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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The Dak Nong Aluminum Company has produced 501,000 tonnes of aluminium from its Nhan Co AluminIum Plant so far this year. The Dak Nong Aluminum Company is a part of the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin). The Dak Nong Aluminum Company has earned approximately 185 million USD from aluminium exports in 2017. The company expects to produce 580,000 tonnes of aluminium in 2018. The plant was constructed with total cost of VND16.8 trillion (739 million USD) with a designed capacity of 650,000 tonnes of aluminium per year. It was operational in November, 2016 at Nhan Co industrial park. Most of the products are sold to Japan, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong (China), Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland.
LME aluminium opened higher on the first day of trading after Christmas Holidays. The global macroeconomics remaining positive, the light metal contract rose by 2.9 per cent from the previous week’s close at US$2,137 per cent to US$2,199 per cent on Wednesday, December 27. Technical analysis suggests that the rise in LME aluminium will continue and the contract will break above US$2,200 per tonne mark today. Shanghai Metals Market forecasts that LME aluminium will trade at US$2,230-2,260 per tonne range on Thursday, December 28. As on December 27, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,199 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,199.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,207 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,209 per tonne, Dec1 Bid...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), one of the world’s leading aluminium smelters in Safety and Health, is proud to announce the significant safety achievement of 5 million work-hours without Lost Time Injury (LTI) by its Line 6 Smelter on Sunday, December 24, 2017. Commenting on this accomplishment, Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray, said: “We, at Alba, are proud of our Safety Culture. The 5 million work-hours without LTI is a further testament of Alba’s commitment to a zero-injuries work environment. I express my gratitude and appreciation to the Line 6 Owner’s Team and contractors for achieving this milestone together. As we congratulate ourselves on this sound Safety performance, we must remain focussed on maintaining the same momentum as we progress with Line 6 Expansion...
Indian market put up a good show during end-of-the-day trading hours on Tuesday, December 26, after a lacklustre performance throughout the day. Despite the uptrend in the market, aluminium prices on Multi Commodity Exchange fell by 0.5 per cent to INR 138.90 per kg. Speculators were seen limiting their exposure to trading the light metal contract on the bourse as demand was tepid in the spot market. Global cues were weak too to provide adequate support to MCX aluminium. Source: www.moneycontrol.com Aluminium contract for December delivery was down by 0.5 per cent to INR138.9 per kg in a business turnover of 589 lots. Analysts opined that offloading of position by participants owning to weak demand from the end user industries and in the physical market alongside weak trend in the...
Aluminium contract traded on London Metal Exchange is expected to see some corrections in the short term once the bourse resumes trading after the Christmas Holidays toady. LME aluminium increased steadily last week and closed at US$2,137 per tonne on Friday, December 22. Technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium will trade at US$2,155-2,195 per tonne on Wednesday, December 27, raising the benchmark price by 1.77 per cent. A weaker US dollar is set to provide some support to LME aluminium. SME and SHFE Aluminium Price Trend The benchmark aluminium price on Shanghai Metal Exchange has retraced the earlier highs of US$2,174 per tonne today rising from US$2,150 per tonne on December 26. On Shanghai Futures Exchange, SHFE aluminium price movement on December 26, as updated by Shanghai...
Without much support from alumina prices and due to low consumption at the year end, primary aluminium price in China has plunged again to stand at a level slightly above RMB 14,000 per tonne. A00 ingot prices have dropped to RMB14,130 per tonne on December 26 from RMB 14, 420 per tonne yesterday. The price is expected to range within RMB 14,110 – 14,150 per tonne. Spot discounts are expected to be deeper at a range of RMB 320-280 yuan/mt. The fall continues in all the individual markets registering a drop ranging from RMB 245 to 315 per tonne. Currently, the average price of A00 ingot is trending the highest in the South China market at RMB 14,275/t. The below table shows the price drop in the other major Chinese markets: As a ripple effect of lower primary aluminium price, aluminium...
LME has registered some substantial growth last week at the start of the holiday season with the benchmark LME prices rising above US$ 2130/t. LME aluminium closed at US$ 2137 per tonne on Friday December 22 registering a growth of 1.4%. Trading was closed on December 25 due to Christmas holiday. As on December 22, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$ 2136 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$ 2137 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$ 2153 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$ 2153.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$ 2193per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,198 per tonne. LME aluminium Opening Stock or the LME aluminium inventory level stands at 1104950 tonnes, slightly down from the last closing. Total Live Warrants is 891525...
As a part of the industry and its associates, we all know about the exceptional performance of aluminium as a metal in 2017. LME aluminium has seen one of the most positive years reaching the highest in five years. China has moved the market with its decision to cut coal, alumina and aluminium capacity. But how well do we know that? The series of developments that shaped the entire aluminium value chain over 2017 cannot really be seen independently as they are part of a bigger dynamics that actually shaped the momentum of the industry. Aluminium as an industry cannot be complete without its raw materials and semi-finished and finished products and so are the developments that have taken place in the value chain. AlCircle, being an aluminium ecosystem has been covering the industry...
The Smelter Plant of National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), located at Angul, has bagged the National Energy Conservation Award in Aluminium Sector for the year 2017. On behalf the company, Dr. P K Pradhan, Regional Manager (Northern Region), NALCO, received the award from Shri Abhay Bakre, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, at the National Energy Conservation Award ceremony held in Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. Hon’ble President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, graced the National Energy Conservation Day celebrations as the Chief Guest. Besides, Shri Raj Kumar Singh, Hon’ble Union Minister of State (IC) for Power and New & Renewable Energy was also present on the occasion. It may be mentioned here that NALCO has always given importance to energy conservation through its...
LME has registered some substantial growth during the holiday season with the benchmark LME prices rising above US$ 2130/t. LME aluminium registered a record high in Friday's trading and today trading closes at 12.30 ET on Christmas holiday. As on December 22, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$ 2136 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$ 2137 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$ 2153 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$ 2153.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$ 2193per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,198 per tonne. LME aluminium Opening Stock or the LME aluminium inventory level stands at 1104950 tonnes, slightly down from the last closing. Total Live Warrants is 891525 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrant is 213425 tonnes. Metals are...
Japanese aluminium buyers have agreed to pay producers a premium of $103 per tonne for metal shipped in the January-March quarter, reflecting higher spot premiums, five sources directly involved in the quarterly pricing talks said. The deals, an 8 percent to 10 percent rise from the $94-$95 per tonne premium PREM-ALUM-JP in the previous quarter, mark the first increase in three quarters. 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. The latest pricing negotiations began late last month between Japanese buyers and global producers, including Alcoa Corp, Rio Tinto, South32 Ltd and Rusal, with initial offers ranging between $110 and $118...
Alcoa Corporation, a global leader in bauxite, alumina and aluminium products, today announced decisions regarding smelting assets in the United States and Italy. The actions support the Company’s strategic priorities to reduce complexity and to strengthen the balance sheet. In the United States, Alcoa intends to permanently close its Rockdale Operations site in Texas, which has been fully curtailed since the end of 2008. The site includes a primary aluminium smelter and casthouse, an aluminium powder plant and associated buildings and equipment. Alcoa’s strategic review of these assets, announced earlier this year, concluded that these operations have limited economic prospects. Separately, the Company continues to market for sale more than 30,000 acres of land at the Rockdale site. In...
Primary ingot prices in China are hovering at a level above RMB 14000 without any strong support after falling drastically at the end of the first week of December. Average A00 ingot price has increased slightly to stand at RMB 14,290/t today from RMB 14,280/t yesterday. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, the primary ingot prices registered some increase in some domestic markets too. The price is expected to range within RMB 14270 – 14310 per tonne. The average price of A00 ingot is trending the highest in the South China market at RMB 14,385/t after registering a small increase. The below table shows the price increase in the other major Chinese markets: The high aluminium inventory in China and falling alumina prices remain a concern for the analysts and they are going to put counter...
The end of the year is seeing some substantial growth in benchmark LME prices closing at US$ 2108.50/t. LME aluminium recorded a six-week high in last night’s trading SMM expects to see rangebound trading next, at $2,130-2,160/t today. As on December 21, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2108 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$ 2108.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$ 2125 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$ 2125.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$ 2165per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,170 per tonne. LME aluminium Opening Stock or the LME aluminium inventory level stands at 1106025 tonnes, slightly down from a day earlier. Total Live Warrants is 892750 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrant is 213275 tonnes. A rising U.S....
Alro, the largest aluminium smelter in the Central and non-CIS Eastern European region has signed a partnership agreement with Quintiq, a Dassault Systèmes company and global leader in supply chain planning and optimisation (SCP&O) under which, Quintiq would provide capacity planning, inventory management and production scheduling support capabilities. A subsidiary of the world’s seventh largest aluminium producer Vimetco N.V., Alro aims to boost production and delivery performance while keeping costs low and minimising scrap generation. The company also plans to reach out to highly demanding sectors such as aerospace and automotive. Quintiq’s solutions will help Alro reach these goals and maintain its regional dominance. The company can have complete visibility over its entire supply...
Chinese coal prices, which have fluctuated between CNY550-750/t (US$83.60-114/t) in the past two years, are set to ease going forward, as it is anticipated that the country's policy makers will allow Chinese miners to increase production again in response to prices reaching the upper range of US$100/t in Newcastle. Coal producers outside China are also ramping up production, tempted by the higher prices realised in 2017. US exports have been reported to expand at the highest pace in the last five years, while in Colombia and Australia coal supply is improving. Meanwhile, seaborne demand from key importers such as China and India is anticipated to contract as domestic output expands. The resulting oversupply is expected to lower prices for seaborne coal with Newcastle prices falling from...
The uptrend in LME aluminium seems to be lacking momentum. With alumina prices declining in China domestic market (US$438 per tonne as on December 21 down from US$538 per tonne on November 21) the light metal contract is expected to rise but within a narrow range. Technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium will range at US$2,110-2,140 per tonne on Thirsday, December 21. As on December 19, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,091.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,092 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,113 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,114 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,157 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,162 per tonne. LME aluminium Opening Stock or the LME aluminium inventory level stands at 1107975...
Alro S.A. ,the largest aluminium producer in Continental Europe (except Russia and Scandinavia), has established the first dual education class in the Olt county. The project was actively supported by the Slatina Technical Metallurgic College and by the Slatina City Hall. "Alro’s long-term strategy focuses on increasing production and diversifying the range of products", says Gheorghe Dobra, Alro General Manager. "Human resources are the main asset on which this strategy is based. We need specialized employees, able to implement our expansion plans and help us penetrate new markets. And we are willing to invest in them, by helping the formation of the next generation of aluminium specialists. We are confident that the dual education program will be a success and we intend to expand it,...
