Bell Bay Aluminium (BBA), Australia's oldest aluminium smelter, is reviewing its workforce and offering redundancies for a small number of positions, just over a month after receiving an AUD 200 million (USD 137.52 million) government support package aimed at securing the facility's future until at least 2031. Up to 10 roles are understood to have been affected by the review, although the smelter is expected to retain its existing workforce of approximately 550 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees. Some redeployment opportunities will also be available, while the positions identified are not understood to involve frontline services. The changes reportedly include some former participants in Bell Bay Aluminium's graduate programme. Rio Tinto, which operates the smelter near George Town in...
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...
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Profit at Chinese aluminium smelters has been expanding steadily thanks to sustainable aluminium price rise. However, many smelters have not shown strong interest in bringing idled capacity back online. Why? The main reason is negotiations with power plants over preferential power tariffs are still dragging on, SMM learned. Besides, continuous alumina price gains also leave those smelters whose costs are above 12,000 yuan per tonne hesitant about reopening. Shandong Xinfa Group and Shandong Weiqiao Group will release new aluminium capacity in May, totaling 600,000-tpy. But this is not enough to fill in supply gap, SMM understands.
Under criticism over its protectionist measures for the domestic steel industry, India has deferred the 5 per cent provisional safeguard duty on imports of unwrought aluminium. Unwrought aluminium is extracted from primary metal or scrap and is imported by India from various countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Thailand. The duty was recommended on 21 April by the Directorate General of Safeguards which is an arm of the finance ministry. However, the Board of Safeguards in a 29 April meeting decided against it. On 21 April, the Directorate General of Safeguards in its preliminary investigation found that aluminium imports have caused financial losses to the domestic industry and had recommended a provisional safeguard duty of...
Global manufacturing growth slowed down last month putting a downward pressure on commodity prices, a survey showed. In China, factory activity shrank for a 14th consecutive month in April, a survey showed, presenting a mixed picture of the health of the world's No. 2 economy. Aluminium gave up some of its gains from April. Shanghai aluminium fell 1.7 per cent, after last month's more than 7 per cent rise, while LME aluminium fell 1 per cent, following a sharp 10 per cent monthly rally. The recent spike in prices is prompting aluminium producers to restart their plants, Standard Chartered said in a note, adding that 1.7 million tonnes per year of capacity had already been restarted year to date. "Given current SHFE prices support nearly 90 per cent of China's smelters in profit, further...
About 57 per cent of the 46 Chinese aluminium smelters surveyed by SMM expect aluminium prices to stabilize this week. Those neutral players see SHFE 1607 aluminium at RMB 12,600-12,850/mt and LME aluminium at USD 1,650-1,670/mt, citing several reasons. First, the price spread between SHFE 1606 and 1605 aluminium contracts expanded to RMB 25/mt. This left suppliers eager to sell, while downstream producers refrained from buying at higher prices, limiting upside room in spot prices. Spot discounts did not expand, offering support to SHFE aluminium. Second, some longs took profit last week, and the rest longs will probably take profit as well if SHFE aluminium rises to higher levels again. SHFE 1607 aluminium will meet strong resistance at RMB 12,850/mt. On the other hand, long buying was...
LME aluminium will meet resistance and move at USD 1,660-1,680/mt on Tuesday, with crude oil prices down due to profit-taking. SHFE 1606 aluminium will move at RMB 12,650-12,750/mt, with support at the 10-day moving average and resistance at the 5--day moving average. In China’s spot aluminium market, spot discounts of RMB 0-20/mt and spot premiums of RMB 0-20/mt are expected over SHFE 1605 aluminium contract. Key macroeconomic indicators for base metal prices The LME market will be closed today due to the bank holiday. China’s official manufacturing PMI was 50.1 in April, down 0.1 from March. Large producers posted a 0.5 drop. Production index and new order index also fell. The weakening US dollar index drove up base metals. US non-farm employment data due for release this Friday are...
Aluminium stocks continued falling significantly in China’s five major markets, SMM reports. SMM learned from many warehouses that load-out shipments, though down slightly, were still higher than load-in shipments, allowing stocks to fall steadily. SMM expects aluminium stocks in these five regions to continue falling in May. The table below shows details of aluminium stocks at China’s five major markets: Unit: 1,000 tonne
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) announced the release of its first quarter of 2016 results on Monday, May 2, 2016. Commenting on Q1 2016 Results, the Chairman of Alba’s Board of Directors, Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa: “Despite weak market sentiment coupled with low LME prices, Alba still recorded positive Net Income. Line 6 continues to gain momentum and we look forward to work with Bechtel who got recently appointed as EPCM contractor.” Q1 2016 Industry Highlights: • World consumption up by 5 per cent YoY while world production up by 1 per cent YoY • Q1 2016 cash-average was $1,515/t down by 16 per cent YoY • Significant drop in global physical premiums • LME inventories at 2.8 million metric tonnes (mt) in March Q1 2016 Alba Highlights: • Continuous improvement in safety...
Lightweight metals leader Alcoa today announced it has reached an agreement with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) that will help improve the competitiveness of its Intalco aluminium smelter. As a result, the smelter will not curtail at the end of the second quarter as previously announced by the company. The amendment to the power contract is effective July 1, 2016 through February 14, 2018 and provides for additional access to market power during this period. This short-term amendment with BPA, combined with the state of Washington’s $3 million budget proviso for workforce training, are key factors in helping Intalco remain competitive. Alcoa thanks Governor Inslee; its federal delegation led by Senators Murray and Cantwell, and Representatives DelBene and Larsen; the state...
State-controlled National Aluminium Co Ltd (NALCO) has agreed to buy back 25 per cent of its shares from the government, Indian Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar said after a meeting with the company on Monday to discuss pricing. The buyback, initiated by the finance ministry earlier this year, is part of the government’s efforts to raise much-needed funds, including by selling shares worth up to INR 565 billion ($8.5 billion) to curb the 2016/17 fiscal deficit. Kumar, who met NALCO officials in New Delhi alongside bankers from State Bank of India, said the company’s board would meet this month to decide the price at which it will buy back the shares. NALCO stock closed at INR 46.35 on Monday, valuing the company at around INR 119 billion ($1.8 billion). The government owns 80.93 per cent...
LME aluminium will find rising strength from SHFE aluminium this week, SMM predicted Friday, last week. SMM sees LME aluminium advancing to $1,640-1,700 per tonne. Aluminium stocks in China’s major markets continue falling, due to limited capacity restarts and new capacity release. Tight supply bode well for SHFE aluminium in the medium term. This week will see SHFE 1607 aluminium face selling pressure at highs but find strong support at 12,500 yuan per tonne. Spot aluminium is expected to trade at discounts of 0-20 yuan per tonne over SHFE 1605 aluminium. China April manufacturing PMI and US April non-farm payrolls, due for release this week, are expected to be positive.
Aluminium hit a nine-month peak on Friday, April 29, as speculators pushed prices higher thanks to a weaker dollar, but analysts were wary about a possible retreat. "You look at aluminium, the only buying this week has been CTA buying, we still see no consumer activity, they're not chasing this price rally," said Citi analyst David Wilson. CTAs or Commodity Trading Advisors largely run speculative funds with trading decisions usually based on momentum and other technical factors. "Aluminium is in overbought territory, given the fact we've seen decent volumes of producer hedging and I'd expect we'd see more going forward. Clearly, this looks overpriced," Wilson added. Three month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange closed up 0.8 per cent at $US1678 a tonne, the highest since July last...
Vedanta-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) would be expanding its production capacity to 1 million tonne per annum (MTPA). The proposal for the expansion and modernisation of Balco facility located in Chhattisgarh’s Korba district was designed in 2013. It was however put on hold following global economic slowdown. Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal, who visited Balco early this week for the first time after taking over 51 per cent stake in the company in 2001, asked the officials to revive the plan and expedite the expansion programme with immediate effect. The Government of India holds remaining 49 per cent stake in the company that was incorporated in the year 1965 as a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU). “The company would be investing INR 10,000 crore for the expansion plan,”...
The United Steelworkers union has suspended indefinitely an unusual effort to push the United States government to restrict all aluminium imports after the campaign ran into opposition from aluminium companies, the Canadian government and even Canadian members of the union. The union on Friday withdrew its petition to an American trade panel, which was filed the preceding Monday, after an aluminium industry group agreed to work with the union to address its main concern: Chinese aluminium production overcapacity and exports. “The Aluminium Association shares many of the concerns expressed by the United Steelworkers regarding Chinese aluminium overproduction,” the group said in a statement. “Overcapacity must be addressed to maintain a vibrant and healthy North American aluminium...
UC RUSAL announced its operating results for the first quarter 2016. Aluminium production in first quarter totalled 916 thousand tons (-0.5 per cent QoQ). The smelters utilization rate was on average at 95 per cent. Russia Siberian smelters accounted for 94 per cent of total aluminium output. First quarter 2016 aluminium sales increased by 9.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter to 957 thousand tons. This growth in sales is largely explained by the seasonal factors (lower sales in 4Q15 during the winter season) and the addition of primary aluminium produced at BOAZ (the plant is currently operating in the test mode). The share of VAP4 in total aluminium sales declined to 41 per cent in first quarter 2016 (versus 45 per cent in 4Q15) amid higher sales of primary aluminium. The volume of VAP sold...
State-owned Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd (Chalco) reported its second consecutive profitable quarter today, buoyed by a rise in domestic prices for primary aluminium. Chalco turned in a net profit of CN¥19.2 million (US$2.97 million) for the first quarter, which is down from a profit of CN¥48 million (US$7.74 million) in the first quarter of 2015 the firm said in a filing on the Shanghai stock exchange today. The firm, which is the world’s biggest producer of aluminium, made a return to the black in 2015 after cutting costs due to record losses the year prior. The year has been good so far for the primary aluminium market in the People’s Republic of China – the price of a front-month contract on the Shanghai Metal Exchange (which generally reflects domestic supply and demand of spot...
SHFE 1606 aluminium will struggle around the 5-day and 10-day moving averages and move at RMB 12,500-12,700/mt today, SMM said in an early morning forecast. A softer UD dollar and rising crude oil will push LME aluminium up to USD 1,640-1,670/mt. In China’s spot aluminium market, spot discounts of RMB 0-30/mt and spot premiums of RMB 0-10/mt are expected over SHFE 1605 aluminium contract. Key macroeconomic indicators for base metal prices Bases metals will maintain diverging trend on Friday with a big bag of economic figures coming under spotlight, including annualized Q1 GDP from euro zone and France, US annualized March price index for PCE, University of Michigan’s CCI and speeches of US Dallas Federal Reserve Chairman Kaplan. Q1 GDP from euro zone may miss forecast as inflation in euro...
Century Aluminum Company reported a net loss of $16.2 million ($0.19 per share) for the first quarter of 2016. Results were favourably impacted by a $5.8 million ($0.06 per share) lower of cost or market inventory adjustment. After consideration of this item, the company reported an adjusted net loss of $22.0 million and an adjusted loss per share of $0.23 for the first quarter. For the first quarter of 2015, Century reported net income of $73.8 million. Results included $6.5 million for an unrealized gain on fair value of contingent consideration related to the Mt. Holly acquisition and were negatively impacted by $1.6 million for signing bonuses related to a new labor agreement in Iceland and $1.0 million related to the separation of a former senior executive. Sales for the first...
Solar desalinization, once considered to be too costly to implement in an economic manner, may be achievable in the near future thanks to a process that utilizes aluminium. Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology and Nanjing University have developed a process for solar desalinization using self-assembling nanoparticle membranes that are based upon aluminium and other inexpensive materials. The materials used in the described process remain stable even after several uses as well. “Our plasmon-enhanced solar desalination device can significantly increase the energy transfer efficiency with not only enhanced light absorption, but also more localized heating,” explain the researchers. “To enable efficient solar desalination, broadband and efficient light absorption is the critical...
