
The most-traded SHFE aluminium contract did not trade during the night session of September 24 and the daytime session of September 25. On September 24, the daytime session opened at RMB 24,230 per tonne, reached a high of RMB 24,265 per tonne and a low of RMB 24,175 per tonne, and closed at RMB 24,200 per tonne, down RMB 30 per tonne or 0.12 per cent from the previous close. Futures consolidated at highs before pulling back, with prices falling below the 5-day moving average while remaining above the 20/40/60-period moving averages. Medium and long-term moving averages maintained an upward pattern. Trading volume during the session was 98,900 lots, and open interest stood at 281,000 lots, down 8,300 lots, driven mainly by bulls closing positions. On the technical front, a death cross...
LME aluminium prices moved higher across cash and forward contracts on September 25, while the Asian Reference Price and alumina Platts price also increased. Opening stocks remained unchanged, while cancelled warrants rose sharply. The LME aluminium cash bid price rose 0.80 per cent to USD 3,253 per tonne on September 25 from USD 3,227 per tonne on September 24 . The cash offer price showed a similar trend. It also increased 0.80 per cent to USD 3,254 per tonne from USD 3,228 per tonne. Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our report: " Global Bauxite & Alumina Market Forecast to 2036: Supply–Demand, Trade Flows & Price Outlook " The three-month aluminium bid price rose 0.40 per cent to USD 3,265 per tonne from USD 3,252 per tonne, while the...
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<p>According to a recent CRU analysis by consultant Yanchen Wang, there are considerably more primary aluminium ingot stocks in the Chinese market than implied by the reported stocks- an index reflective largely of ingot stocks at SHFE warehouses and other registered sheds. Stocks will be held at aluminium smelters, while valued added product stocks will also be held at independent operations that produce casthouse shapes such as billet, Wang observes. <br /><br />This has increased in importance as aluminium producers increasingly reduced the proportion of output at their casthouse of ingot in favour of liquid metal to supply directly to adjacent downstream facilities, and other casthouse shapes. <br /><br />Wang says, stocks of aluminium ingots will also be held in transit, and this has...

<p>Lightweight metals leader Alcoa reported third quarter 2016 results. In spite of near-term market challenges, Alcoa Corporation segments, Alumina and Primary Metals, maintained profitability sequentially despite continued low alumina and aluminium pricing by proactively managing costs and capacity. <br /><br />Alcoa reported third quarter 2016 net income of $166 million, or $0.33 per share, including a net $5 million in income related to special items primarily associated with the sale of non-essential land offset by separation costs and associated tax impacts. Year over year, third quarter 2016 results compare to net income of $44 million, or $0.06 per share in the third quarter of 2015.<br /><br />Excluding the impact of special items, third quarter 2016 net income was $161 million,...

<p class="m-6114257443505482780so">Vedanta Resources published its production release for the Second Quarter and Half Year ended 30<sup>th</sup> September 2016</p> <p>During Q2 Vedanta aluminium smelters continued to ramp up with current production run-rate of 1.1 mtpa (excluding trial run production). Ramp-up was hampered by pot failure at Jharsuguda-II and BALCO-II smelters in Q2. Secured coal linkages of 6mtpa for captive power plants through auctions helped the company running smooth operations.</p> <p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/niyamgiri_vedanta%20--621x414.jpg" alt="" width="448" height="420" /></p> <p>Shareholders of both Vedanta Limited and Cairn India approved the merger of both the...

<p>Aluminium stocks in China’s five major markets increased significantly after the weeklong Chinese National Day holiday, SMM data showed.<br /><br />Aluminium ingots kept arriving during the holiday, while consumption came to a virtual standstill, causing stocks to surge after the holiday, SMM explained. <br /><br />The table below shows details of aluminium stocks at China’s five major markets:<br /><br />Unit: 1,000 tonne</p> <p><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/SMM.jpg" alt="News" width="527" height="160" /><br />On the pricing side, SMM analysts find, there is still room for SHFE 1611 aluminium to advance after big gains yesterday, with prices expected between RMB...

<p>In India spot market, aluminium prices edged up by 0.36 per cent to INR112.45 per kg in futures trading today as speculators built up fresh positions after pick-up in demand from end user industries.<br /><br />At Mumbai's Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in November was trading higher by 0.36 per cent to INR112.45 per kg in a business turnover of 14 lots.<br /><br /><br /><br />Similarly, the metal for delivery in October also edged up by 0.31 per cent to INR111.70 per kg in 306 lots.<br /><br />Analysts said fresh positions created by participants, driven by upsurge in demand from end user industries in the spot market, mainly attributed the rise in aluminium prices at futures trade.</p>

<p>Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), the Bahrain-based international aluminium smelter, managed to increase its overall sales and production throughput for the third quarter of 2016despite the low trend in all-in-prices. Sales volumetopped <strong>246,293 metric tonnes(mt)</strong>in Q3 2016<strong>,</strong> an increase of 7,431 (mt) versus 238,862 mt in Q3 2015 while production volume for the same periodrose by 2.4% year-on-year (YoY) to reach<strong>246,146 mt</strong>.</p> <p><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/Alba%20Ariel%20View.jpg" alt="" width="448" height="299" /> </p> <p>For the nine months of 2016, the Company sales volume stretched to <strong>717,569 mt,</strong> up from...

<p>Evidencing a corporate commitment to the future of the global aluminium industry, coupled with pro-active support for knowledge-sharing, benchmarking and collaborative solutions to sector-wide challenges, Emirates Global Aluminium (“EGA”) again participated at the 31st Metal Bulletin International Aluminium Conference, held in Spain during September. EGA was the event’s Platinum Sponsor for the second consecutive year, cementing a long-standing involvement that has included EGA hosting the 2007 and 2014 events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi respectively.</p> <p>Dr Ali Al Zarouni (Executive Vice President Midstream at EGA) participated in an executive industry panel alongside other senior aluminium experts. The topics addressed included the impact of politics, economics and...

<p>LME aluminium will move at highs of USD 1,670-1,685/mt on Monday.<br /><br />Many cities in China introduced new measures to curb property market. China’s State Council said local governments are not allowed to approve new capacity. Only a small amount of aluminium ingot arrived in major consumption hubs after the weeklong holiday. So, spot aluminium prices in China should remain firm. SHFE 1611 aluminium will rise to RMB 12,800-13,000/mt and spot premiums of RMB 580-620/mt are expected over SHFE 1610 aluminium contract. </p> <p><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/LME.jpg" alt="LME aluminium prices" width="420" height="334" /><br /><em><strong>Source: <a title="AlToolz"...

<p>Russian aluminium giant UC Rusal announced yesterday that it has been assigned its first-ever corporate family rating (CFR) and probability of default rating (PDR) from Moody’s Investors Service, assigning it a Ba3 and Ba3-PD, respectively.<br /><br />“The assignment of the Ba3 rating by Moody’s, one of the most renowned international rating agencies with worldwide recognition, serves as additional testimony to the Company’s strong market position, effective management policy and clear strategy. We believe that the assigned rating is a good start for the Company’s credit rating story, which will be positively received by the investment community and will support the Company’s position on capital markets,” said Oleg Mukhamedshin, UC...

<p>Aluminium major Hindalco on Friday sought government support to enable the domestic industry to take on what it called "foreign economic invasion" and urged it to encourage new investments.<br /><br />"We seek government support to enable domestic industry to compete with the onslaught of foreign economic invasion. We urge government to encourage new investments to make India self-sufficient to meet domestic demand and a significant player in the world market," Hindalco Managing Director Satish Pai said.<br /><br />Considering the growth potential of the aluminium industry, the sector needs policy intervention from the government, he said, speaking at the World Non-Ferrous Conference 2016 here.<br /><br />The cheap imports are eating into growing domestic demand. In the last five...

<p>Aluminium consumption in India is poised to grow from 3.3 million tonne (mt) in 2015-16 to 5.3 mt in 2020-21 riding on a host of government initiatives like, Make in India, Smart Cities, Housing for all, rural electrification, and freight corridors.<br /><br />This was stated in a report titled “Indian Aluminium Industry: Geared for growth,” by Crisil, a global ratings, research, risk and policy advisory and Mtlexs. The report was launched at the World Non-Ferrous Conference 2016.<br /><br />Primary demand for increased consumption is expected to come from the power sector, where aluminium is a cheaper, lightweight substitute for copper in transmission and distribution, the report said. Over the next five years, investments from state discoms and central government schemes...

<p>Japanese aluminium buyers will pay a premium of $75 per tonne over the London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price for their shipments in the fourth quarter of this year, says analyst Andy Home of Reuters. </p> <p><br />The settlement with producers, which will serve as the benchmark for Asian physical aluminium markets, marks a near 20-percent decline from the previous quarterly premium of $90-93 per tonne and is the lowest level since the third quarter of 2009. This is the continuing unwind of the premium bubble that grew out of the load-out queues at LME warehouses in Detroit and the Dutch port of Vlissingen.<br /><br />Japanese users were paying $425 per tonne in the first quarter of 2015, a period which marked the worst of the fracturing of the aluminium price between LME paper and...

<p>According to Reuters, a U.S. Federal judge on Wednesday October 5 finally rejected nationwide antitrust lawsuit by a number of end users accusing banks and commodity companies of working together to drive up aluminium prices by deliberately hoarding metal and controlling supply from 2009 to 2012.<br /><br />Accordingly, the three years of litigation against Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, mining company Glencore Plc, and various commodities trading, mining and metals warehousing companies comes to a close.<br /><br />They alleged that such deliberate hoarding caused delays in delivering order and rise in warehouse storage costs in Detroit and elsewhere, which in turn raised aluminium prices and production costs of producing cabinets, flashlights, strollers and other...

<p>Greece's main power utility PPC secured shareholder approval on Wednesday of tariffs the company will charge its biggest client Aluminium of Greece, concluding two years of negotiations between the two companies over power supply prices.</p> <p>PPC, which is 51 percent owned by the state, and aluminium producer Aluminium, owned by energy group Mytilineos, have been embroiled in a decade-long standoff over charges. An arbitration court settled the issue for the 2010-2013 period and the two sides have been in talks since 2014 to bridge their differences by themselves.</p> <p>Agreeing new cost-based electricity tariffs that PPC charges to the country's biggest industries is part of a set of reforms Greece has to conclude to secure fresh loans later this month.</p> <p>The new tariff...

<p>Aluminium smelters in South Eastern Europe, before all KAP in Podgorica, Montenegro and Aluminij d.d. in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, are potentially at risk of experiencing higher electricity costs after an undersea transmission cable becomes functional in late 2018.<br /><br />On October 4, ground works officially started on Montenegro’s coast, near the town of Budva (cape Jaz), to prepare infrastructure for an undersea electricity transmission cable to connect southern Italy and Montenegro by end of 2018.<br /><br />Over € 800 million worth of cable will sprawl for 390km under the Adriatic Sea, while an additional 55 km will be on shore (25km in Montenegro).<br /><br />A high-voltage electric interconnection, 1000 MW /500 KV will enable electricity exports (such as...

<p>Indian ratings agency ICRA said today it maintains not too ambitious outlook for aluminium, at least, in the short term as prices are expected to reflect a range-bound movement hovering around their current levels.</p> <p>Aluminium has been witnessing record low levels in the second half of the last fiscal. It's only very recently that the international prices of the light metal have shown some signs of strengthening. Aluminium prices quoted at London Metal Exchange (LME) have strengthened by around 15 per cent from their respective lows, stated ICRA in a statement.</p> <p>Globally non-ferrous metals markets have remained in deficits in FY2015-16, said ICRA Ratings Senior VP Jayanta Roy. "Although consumption growth of non-ferrous metals in the global market remained muted, there has...

<p>Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C (Alba), a pioneering smelter in the Middle East and one of the world’s leading aluminium smelters, participated in the high-level meeting ‘7th GAC Aluminium Market Update’, which was held today, October 04, 2016 at Sofitel Dubai Downtown Hotel, UAE.<br /> <br />Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray, Chief Finance Officer, Ali Al Baqali, Chief Marketing Officer, Khalid Abdul Latif and Acting Director Admin Waleed Tamimi along with other Alba officials were amongst the key attendees of this event.<br /><br /><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/Alba%20participates%20in%20the%207th%20GAC%20Aluminium%20Market%20Update.jpg" alt="" /><br /> <br...

<p>Aluminium is racing ahead of other industrial metals including steel (in some areas) in terms of end use. From swank constructions to spacecraft the light metal is finding a place in every sector in various forms. Yet the metal has been experiencing extreme volatility since the past one year. The scenario is slightly looking up in the recent times but there is still enough headspace for aluminium to make a turnaround. Overproduction from China adding to the global glut is simply not letting the prices go up. <br /><br />Nevertheless, there are still few aluminium stocks which are worth investing in. These are:<br /><br />As per analysts, Century Aluminum stands as the best bet now. The pure-play upstream primary aluminium producer has enough earning prospects. <br /><br /><img...