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....
Grow with
AL Circle
Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial project in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, has completed a three-year, $300 million project to replace older production lines at its Jebel Ali aluminium smelter with the company’s own UAE-developed technology, boosting production capacity and reducing costs and environmental emissions. The 520 reduction cells at Potline 1 and Potline 3 at EGA Jebel Ali were the company’s oldest and were originally built from 1979. All EGA’s 2,777 reduction cells, the swimming-pool sized tanks in which aluminium is smelted, now run on home-grown technology. EGA produces one tonne in every 25 tonnes of aluminium made worldwide and makes the UAE the world’s fifth biggest aluminium producing nation. Aluminium is the largest made-in-the-UAE export...
With the introduction of reduction plan for alumina and aluminium during heating season and tightness in coal market because of supply-side reforms, China’s aluminium price is getting strong support in the market. SMM is of the view that in the short term, with recovered consumption and production limit of aluminium ahead of schedule, inventories will drop, which will continue supporting aluminium price. The amount of rise will depend on impetus of capital. A00 ingot price is steadily moving on an upward curve on expectation of supply shortage. Average Prices of A00 aluminium ingot have registered a slight rise from RMB 16,150/t to stand at RMB 16,210/t today October 25. A00 aluminium ingot prices across all individual markets have also increased consequently. Today’s aluminium A00...
LME aluminium seems to be neutral within a wide range. The light metal contract which closed at US$2,133.5 per tonne on Monday, October 23, inched higher to close at US$2,144 per tonne on Tuesday, October 24. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may break a resistance at US$2,171 per tonne and revisit the high of US$2,199 per tonne. There is a support at US$2,154 per tonne. A break below the level could cause a loss into the current range of US$2,127-US$2,141 per tonne in the near term. But as mentioned in previous analysis, LME aluminium price trend is biased towards an upside. As on October 24, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,143.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,144 per tonne, 3M Bid Price...
A day after India’s coal ministry rejected Nalco’s claim of fuel shortage related CPP unit closure claiming that the PSU had ample supply of coal to the amount of 4.7 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), the aluminium producer said it has “not” yet cut any production at its aluminium smelter due to coal crisis. "As on date, Nalco has not curtailed any production (aluminium metal) at smelter plant due to coal crisis," Nalco said Tuesday in a Bombay Stock Exchange filing. The Navaratna aluminium company said that there is a coal issue across the nation and that the independent power plants are given priority over the captive power plants when it comes to the supply of coal. Since, Nalco sources power from CPP for its aluminium smelter plant, it has been facing such problems from close quarters....
Ge Honglin, chairman of Aluminum Corp of China or Chinalco, China’s biggest state-run aluminium producer said that consumption of aluminium is set to increase by 9-10 per cent in 2017 on the back of strong downstream demand. Aluminium demand is expected to grow faster than the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2018. The aluminium consumption is expected to be around 26.25 million tonnes in the first three quarters of 2017, up 9% YoY, with peak end-year demand yet to come. This was communicated after he represented his company in China’s 19th Communist Party congress as a delegate. Huge consumer demand, he said will open the door for healthy development of the global aluminium industry. China’s estimated GDP growth for 2017 is around 6.5 per cent this year. The International...
UC RUSAL, the leading global aluminium producer from Russia reports QoQ increase in the production of aluminium for the third quarter 2017. Rusal reported total aluminium production of 931 thousand tonnes with an increase of 1.1% QoQ. Production dynamics remained stable with a 95%capаcity utilization rate. Siberian smelters represented 94% of total aluminium output. In Q3 2017 total aluminium sales dropped 3.4% QoQ to stand at 968 thousand tonnes. The fall in aluminium sales is largely explained by increase of goods in transit due to ports/vessels availability and the realization will take place in the next period. In Q3 2017, sales of value added products (VAP) stood at 479 thousand tonnes. The company has increased the share of VAP in total sales as per strategy, which now stands at 50%...
LME aluminium failed to hold ground at/around its recent price gain and fell by 1.18 per cent from its previous close at US$2,159 per tonne on Friday, October 20. The light metal contract closed at US$2,133.50 per tonne on Monday, October 23. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium will trade neutrally in the range of US$2,127-US$2,154 per tonne, and is likely to escape a direction in the near term. A break above US$2,154 could lead to a gain to US$2,171 per tonne. If the metal manages to rise to $2,171, a bullish wedge could be confirmed and LME aluminium could revisit the high at $2,199 per tonne. The price trend seems to be biased towards the upside. As on October 23, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,132.50 per tonne, cash seller &...
Sohar Aluminium, the host and organizers of the 2017 Arab International Aluminium Conference (ARABAL), has unveiled a formidable line-up of industry leaders from around the globe for the international event. Set to be held at the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, Muscat, from 6 – 9 November 2017, ARABAL 2017 will feature a total of 12 sessions, each dedicated to a subject of vital significance to the global industry. A detailed programme agenda set out for the three-day event will include panel discussions, case studies and research papers presented by 66 speakers comprising leading executives and experts to offer insights into the sustainable growth of the region’s aluminium industry. Engineer Said Al Masoudi, CEO of Sohar Aluminium, commented, “The conference’s list of speakers...
With the introduction of reduction plan during heating season of Henan, Shandong and Shanxi Provinces, the affected annual capacity of electrolytic aluminium is expected to exceed 2.6 million tonnes. Since restarting of old capacity and newly-increased capacity are on the line, so production limit under high inventories will not cause short supply. The resistance of rise of Aluminium price in the long term has increased after mindset change. In the short term, with recovered consumption and production limit of electrolytic aluminium ahead of schedule, inventories will drop, which will continue supporting aluminium price. The amount of rise will depend on impetus of capital. Prices of A00 aluminium ingot have registered a slight rise from RMB 16,100/t to stand at RMB 16,130/t today. A00...
LME aluminium ended last week in a substantial rise. The light metal contract closed at US$2,159 per tonne on Friday, October 20, up from US$2,128.50 per tonne the previous day. Shanghai Metals Market predicts that LME aluminium will struggle around the moving averages and range at US$2,120-2,150 per tonne on Monday, October 21. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium is biased to decline to US$2,127 per tonne in the short term. However, any further gain will confirm the bullish price pattern and LME aluminium will revisit the highs of US$2,199 per tonne. As on October 20, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,158.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,159 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,165.50 per tonne,...
Glencore will swap its 8.75 percent stake in Russian aluminium giant Rusal for shares in En+ Group, an aluminium and hydropower group controlled by tycoon Oleg Deripaska, En+ said on Wednesday. En+ Group plans to raise $1.5 billion in an initial public share offering (IPO) in London and Moscow in November, testing investors’ appetite for Russian assets three years after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow over its role in the Ukraine crisis. “We are delighted at the prospect of gaining the long-term support of such a well-renowned partner in the global commodities sector. We look forward to working with Glencore and leveraging its unrivalled expertise to drive the ongoing growth of our business,” Maxim Sokov, En+’s chief executive, said in a statement. The swap with miner and...
Alcoa Corp. sees Chinese cuts in aluminum production returning the global market to “relative balance” as the Asian nation’s supply-side reforms begin to bite. The largest U.S. aluminum producer reduced its global surplus forecast for the lightweight metal this year as China appears to be holding to its promise to curb capacity to meet pollution-control targets. “The improvement is mostly due to planned and actual curtailments in Chinese smelting capacity as well as increased Chinese demand,” Alcoa said Wednesday in its third-quarter earnings statement. China will have a surplus of 1.8 million to 2 million metric tons of aluminum this year, Alcoa said in a presentation accompanying the earnings report. That compares with a July projection for a surplus of 2.2 million to 2.4 million. As a...
The US based global institutional investment management firm York Capital has completed the acquisition of Delfzijl aluminium smelter. Executives from the smelter, which started as Aldel and was later renamed as Klesch Aluminium, met York management to seal the agreement over the re-start of the company this week, reports confirmed. The Delfzijl aluminium smelter in Farmsum, the Netherlands, started its journey as Aldel in 1966. The company engages in aluminium smelting. It offers rolling ingots and aluminium extrusion billets to the rolling mills and extrusion companies. Klesch’s products are used for manufacturing of cars, aircrafts, trains, ships, window frames, and aluminium profiles. Klesch was declared bankrupt in August-end this year; but then the official receiver had expressed...
Anil Agarwal, the founder and Chairman of the mining and metals major Vedanta Resources Plc, is considering the launch of a one billion dollar venture capital fund to help promising young Indian entrepreneurs build their start-ups. With the VC fund, Agarwal will be joining the league of industrialists like Mukesh Ambani, N R Narayana Murthy and Azim Premji who have already made their way into the start-up funding space. Agarwal, who himself began as an aluminium scrap and other metal scrap dealer and then went one to become of the most influential business personalities of the world, wants to finance new Indian ventures in the natural resources domain. He said in a recent interview that he will invest anywhere between INR 5 crore and INR 200 crore ($30 million) in select business...
According to the data released State Statistics Bureau China’s primary aluminium output stands at 2.61 million tonnes in September, down 5.6% YoY. For the period from January to September, China’s primary aluminium output stands at 24.66 million tonnes, an increase of 5% compared with last year. Prices of A00 aluminium ingot have registered a rise of RMB 130/t to stand at RMB 16,100/t today after falling for three consecutive days. A00 aluminium ingot prices across all individual markets have increased substantially. Today’s aluminium A00 Aluminum prices across the various markets in China are presented in the table below: Keeping up with A00 aluminium ingot, SHFE 1712 aluminium, according to SMM will range within a higher range of RMB 16,100-16,350/t and challenge the 5-day moving...
Rio Tinto has been notified by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it has filed a complaint today in relation to Rio Tinto’s disclosures and timing of the impairment of Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique (RTCM). The impairment was reflected in Rio Tinto’s 2012 year-end accounts. Rio Tinto intends to vigorously defend itself against these allegations. The SEC has alleged in a civil complaint filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York that Rio Tinto committed fraud by not accurately disclosing the value of RTCM and not impairing it when Rio Tinto published its 2011 year-end accounts in February 2012 or its interim results in August 2012. Rio Tinto believes that the SEC case is unwarranted and that, when all the facts are considered by the court,...
LME aluminium staged a reversal and rallied notably during night trading on Thursday, October 19. The light metal contract rose from the previous close of US$2,106 per tonne on Wednesday, October 18, to close at US$2,128.5 per tonne yesterday. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may break a resistance at US$2,161 per tonne, and rise more to the next resistance level at US$2,172 per tonne in the near term. There is a support at US$2,150 per tonne, a break below which could cause a loss to around US$2,136 per tonne. Shanghai Metals Market predicts that LME aluminium will hover at highs and move within the range of US$2,140-2,165 per tonne on Friday, October 20. As on October 19, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,128 per tonne, cash seller...
Alcoa Corporation, a global leader in bauxite, alumina and aluminum products, today reported a sequential increase in third quarter 2017 revenue and earnings, driven primarily by improved pricing in the aluminum business segment and higher shipments of aluminum and bauxite. In addition, the Company’s cash balance as of September 30, 2017 reached $1.1 billion. Based on stronger alumina and aluminum prices, Alcoa has increased its projection for full-year adjusted EBITDA to approximately $2.4 billion2. This adjusted EBITDA forecast, up from the second quarter projected range of $2.1 billion to $2.2 billion, includes higher input costs to be reflected in net performance reported with fourth quarter 2017 results. “Alcoa continues to benefit from favorable commodity markets, and we’ve raised...
