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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Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C (Alba), one of the world’s largest smelters, opened a state-of-the-art training centre, which will focus on strengthening core skills of employees and contractors on. The opening ceremony of Alba’s new training centre was held amidst a host of dignitaries --- Subah Al Dosari, Ministry of Labour Undersecretary, Dr. Mohd Al Ansari, Labour Affairs Assistant Undersecretary - Ministry of Labour, and Alba’s Executive Management and managers, and three former training managers. The training centre consists of training administration building having four classrooms and administrative offices, and the Training Workshops Building -- a two-storey building spread over 2,500 sq.m -- which houses nine smart classrooms, and workshops dedicated to each of the five maintenance...
Aluminium settled up 0.33% at 107.15 trying to rebound as the Chinese government bolsters support for the economy. While last week prices dropped to a six-year low amid speculation that an expanding glut and weak demand will weigh on the Chinese market. Still outlook remain weak as Standard & Poor’s warned it was likely to revise the credit ratings for some miners over the next week after cutting its price forecasts for aluminum along with some other metals and said it expected prices to remain volatile. S&P cut its aluminum price forecasts by 18 percent to $0.70 a pound for the rest of 2015, and by 12 percent to $0.75 for 2016. It cut its outlook for copper prices by 11 percent to $2.40 a pound for the rest of this year, 2016 and 2017. Activity in China's manufacturing sector contracted...
The chairman of the US commodities regulator and an executive from aluminium producer Alcoa Inc will meet this week to discuss metals warehousing reform, a spokesman for the agency said on Tuesday. The meeting between US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chairman Timothy Massad and Alcoa Chief Financial Officer Bill Oplinger will take place on Wednesday afternoon. The meeting comes as the aluminium company has ramped up public criticism of the regulator's intervention in the London Metal Exchange's (LME) warehousing reform plan. The dispute highlights aluminium producers' concerns about the impact of LME rule changes on sinking prices. Recent LME reforms have increased the rate at which metal must be delivered out of warehouses, a response to controversial financing deals, and...
More than the aluminium prices that have declined to six-year lows, it is the sharp fall in “premiums” that is hurting the big trading houses like Glencore and Noble Group. Commodities trader and miner Glencore recently cited the “tough metals trading conditions, particularly aluminium and nickel affected by the collapse in physical premiums” as the main causal factor behind the declining earnings of its marketing division. Noble Group’s metals division has been hit badly too. The Asian commodities trader’s profits before interest and tax in its metals and mining segment fell 98 per cent in the first half of the year. Company officials said the division “had a very difficult quarter as premiums for metals in key distribution locations weakened sharply, impacting the overall business and...
Aluminium prices were down 1.45% to INR 105.60 per kg in futures trading today after speculators trimmed positions amid a weak trend overseas and sluggish demand from consuming industries in the spot market. At the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), aluminium for delivery in September shed INR 1.55, or 1.45% to INR 105.60 per kg in business turnover of 597 lots. On similar lines, metal for delivery in October was down by INR 1.15, or 1.07%, to INR 106.75 per kg with a volume of 55 lots. Analysts said off-loading of positions by speculators, tracking a weak trend at the London Metal Exchange (LME) after the official purchasing managers index for manufacturing in China showed its worst reading since August 2012, cementing a broader picture of falling demand in China, weighed on aluminium...
Noranda Aluminum Holding was among the biggest gainers on the Russell 2000 for Monday August 31 as the stock popped 45.76% to $3.95, representing a gain of $1.24 per share. Some 910,934 shares traded hands on 3,325 trades, compared with an average daily volume of n/a shares out of a total float of 1.43 million. The stock opened at $2.81 and traded with an intraday range of $4.16 to $2.81. After today's gains, Noranda Aluminum Holding reached a market cap of $5.65 million. Noranda Aluminum Holding has had a trading range between $39.48 and $2.16 over the last year, and it had a 50-day SMA of $n/a and a 200-day SMA of $n/a.
The global currency war that has driven the dollar up almost 20 per cent against peers over the past year is changing the aluminum business, according to Norsk Hydro ASA, Europe’s third-largest producer. At a time of plunging aluminum prices, the dollar’s strength is helping producers such as Hydro and others, including Canadian and Russian companies, whose costs aren’t tied to the U.S. currency, Eivind Kallevik, chief financial officer of the Oslo-based company, said in an interview at his office Friday. “It has improved the competitiveness of many of the producers in these countries,” he said. “It’s more demanding for those with a dollar-based economy, who obviously are in the U.S. but also in the Middle East, where currencies are pegged to the dollar. And the Chinese that have...
China imported 15,538 mt of primary aluminum in July, up 118.72% MoM and 10.24% YoY, customs data showed. Year to date imports through July totaled 69,365 mt, down 71.25% YoY. Aluminum premiums in Asia held between USD 100-120/mt. The SHFE/LME aluminum price ratio climbed from 7.0 in May to 7.4-7.5 in June, favorable for imports. The price ratio continued rising in July and August, hitting 7.8 at one point. This will further boost primary aluminum imports.
Shandong Province, one of China’s major aluminum producing regions, has vowed to ban new aluminum capacity by 2020 and focus on high value-added aluminum products. Aluminum capacity in the province totals 9.33 million tonnes, while aluminum production is 6.72 million tonnes, leaving an utilization rate of 72.02%, cnmn.com added. In response to overcapacity, local aluminum smelters are setting foot into higher value-added products, such as aluminum semis used in aircrafts and cars.
Russia's Rusal has decided to delay a decision on its possible first dividend since listing five years ago though its second-quarter core profit more than doubled thanks to cost cuts and a weaker rouble. The rouble's decline supports the world's top aluminium producer by partially offsetting weak aluminium prices, which are already at six-year lows and, according to Rusal, will remain under pressure due to a glut of exports from China. "We expect that (the) aluminium market is likely to remain challenging for the remainder of the year," Chairman Matthias Warnig said in a statement. Rusal's core profit, or adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), soared to $568 million for the three months to June from $220 million a year earlier, topping analysts'...
Sandusky officials want to determine if any dangerous chemicals exist at a former industrial site producing aluminum. During a recent meeting, city commissioners gave the go ahead for staff members to pursue an environmental evaluation at 1364 Olds St. — a longtime vacant property previously home to Thakar Aluminum Corp. It is possible an assessment could start and end before 2016 begins. After an appraisal occurs, city officials could leverage an unknown amount of funds to clear, raze and clean the 26-acre industrial site. The goal “is to identify recognized environmental conditions and to relieve the city from future environmental liability should the city consider acquiring the property,” city chief planner Angie Byington said. Similar efforts have recently occurred across Sandusky,...
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) is to start construction of a sixth reduction line, which is expected to begin production in early 2019. The expansion will bring Alba's total production capacity to approximately 1,450,000 mtpa. The company recently marked its 10th year of operations of its fifth reduction line, which was inaugurated by His Royal Highness, Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. The line expanded Alba’s annual aluminium production by adding 307,000 metric tonnes per annum (mtpa), making it the largest aluminium smelter in the world outside of Eastern Europe with a total output of 827,000 mtpa. To date, line five produces more than 345,000 mtpa of liquid metal as compared to its original capacity of 320,000 mtpa. Alba’s chief operations officer, Isa al Ansari, said:...
China's Tianjin Zhongwang Aluminium Co. recently held a furnace ignition ceremony at its smelting and casting plant in Wuqing district of Tianjin. After nearly one hour of continuous observation, all equipment indicators of the furnace were found to be functioning normally. The furnace is engineered to last for 15-20 days and the first batch of alumina hydrate isexpected to be produced at the end of August, said on-site personnel. Tianjin Zhongwang Aluminium imported the furnace equipment from Switzerland Gautschi. Its main advantages include low energy consumption, high efficiency and only 50-54 Nm3 of natural gas needed for each tonne of aluminium.There are other advantages too which are expected to play a key role in the smelter's production capacity. Tianjin Zhongwang Aluminium Co.,...
The China Non-Ferrous Association announced this week that leading Chinese aluminum smelters intend to axe 2.4 million metric tons of capacity in the next couple of months. Nearly all the world’s net gain in production capacity has come from China this year and, while estimates vary, a portion of the industry, even in China, is certainly losing money at current prices. That is the case in the rest of the world, too, with UC Rusal and Alcoa both contemplating further closures. Inside China, the growth of new smelter capacity has been in the northwest, often based on captive, low-cost coal deposits for power generation and utilizing the latest smelter technology that, combined with large economies of scale, has made these Chinese smelters some of the lowest cost of production in the world....
The price of aluminium may be trading at its lowest in six years, but China Hongqiao, which has grown to become one of the world's largest producers of the metal, reported a healthy jump in first-half profits on Friday last week. China Hongqiao said that net profit rose 33 per cent to 2.72b RMB ($426m) for the six months ending in June, according to a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, reports Henry Sanderson, commodities correspondent. China's aluminium market "continued to recover and saw a balance in strong demand and supply" the company's chairman Zhang Shiping said. "China's economy managed gradual yet stable and positive development and the demand for aluminium products by relevant domestic industries became increasingly robust in the first half of the year," he added. The...
Aluminium is trading in a multi-week downward sloping channe on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX). For the last few sessions it has been trading in a sideways manner, which has formed a sideways channel. Recently, the base metal faced resistance near the upper channel line.br> Thus, here on it is expected to start its next move on the downside. The daily momentum indicator has completed the pullback cycle and can start a new cycle on the downside.br> Once the swing low of INR 99.45 breaks, aluminium can tumble till INR 96. On the other hand, INR 102.20-102.60 will act as a key resistance zone on closing basis.br>
Shares of Aluminum Corporation of China Limited rose by 3.85% in the past week and 0.23% for the last 4 weeks. In the past week, the shares have outperformed the S&P 500 by 2.91% and the outperformance increases to 6.03% for the last 4 weeks. Aluminum Corporation Of China Limited has dropped 42.44% during the last 3-month period. Year-to-Date the stock performance stands at -25%. The company shares have dropped 22.09% in the past 52 weeks. On April 28, 2015 The shares registered one year high of $17.44 and one year low was seen on August 26, 2015 at $7.2. The 50-day moving average is $9.13 and the 200 day moving average is recorded at $12.5. S&P 500 has rallied 0.67% during the last 52-weeks. Aluminum Corporation of China Limited witnessed a decline in the market cap on Friday as its...
European and US stock markets rebounded last Friday. This, combined with appreciation of yuan, cheered market up. As such, LME aluminum rose from USD 1,560/mt to USD 1,616/mt. The light metal, though falling back later in the day, still ended up USD 48/mt or 3.08% at USD 1,605/mt. Trading volumes were up 4,149 lots to 19,127 lots, and positions were down 9,440 to 845,000. SHFE 1511 aluminum found solid support at the 10-day moving average and approached the 20-day moving average. With the LME market closed on holiday today, the most active SHFE aluminum contract should be range-bound between RMB 11,940-12,020/mt on Monday. In China’s spot market, restocking demand before the upcoming three-day holiday should leave spot discounts at RMB 100-60/mt over SHFE 1509 aluminum contract.
