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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The closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter in New Zealand will have a far reaching impact on the economy. A recent report by the NZ Ministry for Business Innovation and Employment forcasted a rapid exit of several fossil fuel power plants from the country if the aluminium smelter finally closes its operations. The dwindling coal and gas fired power plants at Huntly would shut down at the end of 2019 and the gas fired plant run in Stratford by Contact Energy would close even early, if Tiwai Point smelter went out of business. The smelter going out of operations would so dampen the electricity consumption of the country that the total demand would not bounce back untill end of 2020s, the report added. The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter consumes about 13 per cent (that is, one-seventh) of...
At AlCircle , innovation is the key to aspire and excel! Having created a niche of its own as a one-of-a-kind Information and B2B portal for the complete global value-chain of Aluminium; AlCircle is now poised to launch a bucket of services to be called AlToolz , tailor-made for the aluminium industry participants both from the large scale enterprises as well as the SME sector. There is a big market for information and it is growing manifold every day. Getting the right kind of information for your business at the right time is one of the prime criteria in running a business successfully. Next stage is to get that correct and current information in a single source seamlessly so that you can make your business decisions faster and accurate. AlCircle has been into the business of...
The US dollar index will find support from US economic data and speeches by US Fed officials. Crude oil prices will face pressure from oversupply. LME aluminium will fall to USD 1,620-1,640/mt. SHFE 1610 aluminium will move at RMB 12,240-12,400/mt, with short selling pressure. In east China’s spot aluminium market, spot premiums of RMB 140-180/mt are expected over SHFE 1609 aluminium contract. Key macroeconomic indicators for base metal prices Eurozone and regional unemployment and inflation, ADP employment for the US and July pending home sales are due for release today. The US dollar index strengthened overnight, while crude oil weakened. Base metals continued to diverge. Inflation rates in Italy, Eurozone and France are expected to improve, but will still remain low. In this context,...
According to a latest Reuters update, a major international aluminium producer has offered buyers from Japan a premium of US $82 per tonne for primary metal scheduled for October-December shipment. The premium amount is lower by 9-12 per cent from the last quarter, reported sources involved in market pricing. Japan is presently the biggest importer of aluminium in Asia and the premiums it agrees to pay for primary aluminium shipments for each quarter over the cash price settled at the London Metal Exchange (LME) set the benchmark for the region. According to the report, Japanese buyers agreed to pay a premium of $90-93 PREM-ALUM-JP, for the July-September quarter. The premium, down by 19-23 per cent from the last quarter, has been weighed on by weaker premiums in spot market. The latest...
Vedanta Limited is slowly getting back to full-fledged operations in all its facilities after a slowdown due to a number of issues like potline failure due to power shut down, raw material scarcity, low metal price, and cheap imports from China etc. According to a press update from Vedanta Limited the Third 660 MW unit of Talwandi Sabo Power Plant in Punjab has started commercial production on 24th August 2016 and will be capitalized in September 2016. On the aluminium segment, Vedanta confirmed that they have completed commissioning of the first pot line at the 1.25mtpa Jharsuguda-II Aluminium smelter in July 2016. The commissioning of the second line is continuing and that of the third line of the smelter would start in September 2016. Vedanta also updates that the 325kt BALCO-II...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), home-base of the Line 6 Expansion Project, announced today, August 23, 2016 that it has awarded Siemens the Power Distribution System (PDS) contract for Power Station 5 (PS 5). Under the terms of this contract, Siemens will be responsible to design, engineer, procure, construct and commission High Voltage electrical network comprising distribution switchgears and transformers to expand Alba's electrical network. Siemens will, also, provide state-of-the-art Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) up to 220kV. The design will provide Alba with a highly flexible and redundant network to ensure power availability in all scenarios. Commenting on this appointment, Alba's Chairman of Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa said: "Alba's Line 6...
Mining giant BHP Billion spin-off South32 indicated last week Thursday that it has no plan to restart idled capacity at its aluminium facilities in Southern Africa in the next couple of years. The Australian metals and mining company had idled the aforesaid capacity on being unable to cope with the mounting losses due to depressed aluminium prices and the rising uncertainty revolving around power supply in the region. Graham Kerr, CEO South32 said that there were almost 24 idled pots at the Hillside aluminium smelter in Richards Bay, South Africa that stand ready to be brought back to operations. They have been relined and will be made to start production when the time is right. Kerr said disruption in power supply in the Northern Cape has also dropped significantly to only about once in...
Aluminium futures traded on India’s Multi Commodity Exchange, Mumbai, inched marginally higher today by 0.09 per cent to INR109.65 per kg as traders expanded position, helping the metal track a steady trend at spot market driven by boosted demand from end user industries. At MCX, aluminium for delivery in August traded higher by 0.09 per cent to INR109.65 per kg in a business turnover of 183 lots. The metal for delivery in September contracts also scaled up by 0.05 per cent to INR 110.55 per kg in 47 lots. Source: http://www.moneycontrol.com/ Market watchers opined enlargement of positions by the participants on the back of an increasing demand from end user industries in the spot market, helped aluminium to gain strength at futures trade.
Despite a massive power failure that struck one of its plants this month, mining giant Vedanta has maintained the production guidance for its aluminium business at 1.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) for the current financial year. "The current run rate of aluminium production is around 1 MTPA and the overall 2016-17 volume guidance remains unchanged at 1.2 MTPA," the company said in a regulatory filing today. In end of July 2016, the company has completed commissioning of pots at the first line of its 1.25 MTPA Jharsuguda-II aluminium smelter. The commissioning of the second line too commenced in July with 65 pots commissioned initially; the line will be ramped up in the coming 3-6 months, it added in the document. "The first line was impacted by a pot failure incident due to a power...
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The State-run aluminium producer Nalco today submitted the copy of public announcement regarding its INR2,835 crore offer to buyback 64.43 crore shares that will open on August 30. The announcement along with the letter of offer for the shareholders was submitted to the stock exchanges where the Navaratna PSU is listed. SBI Capital Markets has been appointed manager for the offer, Nalco said in a regulatory filing. "The buyback offer will open on August 30 and close on September 14, 2016," the company added. The offer size comprises 22.15 per cent of the total value of fully paid-up share capital and free reserves of Nalco for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2015. In May, the aluminium major had announced plans to buyback shares not exceeding 64,43,09,628 (representing 25 per cent of the...
LME aluminium will trade in a narrower range next week, while SHFE 1610 aluminium will consolidate at highs, SMM predicts. SMM sees LME aluminium between $ 1,620-1,680 per tonne. Low aluminium stocks in China and expectations for improving aluminium consumption in September will allow SHFE 1610 aluminium to hold at highs of 12,200-12,500 yuan per tonne. Aluminium ingot arrivals into east China are likely to increase slightly. Stabilizing SHFE aluminium might prompt some suppliers in spot market to sell. Spot premiums in east China aluminium market will narrow to 150-200 yuan per tonne over SHFE 1609 aluminium. Key macroeconomic indicators for base metal prices In a much-anticipated speech on August 26 at the central bank's annual Jackson Hole summit, Fed Chair Janet Yellen voiced optimism...
When an industry claims it has enough capacity, then why does it need to import the product to meet local demand? – is the question India’s Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines, Mr Piyush Goyal had for the country’s aluminium industry players when asked to comment on the possibility of imposing minimum import price on the metal. “I have heard that over 45 per cent of India’s requirement is being imported. Why should it be imported when we have enough capacity?” Mr. Goyal said. “Why should we import something that we can produce on our own? I am always going to support the domestic industry as long as they are fair,” he added. He, however, did not sound much committal when asked about domestic primary aluminium industry’s demand for...
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According to China’s General Customs data published on August 24, exports of aluminium semis during January to June period declined 9.1 per cent to stand at 2.02 million metric tonnes (mt) from 2.22 million mt from the corresponding period previous year. Nevertheless, the export volumes have been significant enough to add a downward pressure on the global primary aluminium market, observed Russian aluminium giant Rusal in its Q2 FY2016 financial report. Rusal said a strong headwind in aluminium prices on the Shanghai Futures Exchange put a constraint on China’s export arbitrage. According to the Customs data, the country exported 690,845 mt aluminium bars, rods and extrusion profiles during January-July period, netting a 9.5 per cent increase from the corresponding period previous year....
The world's leading fabricated aluminium product manufacturer China Zhongwang Holdings Limited announced its unaudited consolidated results for the first half of the current financial year ended 30 June 2016. The Group's external sales volume increased by 6.8 per cent year-on-year to approximately 368,000 tonnes and total revenue totalled at approximately RMB7.68 billion. The rise in high-end products sales revenue contributed to the year-on-year gross margin expansion by 4.5 per cent. China Zhongwang's adjusted net profit scaled higher by 0.5 per cent to RMB1.51 billion vis-a-vis the corresponding period previous year. Adjusted earnings per share stood at around RMB0.21. The Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend of HK$0.11 (approximately RMB0.09) per share to the...
The first half of the year 2016 is over and the second half of the year is marching ahead with some positive changes in the LME price and global aluminium demand supply scenario. Prices of LME aluminium gained about 10 per cent in the first half of the year. Compared to LME, Shanghai aluminium prices rose around 13 per cent. Though it is a positive growth, the levels are generally still lower when compared to the same period of 2015. To give support to the aluminium prices both ex-china and China smelters cut substantial output late last year. Three-month Aluminium on the London Metal Exchange hit a new 13-month high in August, retaking the $1,700 level. Simultaneously, stocks in the London Metal Exchange warehouses and Aluminium inventories in Shanghai Futures Exchange warehouses fell to...
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The US Fed Chairwoman’s speech at the meeting in Jackson Hall will come under the spotlight today. Crude oil prices will fluctuate widely on positive and negative news. LME aluminium will move between USD 1,635-1,655/mt. SHFE 1610 aluminium will move at RMB 12,250-12,430/mt. In east China’s spot aluminium market, spot premiums of RMB 130-170/mt are expected over SHFE 1609 aluminium contract. Key macroeconomic indicators for base metal prices Market will eye US Fed Chairwoman’s speech, US Q2 GDP and August University of Michigan’s consumer confidence index today. Preliminary annualized quarterly rate of US Q2 GDP was 1.2 per cent, better than previous figure, but was much worse than expected. Preliminary annualized quarterly rate of US PCE was 4.2 per cent in Q2, lower than forecast, but...
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On Wednesday’s night trading, SHFE 1610 aluminium fell to RMB 12,280/mt after opening at RMB 12,440/mt, and ended at RMB 12,320/mt. On Thursday, SHFE 1610 aluminium opened at RMB 12,320/mt, and fell to RMB 12,290/mt on short selling. The most active contract then rallied due to short covering, ending at RMB 12,340/mt. Trading volumes were up to 114,524 lots, and positions were down 6,942 to 184,048. Both longs and shorts are cautious at current price level. SHFE Market Movement On Wednesday, trading volumes were down 24,326 lots to 190,990 lots, and positions were down 5,398 to 190,990. Analysts had predicted that SHFE 1610 aluminum would test resistance at the 10-day moving average on Thursday night.
On Thursday, August 25, Aluminium Corporation of China Ltd (Chalco) reported the results for the first half of 2016. The company posted a sharp rise in net profit mainly because of a general recovery in aluminium prices during the first half of the year. As reported in a filing on the Shanghai stock exchange, the state-controlled leading producer of primary aluminium and alumina in China has posted a net profit of 57.4 million yuan ($8.62 million) for H1 2016 compared with 1.5 million yuan profit for the same period of 2015. Prices of LME aluminium gained about 10 per cent in the first half of the year. Compared to LME, Shanghai aluminium prices rose around 13 per cent. Though it is a positive growth, the levels are generally still lower when compared to the same period of 2015....
