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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Taha International, headquartered in Bahrain, as part of its further growth strategy, and to support the company entering a robust new phase of expansion, has strengthened the management team with three key appointments. Graham Bruce , formerly CEO of Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill (Garmco) Bahrain, and ex-Chief Commercial Officer of Oman Aluminium Rolling Company, (OARC) Oman, has taken up the post of deputy CEO of Taha effective 18th October. Mr Bruce has been in the region since 2010 and is delighted to return to Bahrain to join Taha at this exciting moment in the company’s development. Max von Arnim , a partner at Fjord Capital has taken up the role of CFO for the Taha Group in Bahrain. Fjord are a London - based private equity investor focused on industrial resource efficiency and have...
Taking positive cues from global market and strong demand at India spot markets, aluminium prices edged up 0.43 per cent to INR 94.25 per kg in futures trade today as participants increased their bets. Marketmen said apart from increased domestic demand, a firming global trend after an interest rate cut in China last week and before a meeting of US Federal Reserve that is expected to keep rates unchanged, helped aluminium futures to trade higher. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery this month inched up by 40 paise, or 0.43 per cent, to INR 94.25 per kg in a business turnover of 273 lots. The November traded higher by 35 paise, or 0.37 per cent, to INR 95.90 per kg in 49 lots. Globally, aluminium climbed 1.2 per cent to $1,514 per tonne at the London Metal Exchange.
Aluminium hits a fresh six-year low as spot aluminium closed at $1,442 per metric ton in the London Metals Exchange (LME) on October 26. Prior to this, spot aluminium made a closing low of $1,496 per metric ton on August 24. Of all base metals, aluminium looks the weakest as of now in the commodity marketplace. Industry analysts attribute this price fall to global aluminium oversupply. Years of production cuts by major aluminium producers failed to restore the desired balance in the market. Aluminium production cuts by companies such as Rio Tinto (RIO) and Century Aluminium (CENX) have been counterbalanced by growing Chinese exports. Aluminum demand strong Aluminum demand, on the other hand, is stronger than most other industrial metals. Alcoa expects global aluminium demand to rise 6.5%...
Indian miner Vedanta Limited (formerly known as Sesa Sterlite Ltd) has announced its unaudited consolidated results for the second quarter ended 30 September 2015. Revenues stood at INR 16,349 crore and a cash flow of INR 7,145 crore was generated despite a challenging commodity price environment prevailing in the domestic as well as global marketplace. Following are the financial highlights of the results: • Continued optimization of opex and capex to maximise free cash flow and reduce net debt; generated free cash flow of INR 7,145 crore and net debt reduced by INR 5,335 crore in Q2 • EBITDA at INR 4,113 crore up by 2% QoQ; robust EBITDA margin1 at 32% • Attributable PAT at INR 974 crore, 12% higher QoQ • Strong balance sheet with Cash & Cash Equivalents of over INR 52,000 crore, up 11%...
The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) will organize a tour of its integrated aluminium facility for attendees of the Arabal conference taking place 15 – 17 November at Dhahran International Exhibitions Center in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. The tour is intended to familiarize attendees with Ma’aden’s aluminium operations at Ras Al-Khair industrial city. Ma’aden, the Arabal host and organizer, will showcase the company’s operational facilities at Ras Al-Khair industrial city on theNovember 17, the day after the conclusion of the two day conference. The tour will include a visit to the alumina refinery (the first in the GCC), aluminium smelter and rolling mill, the latter being the only facility of its kind in the region and among the most technically advanced in the world. Arabal...
LME aluminium may continue to hover above support at $1,488 per tonne, or bounce to resistance at $1,515. Support is provided by the 138.2 percent Fibonacci projection level of a downward wave (c), the third wave of a three-wave cycle from the Sept. 9 high of $1,655.50. It has triggered a strong bounce and may cause another one, which will be weaker, probably to extend to $1,515 only, the 114.6 percent level. A break below $1,488 could cause a loss to the 161.8 percent level at $1,462.
Aluminium prices eased 0.26 per cent and were trading at INR 95.15 per kg in futures trade today as speculators reduced exposure, driven by sluggish demand from consuming industries at the spot market amid weak trend overseas. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in October shed 25 paise, or 0.26 per cent to INR 95.15 per kg in business turnover of 620 lots. The November contract traded lower by 20 paise, or 0.21 per cent to INR 96.95 per kg in 144 lots. Analysts said offloading of positions by speculators amid sluggish demand in the spot market and a weak trend in base metals at the London Metal Exchange, mainly led to decline in aluminium prices at futures trade.
Vedanta Limited, India’s only diversified natural resources company, with global assets has been awarded the ‘Excellence in Corporate Governance Award' instituted by the Institute of Directors(IOD), India. This Award recognizes Vedanta’s commitment as an organization to the high standards of corporate governance for which the company a Board of Directors are accountable to all the stake holders. “At Vedanta, we believe in conducting our company affairs with the highest levels of business ethics and personal integrity. With transparent and sound business processes, we continue to fulfill our commitments towards our stakeholders, instilling a sense of confidence in all our relationships. We are pleased to receive this award which reflects our commitment towards corporate governance,...
Base metal prices on the SHFE are expected to continue their declines on October 27, with SHFE aluminum to lead price losses, Shanghai Metals Market foresees. “A considerable increase in short positions on the SHFE aluminum has sent its price to new record lows, and this will also weigh down other base metals on the SHFE,” SMM says. The US durable orders for September are due for release, and are not expected to improve significantly because of August’s poor PMIs. Aluminum price for the most actively-traded contracts will stand at 10,350-10,450 yuan per tonne, according to SMM forecast.
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), one of the leading aluminium smelters in the world, announced the appointment of Patrick Hudson as the new Sales Manager for its regional sales office in United States - Alba Americas. Patrick will be responsible to oversee the growth and development of Alba’s product portfolio within the US markets. He will be based in Atlanta, Georgia, and report directly to Alba’s Chief Marketing Officer, Khalid Abdul Latif. Commenting on the appointment of Patrick Alba’s Chief Marketing Officer, Khalid Abdul Latif said: “Alba Americas represents our commitment to expand our presence in the US market. I congratulate Patrick on his new appointment, and I am confident that he will demonstrate same level of dedication and excellence he has shown in his previous...
The Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) announced the participation of 15 sponsors in the Arab International Aluminium Conference and Exhibition (ARABAL 2015), hosted by the company on November 15-17 in the Dhahran International Exhibition Center. Senior industry figures are scheduled to speak at this premier global aluminium event, the largest in the Gulf region. The conference will also include the participation of 35 exhibitors in the exhibition accompanying the conference which highlights the major developments in the global aluminium industry, with a review of the latest updates on regional aluminium sector investments. Ma’aden is currently doing intensive preparations to insure the success of this conference, which has broad interest to those involved in the aluminium industry,...
The government of India is considering a move to double 5 per cent import duty on aluminium in a bid to salvage Rs 1.2 lakh crore of bank-financed capex investments by domestic players like Vedanta and Hindalco, and protect the 7.5 lakh jobs jeopardized by cheap imports that have captured well over half the market. Layoffs and plant shutdowns are already underway and more job cuts are on the anvil with the industry operating at just 49 per cent capacity in 2014-15 amid a sharp slump in global commodity prices that has brought aluminium prices down 30 per cent in three years. Warning of an adverse impact on the Modi government's 'Make in India' drive if this trend continues, CEOs of aluminium producing companies have sought an urgent intervention from finance minister Arun Jaitley,...
About half of the world’s aluminium smelters were not profitable, and continued price pressure would force more smelters offline in the face of a price that could fall as low as $1 200/t, a report by BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research has found. Aluminium prices had continued trading lower in recent weeks, falling below $1 500/t on Thursday. “In our view, the recent dynamic is testament to the ongoing challenging fundamental backdrop. This has perhaps been most visible in the reluctance of China’s aluminium producers to curtail output; in fact, partially supported by subsidies, the country’s smelters have increasingly delivered into the deficits created by production discipline from smelters in [the rest of the world],” the global commodities research team reported. BofA believed that...
Aluminium prices were up 0.90 per cent to INR 95.35 per kg in futures trade today as participants strengthened their exposure, supported by an upward trend overseas. In addition, rising demand in the spot market influenced metal prices. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in the current month edged up 85 paise, or 0.90 per cent, to INR 95.35 per kg in a business turnover of 4,593 lots. Likewise, the metal for delivery in November traded marginally higher by 80 paise, or 0.83 per cent, to INR 97.10 per kg in a turnover of 763 lots. Marketmen said besides increased domestic demand, a firming global trend in base metals mainly influenced prices in futures trade.
A longstanding Tiwai workers' dispute about lieu days continues after smelter bosses took their case to the Court of Appeal. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters argued on Thursday that an Employment Court judgment was wrong, estimating it could cost the company millions of dollars. In May 2013, 64 Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union [rebranded E Tu] members won an Employment Relations Authority case they took against NZAS concerning the accrual of lieu days for 12-hour shift workers at the Tiwai Point smelter in Southland. E Tu lawyer Greg Lloyd said NZAS appealed the Employment Court's interpretation of section 7A of the Holidays Act 1981 - an Act he said no longer existed. The appeal judges could not overrule an Employment Court decision and could only rule on points of law, he...
Aluminium prices in China fell to a seven-year low on Thursday, adding to difficulties facing companies in the world’s largest producer. China supplies more than half of the world’s aluminium, but a slowing economy and global glut of the lightweight metal have weighed on prices. Aluminium on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell for the ninth day in a row and is down 30 per cent since the summer of 2014. Goldman Sachs said this month that the aluminium market was “facing the greatest bearish fundamental shock in a generation, and perhaps in its history”. The oversupply in China has hit global markets, with prices for aluminium on the London Metal Exchange at their lowest levels since 2009, touching $1,491.50 a tonne on Thursday. Last month, Alcoa, the US producer, said it would split into...
The latest report published by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS) indicates that global primary aluminum market has recorded a deficit during the initial eight months of the year. As per the report, the market reported a deficit of 257,000 tons when matched with the deficit of 654,000 reported during entire year 2014. The production of primary aluminum was up by 7.2% during the eight-month period from January to August this year. The global production rose by 2,557 kt during this period, when compared with a year ago. The total reported stock of metal has declined further by 164,000 tonnes during the month of August. The stocks at the end of the initial eight-month period stood at 4,280 kt, which is sufficient to meet 29 days demand. It must be noted that the stock levels at the...
LME aluminium may hover around a support at $1,532 per tonne, or rebound to a resistance at $1,548, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis. The support and the resistance are identified respectively as the 100 percent and the 86.4 percent Fibonacci projection levels of a downward wave (c), the third wave of a three-wave cycle from the Sept. 9 high of $1,655.50. Given that the fall from the Oct. 15 high of $1,601 has not been disrupted by any decent bounce, the chance of a bounce around $1,532 will be very high. A drop to $1,527 could confirm a break below $1,532, and the 114.6 percent level at $1,515 will be approached.
