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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China Aluminum International Trading Co. (Chalco Trading) further cut aluminium prices in major markets today, marking its 6th consecutive day of cuts, it said on its WeChat. For details, please see the table below: Note: Chalco Trading is a full subsidiary under Chalco responsible for alumina and aluminium sales.
State-run National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union Ministry of Mines, India, to meet an ambitious revenue target of INR 7,100 crore (excluding excise duty) from its operations, the company said in a release. The Mou was signed between Dr Tapan Kumar Chand, CMD of Nalco and Balvinder Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, in New Delhi yesterday. The MoU, formulated as per the new set of guidelines of the Department of Public Enterprises, will be finalised only after discussions with both the Ministry of Mines and an Inter-Ministerial Committee. As per the memorandum, the MoU has set higher production targets for alumina and aluminium vis-à-vis previous fiscal. Target for alumina production has been raised at 21.30 lakh tonnes per...
Rio Tinto releases its second quarter production results on July 19 2016. Commenting on the result, Chief Executive J-S Jacques said, “Rio Tinto has delivered another robust quarter of operational performance. We continue to focus on value and maximising cash flow from our assets, through both commercial and operational excellence while maintaining capital discipline. This will ensure that Rio Tinto is well-positioned to generate compelling and consistent returns for our shareholders.” Here is a highlight of its Aluminium section results: • Rio Tinto announced its new organisational structure on June 21 2016. The Group will have four product groups: Aluminium, Copper & Diamonds, Energy & Minerals and Iron Ore, complemented by a newly-shaped Growth & Innovation group. • Rio reports nine...
The restart of mothballed aluminium smelting capacity in China will likely be concentrated in the fourth quarter when the current slack domestic buying season is over, the China Aluminium Association said. Falling refined aluminium prices last year led to many smelters in China halting production or cutting output. But with domestic aluminium prices at Yuan 12,740/mt ($1,911/mt) as of end-June, up Yuan 1,790/mt from January, and reports this week of a shortage of aluminium ingot as more companies buy molten aluminium, so the sector will start to put unused capacity back into production, the CAA said. While ingots are more easily delivered, molten aluminium can save Yuan 800-Yuan 1,200/mt ($120-$180/mt), boosting smelters’ profits and meaning ever more new aluminium smelting capacity in...
Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) has announced the consolidated interim financial statements for the quarter and six months period ended June 30 2016. During the quarter under review, Maaden posted strong operational results across all its business verticals with higher production volume in aluminium as compared to the first quarter of 2016. Primary aluminium production in second quarter 2016 stood at 220 kilo tonnes, up six per cent from the previous quarter. Maaden attributed the increase in production to mainly increased operational efficiency and additional metal sourced from the company’s recycling facility. Maaden's quarterly net profit declined 51 per cent year-on-year and 21 per cent quarter-on-quarter, while, six-month profit slid 43 per cent year-on-year due to lower...
Indian aluminium industry is on a strong growth trajectory. Piggybacking buoyancy in the power and automotive sectors, the light metal used in appliances to aerospace, grew at a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of eight per cent during 2011-16. The same uptrend is expected to continue till 2020. The ‘Make in India’ drive will provide a further boost to the demand catapulting it to a level of five million tonnes (mt) by 2020 and eight mt by 2025 from the current 3.2 mt. According to the Aluminium Association of India (AAI) and Crisil Research data, aluminium usage in India would scale higher on the back of increased power demand from 290 Giga watt (Gw) currently to 360 Gw by 2020-21. Auto industry demand too is projected to reach 38 million units by 2020-2021, up from 25 million units...
The European Commission is considering a deal for the steel sector in exchange for granting China the coveted Market Economy Status (MES). This approach, likely to be debated by the College of Commissioners on 20 July, ignores the enormous Chinese overcapacities in industries like aluminium and creates unfair distortions on the EU market. Gerd Götz, Director General of European Aluminium stated, “The European Commission is playing a dangerous game. If this deal comes to pass the EU would essentially be sacrificing its remaining manufacturing industry to save one sector.” The EU steel crisis has distracted the debate on China’s MES from the reality that other European industries such as the aluminium sector could face the same fate. If the EU grants China MES, it would put 80,000 European...
Aluminium prices on London Metal Exchange and Shanghai Futures Exchange are likely to extend their gains this week as major stocks in China aluminium industry have recently hit nearly seven-year low, observed analysts at the Shanghai Metals Market. SMM predicts, LME aluminium will hover in the range of $1,650-1,710 per tonne and SHFE 1609 aluminium at 12,500-12,800 yuan per tonne this week. Slowdown in inventory declines and the nearing off-season will narrow spot premiums to 0-50 yuan per tonne over SHFE 1608 aluminium, SMM Observes. Prior to this, China Aluminium International Trading Co. (Chalco Trading), a full subsidiary under Chalco responsible for alumina and aluminum sales, cut aluminium prices in major markets on June 15th further after two consecutive days of cuts.
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), the leading Bahrain-based Aluminium producer, continued its commitment towards the development of its employees by holding a tailored-made training workshop on “Teamwork and Alignment – Getting ready for Line 6” for its Middle Management team on Thursday July 14, 2016 at the Alba club. Designed and delivered by Alba Chief Finance Officer Ali Al Baqali, the workshop focused on the importance of achieving cross-functional synergy as well as horizontal alignment between the various departments towards the fulfillment of Alba's common goals and objectives. The workshop was inaugurated by Alba Chief Executive Officer Tim Murray and featured a number of case studies, group exercises and the real-life story of Apollo 13 moon landing mission back in 1970s.
The Manufacturers for Trade Enforcement, a coalition representing more than one million workers in the aluminium, steel, chemical, textile and other manufacturing industries, supports the U.S. government in its contention that China continues to operate as a non-market economy. According to multiple news reports, U.S. trade officials stated during a recent World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting that China will not be automatically granted market economy status (MES) later this year. While the Chinese government has argued that China should automatically be treated as a market economy on the 15th anniversary of joining the WTO, U.S. trade officials noted that each WTO member country must judge China’s status based on its own domestic law. “We’re pleased to see that the U.S. government is...
Yunnan Aluminum Co. expects itself to return to profit territory in the first half of this year, it said in a statement filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange today. The company sees a net profit of 50 million yuan attributable to shareholders of its listed company in H1 2016, a reversal from the loss of 84.03 million yuan in the same period last year. The company attributes the expected profit to market-based power mechanism, optimization in product portfolio, cost control in production and raw material purchases. Looking ahead at H2 2016, the company will focus on hydropower-aluminium-processing integrated business.
Aluminium stocks in China’s five major markets have been falling steadily for months, but a turning point is on the horizon, SMM predicts. In fact, the inventory decline has been slowing down in recent weeks, and stocks were down a mere 9,000 tonnes as of July 14, SMM data showed. The table below shows details of aluminium stocks at China’s five major markets: Unit: 1,000 tonne
AEGIS Europe, a consortium of about 30 European manufacturing associations said at a recent meet that it is looking ahead to receiving enhanced support from the European leaders in guarding domestic industries and workers against Chinese dumping onslaughts. This follows the discussions held at the EU-China Summit in Beijing on 12 – 13 July. "The European Commission must not fail in its duty of care to European industry. There are many, many other EU industries at risk of disappearing, aside from steel, if the EU grants China MES. China does not meet the EU criteria for a market economy, and therefore it is entirely inappropriate to even consider this question until they do. Furthermore, there is no legal obligation to do so," stressed Milan Nitzschke, spokesman for AEGIS Europe. "To state...
UC RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminium producer, is eyeing the domestic market for supplying all the metal produced in the long run, Sales Director for Russia and CIS Roman Andryushin updated on Thursday, July 14. RUSAL expects consumption of aluminium in Russia will grow from the present 1.4 million tonnes per annum to 2.5 million tonnes by 2024, said the manager. The company plans to inject in $800 million initially to prepare the groundwork for the programme. The investments are to be made in a phased manner through 2021. "Financial resources are needed to launch this program. We made an estimate; the first phase will cost about $800 mln. We mean lending resources. These resources are need for infrastructure and production capacities of our consumers. In other words, there are no...
AMETEK Land has developed a new pyrometer that provides high accuracy and a three-in-one capability specifically for aluminium applications, including extrusion press exit, extrusion press quench zone, and aluminium strip mills. The SPOT AL EQS (SPOT Aluminium Extrusion, Quench and Strip) pyrometer is an extremely flexible instrument with pre-configured algorithms that make it especially suitable for use at the extruder press exit and quench position as well as at mill entry and exit positions in hot rolling mills. In addition, the pyrometer’s algorithms can be customised and tuned for bespoke applications and specific aluminium grades. This latest addition to the LAND range of SPOT pyrometers was specifically designed to work in low emissivity environments where regular pyrometers might...
Aluminium prices are likely to hover between $1,500 and $1,700 per tonne for the later half of this year as oversupply will cap further gains, Akio Hamaji, the new chairman of the Japan Aluminium Association said on Thursday. "With uncertainty over the European economy after Brexit, it is unlikely to see a strong pickup in global economy," Hamaji told a small group of reporters. "So I don't expect sharp gains in the metal prices," he said, adding aluminium supply is expected to exceed demand in the global market this year which will weigh on the market. Benchmark aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) have gained 11 percent this year, confounding some analysts who had expected the market to be hit by overproduction and high levels of inventories. The benchmark stood at around...
The slow death that the US primary aluminium industry has been dying cannot be attributed only to China’s somewhat overambitious aluminium trade policies, said leading consultancy UNO International Trade Strategy. The consulting body warned that the ‘onerous and misplaced barriers will only damage America’s thriving downstream sector.’ The US primary aluminium industry has turned globally uncompetitive. From 23 thriving smelters in the country in 2011, the number now stands at only five. Many of the big names in the upstream aluminium sector have filed for bankruptcy. UNO attributes the outcome to the following causes: Higher cash cost of smelting US is essentially a high-cost country. “The upstream producers are hamstrung by high electricity costs, strict environmental regulations and a...
SHFE 1609 aluminium will move at RMB 12,550-12,750/mt today, with strong wait-and-see sentiment. LME aluminium will hold above the 5-day moving average, with price range at USD 1,665-1,690/mt. In China’s spot aluminium market, spot discounts of RMB 0-10/mt and premiums of RMB 0-30/mt are expected over SHFE 1607 aluminium contract. Key macroeconomic indicators for base metal prices Market will eye US June PPI and last week’s initial jobless claims today, as well as policy decision for the BOE’s July meeting. US import & export price index was mild in June, meaning low possibility of improvement for US inflation in June. Annual rate of US PPI remained low in June. US initial jobless claims remained below 300,000 last week. The US Fed’s Beige Book showed positive outlook for overall US...
