount of primary aluminium ingots to supply their local demand and export the processed aluminium products globally. Let us analyse the trading patterns for primary aluminium in South Korea to understand the market demand and consumption trends. South Korea has...
LME aluminium is continuing its rise. The contract rose for the fifth straight day to close at US$1,812 per tonne after Monday's night trading, up 1.2 per cent from the previous day. Shanghai Metals Market predicts LME aluminium will test the 5-day moving average and move in US$1,775-1,800 per tonne range on Tuesday, January 17. The contract, SMM says, has surrendered its previous gains as traders seem to be getting worried about the effect of Brexit on the UK market. As on January 16, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,811.5 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,812 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,811.5 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,1812 pe tonne, Dec1 buyer price is US$1,848 per tonne, and Dec1 seller price is US$1,853 per tonne. The current LME...
Vedanta Limited has published the production Release for the Third Quarter and Nine months ended 31st December 2016. The metal and mining major continued ramp up of Jharsuguda-II and BALCO-II smelters. The company commenced the ramp up of the third line of the 1.25 mtpa Jharsuguda-II smelter in December 2016. The company secured supply of coal from the 6mtpa coal linkages during mid-2016. Commenting on the result, Tom Albanese, Chief Executive Officer, Vedanta Limited, said: "We have made substantial operational progress during the quarter with the enhancement of production from Zinc India and the ramp up of our Aluminium capacities..." The first line of the 1.25 mtpa Jharsuguda-II smelter was impacted by a transformer failure incident. The company is continuing the repairing work and 80...
Alcoa’s aluminium smelter in Victoria has shown “progress” after Australia government offered financial assistance to the 30-year-old aluminium smelter which was damaged by a state-wide power outrage in December 2016. The smelter has been running at one-third of its 300,000-tonnes-per-year capacity since then. Australia's industry minister, Greg Hunt, and Victoria state treasurer Tim Pallas announced in a joint statement, "Significant progress has been made over the weekend, with great demonstrations of good faith from all parties working to find a solution for the future of the Portland smelter." Alcoa and AGL Energy, which provide power to Alcoa’s aluminium smelter, confirmed on Monday, in an up-to-date discussion that the smelter has made progress. However, they did not divulge any...
The Indian government announced Friday, January 13, that it is considering imposing a minimum import price (MIP) on aluminium. The MIP will help check excess cheap aluminium imports from the international market that have been hurting the bottomlines of the domestic primary producers. Balvinder Kumar of Mines Secretary commented: "The government is considering imposing MIP on aluminium… Either on this Monday or Tuesday, the Mines Ministry will send its recommendations to the Commerce Ministry." In August 2016, Aluminium Association of India met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seeking government action against cheap imports in the form of an MIP on aluminium. According to a report that they produced later, made by Mecon Engineering and MIP would help protect them from the onslaughts of cheap...
According to a Wall Street Journal report, $25 million worth of aluminium has been seized by U.S. customs officials. As sources says the stockpile may be linked to a Chinese billionaire accused of dumping cheap aluminium across the world. This is a significant step taken by federal authorities probing the activities of U.S. companies connected to Chinese aluminium magnate Liu Zhongtian in relation to the allegations that the companies are helping the Chinese aluminium major to avoid large chunk of tariff by routing the metal through other countries. In October 2016, the Wall Street Journal reported that Homeland Security and the Justice Department were investigating the matter and the agents questioned former employees of companies associated with Mr. Liu. The aluminium has become crucial...
LME aluminium has been increasing steadily over the last few days. On Friday, after night trading, the contract closed at US$1,790.5 per tonne, inching higher by 0.13 per cent from the previous closing of US$1,788 per tonne on Thursday. Shanghai Metals Market predicts LME aluminium will keep rising higher on Monday, January 16, and will move in the range of US$1,810-1,830 per tonne. A fluctuating US dollar index near the lows is responsible for the rise in base metals. “The dollar now fluctuates at lows, and this will support base metal prices, but with possible declines technically,” SMM says. Iraq has also confirmed cut in oil output. So, crude oil prices will expectedly rise higher supporting the accelerating base metals on the bourse. As on January 13, LME official cash buyer price of...
The Aluminium Association of Canada (AAC) intends to review the United States filing at the WTO regarding Chinese subsidies to its aluminium industry, and views the focus on the issue as a positive step. "We welcome the use of the WTO dispute resolution system to initiate a fact-based examination of the concerns of the global aluminium industry and its workers regarding the significant oversupply of aluminium production in China", said Jean Simard, President and CEO of the AAC, adding that "the issues here are complex and the process is lengthy. The AAC will therefore take time in order to assess its implications for our Canadian industry". While China's overcapacity has and continues to have a considerable impact on the aluminium market, a fact-based examination is in the interests of...
Eurasian Resources Group said on Monday January 9 that its Kazakhstan Aluminium Smelter JSC (KAS) has produced more than 235,000 tons of primary aluminium in 2016, exceeding the annual production target. Since the inception of plant, this was plant’s highest production volumes in the history of plant in nine years. KAS, the only aluminium producer in the Republic of Kazakhstan, has an aluminium capacity of 250 thousand tons per year. In 2016, the plant ran at 94% of its design capacity with an increase of 6.3% over 2015. According to plant’s figures, per reduction cell averaged 2,446 kilograms of primary aluminium. While attaining this huge jump in production, the company also brought down the electrical consumption from 13,460 kWh to 12, 746 kWh. The achievement was possible by lowering...
Base metal prices including aluminium are expected to be buoyed up by falling dollar on Friday, Shanghai Metals Market predicts. LME aluminium price is constantly trending higher to close at US$1,788 per tonne on January 12 and it is expected to hover within a range of US$ 1,780-1,805 per ton on Friday, January 13. On a very positive note, LME aluminium hit the highest level in 2016 on Thursday’s night trading and relative strength index was at high. SMM predicts that LME aluminium will test USD 1,800/mt and a new market high on Friday as a result of the worry on China’s lower capacity policy of refined aluminium which is floating the market. As on January 12, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$ 1787 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$ 1788 per tonne, 3M...
Century Aluminum Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer Michael A. Bless today commended the U.S. Trade Representative’s (USTR) announcement that the United States has requested World Trade Organization (WTO) consultations with China regarding the Chinese government’s illegal subsidization of its aluminum industry. For years, the Chinese government has used its state-directed financial system and other channels to expand and maintain millions of tons of uneconomic and unnecessary primary aluminum smelting capacity. The resulting excess capacity has caused a persistent global glut of metal that has made it impossible for market-oriented producers in the United States and elsewhere to sell profitably. Smelters in the United States have been forced to shut down as a result, with...
The Obama administration is expected to file a complaint on Thursday with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against China over aluminium subsidies, as reported by Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. The world's two largest economies are expected to affect by the WTO complaint, since President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office next week to cut U.S. trade deficits with China as a top priority. The U.S. Trade Representative's office will file official complaint for allowing cheap loans from Chinese banks as well as giving subsidized electricity, coal and alumina to Chinese Aluminium manufacturer. According to sources, these subsidies will help to increase china’s aluminium production further and harm American aluminium companies and their workers. In October 2016, two U.S....
