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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A00 ingot prices in China drop across all markets driven by poor consumption and increasing stock. The capacity cut till date has not been able to change the inventory scenario substantially till date. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, average A00 aluminium ingot price has dropped further to RMB 15,310/t on November 14 from RMB 15,360/t yesterday. The steady drop in A00 ingot prices can be seen in the graph below: As per latest data released by State Statistics Bureau, in October China’s primary aluminium output drops 7.5% to 2.55 million tonnes on yearly basis. The figure from January to October is 27.23 million tonnes, up 3.7% on yearly basis. The figure is down 2.3 percent from 2.61 million tonnes in September 2017 and from 2.73 million tonnes in October, 2016. The drop in...
LME aluminium edged higher and retraced US$2,100 per tonne on Monday, November 13 as dollar index remained flat. The light metal contract has been following a downtrend since November 3 when it touched US$2,165 per tonne. LME aluminium has declined 3 per cent since then. It is projected that LME aluminium will rise within a limited range before testing resistance at US$2,125 per tonne in the near term. As on November 13, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,099 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,100 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$2,158 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,163 per tonne. LME aluminium Opening Stock or the LME aluminium inventory...
National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) posted its financial results for the second quarter ended September 2017. The company achieved net profit of INR 235 crore, from INR 121 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal. Nalco’s net sale was INR 2420 crore in July- September quarter, from INR 1695 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year. Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand, CMD of Nalco said, “The market harvesting in alumina segment and focus on cost reduction have helped us improve our profitability. When the global metal market was in the slump cycle, NALCO maintained its resilience and faced the international downturn with courage by ramping up production.” For the half year ended September 2017 , the company’s net profit and gross sales turnover was at INR 364 crore and INR...
Rusal’s revenue for the three months ended September 30 was US$2,460 million, compared to US$2,060 million for the third quarter of 2016. Vladislav Soloviev, CEO of RUSAL, said: “In 3Q2017 RUSAL set another record in sales of value added products with the latter reaching 50% in total sales for the first time. The Company remains committed to its sales and marketing strategy and is on track to increase its share of VAP in the product mix to 60% by 2021.” For the nine months ended September 30, the company’s revenue rose to US$7,224 million from US$5,956 million in the corresponding period previous year. The increase was driven by “recovery in the LME aluminium price in the nine months of 2017 by 22.6% to an average of USD1,924 per tonne as compared to USD1,569 per tonne in the nine months...
Concluding this year’s three-day Arab International Aluminium Conference & Exhibition (ARABAL), 200 delegates toured Sohar Aluminium’s facilities to get a first-hand look at the company’s ever growing production capacity, cutting-edge technology, environmental stewardship, and rigorous safety standards. Sohar Aluminium is Oman’s first Greenfield smelter and the fourth largest primary aluminium manufacturer in the Middle East and North Africa. Sohar Aluminium has reinforced its position as the leader of Oman’s metals and expanding industrial sector, attracting international investment to the Sultanate and successfully trading across the globe. Delegates praised the high level of transparency demonstrated by a team of experts from Sohar Aluminium who explained each stage of the aluminium...
A press release from Bureau du Québec à Mumbai confirms that a delegation of four Quebec aluminium companies and AluQuebec, the apex business cluster of Quebec in the Aluminium sector is in India for the period from 9th to 15th November 2017 to meet Indian aluminium majors and to discuss new business opportunities with the fast growing economy. The four companies having expertise in technologies for primary processing of Alumina and aluminium are Advanced Dynamics, Equibras Inc, Stas and Solutions Fonderie Services Métallurgiques Inc . They would like to meet the leaders of Indian aluminium industry and identify possibilities of working together after understanding the requirements of the aluminium industry. The delegation consists of the following executives: Mr. Francois Audet, Director...
LME aluminium slid below US$2,100 per tonne mark last week due to subdued demand and strong dollar. The light metal contract ended slightly higher on Friday, November 10, at US$2,090 per tonne, rising from US$2,078 per tonne on November 9. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may end this bounce around a resistance at US$2,125 per tonne, and then retrace its current lows. A drop around US$2,097.50 per tonne could indicate at a further extension of the downtrend towards US$2,046, while a break above US$2,125 per tonne could lead to a gain to US$2,148 per tonne in the near term. As on November 10, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,089 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,090 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is...
According to a Reuters report, LME aluminium showed some upward movement on Friday and was on a positive territory, the metal is set to face the worst week since May 2016 from Monday. The fall is primarily driven by growing aluminium output in China despite the capacity cut plans and execution. Speculative investment flows subsided on caution over less than expected Chinese capacity cuts. Benchmark aluminium bid price on the London Metal Exchange was at USD 2,089 and offer price was at USD2090 a tonne. The metal fell to its lowest since Sept. 15 on Thursday at USD 2,078. “In China, it looks like the actual policy translation is not as strong as initially expected,” said ETF Securities’ Nitesh Shah. He added that smelters were not cutting as much capacity as initially expected. The market...
Global aluminium producers are likely to experience solid financial recoveries in the year ahead, following years of financial austerity, as prices remain elevated, global research firm BMI said on Tuesday. This would result in targeted acquisitions of specific, value-added aluminium producers and a modest uptick in spending, the firm added. BMI noted, however, that owing to a government-led push for consolidation in China and overleveraged Western firms looking to offload assets, the rising value and quantity of international aluminium merger and acquisition (M&A) activity will face regulatory headwinds. Deals are set to increasingly run into regulatory setbacks, as the Chinese government looks to contain rising debt in the economy and the US government prioritises domestic production...
LME aluminium after having risen to US$2,188 per tonne in a month has caught on a down trend. Due to subdued demand in China and a more or less plateaued consumption in rest of the world, the light metal has given up its gain and gradually heading towards US$2,046 per tonne support. From US$2,103.50 per tonne on Wednesday, November 8, it came down to close at US$2,078 per tonne on Thursday, November 9. There are high possibilities that LME aluminium will break below the support at US$2,046 per tonne and head for further losses in the near term. As on November 9, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,077.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,078 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,091.50 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,092...
A00 ingot prices in China drop across all markets driven by poor consumption and increasing stock. The winter capacity cut has not been able to change the scenario substantially till date. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, average A00 aluminium ingot price has dropped RMB 260/t from RMB 15,690/t on November 8 and stands at RMB 15,490/t today. A00 ingot prices have been hovering much below RMB 16,000/t mark for a long time. The drop in A00 ingot prices can be seen in the graph below: Aluminium alloy prices continue to drop in China keeping pace with steady drop in aluminium ingot prices. No new orders have been registered in November. In East China’s spot market aluminium is trading at a discount of RMB 50-10 per tonne. According to SMM the latest average price of Aluminum Alloys...
Norsk Hydro ASA announced on Tuesday that its fully owned subsidiary Hydro Energi AS entered into a long-term contract with Markbygden Ett AB to supply power to company's aluminium plants. Markbygden Ett AB, a Swedish wind power company, will provide an annual baseload supply of 1.65 TWh in the period from the beginning of 2021 to the end of 2039. Hydro said that this agreement will commence after the existing long-term power contract with Norwegian state utility Statkraft expires in 2020. “Markbygden Ett AB is developing an onshore wind park located west of Piteå, in the northern of Sweden, and is owned by GE Energy Financial Services and Green Investment Group Limited, part of Macquarie Group Limited,” Hydro said. “The wind park is a part of the larger Markbygden wind farm project...
LME aluminium, as projected, dropped to US$2,103.50 per tonne on Thursday, November 8, after testing support at US$2,148 per tonne. The light metal which closed at US$2,131 per tonne on Wednesday, November 7, has declined by 0.03 per cent till date from its latest high of US$2,188 per tonne on November 1. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may break a support at US$2,081 per tonne. There is a possibility that the contract will break below this support level as well and fall further towards the next support at US$2,046 per tonne in the near term. Source: www.lme.com As on November 8, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,103 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,103.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,118...
Aluminium Bahrain B. S. C. (Alba) is a key participant in the 21st International Arab Aluminium Conference & Exhibition, ARABAL 2017, that is being hosted by Sohar Aluminium from 06 to 09 November 2017 at the Shangri-La Bar Al Jissah, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Held under the Patronage of His Highness Sayyid Harib bin Thuwaini Al Said, Assistant Secretary General of the Council of Ministers for Conferences, Sultanate of Oman, the conference agenda is structured to focus on the “Driving Strategic Growth across the Global Aluminium Industry”. Held on Tuesday November 07, 2017, the opening ceremony of ARABAL 2017 was attended by Alba’s Chairman of Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa and Alba’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Murray, Deputy Chief Executive Officer...
According to the latest report from Aluminium Association, aluminium net shipments including exports by domestic U.S. and Canadian facilities stood at an estimated 987500 tonnes during September, off 5.6 per cent from the September 2016 total of 1 million tonne. Shipments of aluminium mill products decreased 1 per cent to 670000 tonnes YoY. Shipments of aluminium ingot for castings, exports and destructive uses were off 14 per cent YoY to 635 million pounds. Through the first three quarters of 2017, preliminary producer shipments stood at 9 million tonnes, slightly more in comparison to the same period of 2016. September inventory levels stood at an estimated 1.5 million tonnes, up 1.6 per cent over the previous month and an increase of 7.2 per cent YoY. Domestic primary aluminium...
Aluminium prices were marginally higher by 0.18 per cent to INR 139.90 per kg in futures trade today as speculators created fresh positions amid improved demand in the spot market. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in November inched up by 25 paise, or 0.18 per cent to INR 139.90 per kg in business turnover of 727 lots. Similarly, the metal for delivery in December traded higher by 20 paise, or 0.14 per cent to INR 140.45 per kg in 94 lots. Analysts said fresh positions built up by participants after uptick in demand from consuming industries in the physical market mainly influenced aluminium prices at futures trade.
LME aluminium is likely to enter consolidation before it rises again. The light metal contract upon testing a support at US$2,148 per tonne fell to US$2,131 per tonne after night trading on Tuesday, November 7. The earlier close was at US$2,152 per tonne on November 6. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may break a support at US$2,125 per tonne and drop further to the next support at US$2,103 per tonne in the near term. As on November 7, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,130 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,131 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,150 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,150.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,195 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,220 per tonne. LME aluminium...
Under the auspices of H.H. Sayyid Harib bin Thuwaini Al Said, Assistant Secretary General of the Council of Ministers for Conferences, Sohar Aluminium, kicked-off the 2017 Arab International Aluminium Conference (ARABAL). Running through November 9th, 2017, the event welcomed over 550 attending delegates from 35 countries and 64 industry leading speakers from a cross-section of industries, to share their insights on the challenges and opportunities around the aluminium industry. After the official inauguration of the event by H.H. Sayyid Harib bin Thuwaini Al Said, Assistant Secretary General of the Council of Ministers for Conferences, a series of high profile remarks took place. H.H. Sayyid Kamil bin Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, Assistant Secretary General for the Cabinet of the Deputy...
