Aluminium prices came under renewed pressure on October 1 as expectations of improving supply, stronger Chinese exports and a firmer USD weighed on the market. Aluminium settled 0.73 per cent lower at INR 340.65, while expectations of tighter US monetary policy added to the broader macroeconomic pressure. The decline comes as several aluminium smelters prepare to restart previously idled capacity, while others move ahead with expansion plans. These developments are raising expectations that global aluminium availability could improve in the coming months. China exports add to supply pressure China is emerging as another important factor for the aluminium market. Rising exports are partly offsetting supply disruptions in the Gulf, with August aluminium exports increasing 17.2 per cent...
According to SMM statistics, on September 30, aluminium billet inventory in major consuming regions in China stood at 149,500 tonnes, up 500 tonnes WoW from last Thursday and down 5,000 tonnes from this Monday, with inventory consolidating at highs and basically flat overall. On a year-over-year basis, inventory was about 35,000 tonnes higher than the same period in 2025 and about 41,000 tonnes higher than the same period in 2024, with total inventory still at the highest level for the same period in the past four years. From the perspective of warehouse withdrawals, aluminium billet withdrawals from September 21 to September 28 totalled 44,800 tonnes, holding near 45,000 tonnes for two consecutive weeks. By region, Foshan inventory stood at 69,500 tonnes, down 3,000 tonnes from last...
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Emirates Global Aluminium, the world’s fourth-largest maker of the metal, reported a 75 per cent rise in net income last year amid rising aluminium prices and cost cuts. EGA, created by the merger of Dubai Aluminium and Emirates Aluminium, did not specify its net income for last year or 2013. It said, however, that gross revenue rose 30 per cent to US$5.4 billion last year, without giving a corresponding figure for 2013. “Sustained focus on reducing costs resulted in a drop in controllable costs,” said the company, which did not reply to a request for more details. The price of the metal last year rose 2.9 per cent. EGA, which has an annual production capacity of 2.4 million tonnes, said last month that it had cut 250 jobs, or 4 per cent of its workforce, as a result of the merger of its...
UC RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, announces the appointment of Bob Katsiouleris as Director of European Sales. Bob Katsiouleris will join RUSAL on 1st August 2015 following a successful period as Senior Vice President for Marketing, Sourcing and Sales at Nyrstar, where he was accountable for the company’s global commercial activities and supply chain management. At RUSAL, he will be responsible for leading and developing the Company’s European sales portfolio, reporting to Steve Hodgson, RUSAL’s Sales & Marketing Director. Bob will replace Ulli Schridde, who has successfully lead the company’s sales activities in Europe over the last five years. ‘Europe has been a cornerstone market for RUSAL over many years, driven by a number of deep relationships across all consuming...
LME aluminium is headed for further decline. It will fall to $ 1,620-1,660 per tonne next week, foresees Shanghai Metals Market. Given the negative technical indicators and strong bearishness in commodity market there is no possibility that the metal will rebound in the short term. But the downside space will be limited since it is already in oversold territory. SHFE 1510 aluminum contract should drop to 12,150-12,350 yuan per tonne, due to pessimism over aluminum consumption in China and growing expectations for interest rate in the US. In China’s spot market, moth-end cash crunch and weak demand in summer will leave spot discounts high at 90-130 yuan per tonne over SHFE 1508 contract.
Aluminium producers in India seem to be worried with the slump in metal’s price. The aluminum arm of India’s Vendanta Ltd is just about scrambling to keep its business viable. Underutilized capacity is already adding to their cost; sources say any further fall in the metal prices would likely force the company to scale down its production. Meanwhile, with smelters becoming economically unviable, the company is seeking access to other raw materials like power, bauxite and coal. Last week, the Aluminium Association of India (of which Vedanta, Hindalco and others are part of) met the Mining Secretary, as well as Chairman of Excise and Customs seeking import duty hike of 10 percent from current 5 percent. The Association cited that imports have surged to a whopping 159 percent between FY11...
Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited director (Commercial) TK Chand is all set to take charge as the new chairman-cum-managing director of National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) on July 27. The Department of Personnel in the Union government issued the appointment order to this effect Tuesday evening. Chand who began his career as a management trainee at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in 1983, went on to become the director (commercial) in September 2010. He played a key role in marketing various products of the Steel Plant and spread its operations abroad by opening the company’s international marketing office in Colombo. He was also instrumental in increasing the RINL sales in the domestic market. He also worked as the Vizag zonal chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry and also headed...
BHP Billiton owned South32 anticipates declaring a dividend at the end of next year.This was revealed in the company’s third quarterly report, which it issued to shareholders yesterday. In the statement, South32 notes it has hit four annual production records including saleable alumina at Brazil Aluminium, coal at Illawarra, alloy at Australia Manganese and ore at SA Manganese. It also experienced a “substantial” increase in annual exports from SA Energy Coal, although aluminium production at Hillside and Mozal were “broadly unchanged” as efficiency gains offset a “significant” increase in load-shedding. CEO Graham Kerr says: “We have the right balance sheet for the times and intend to distribute a minimum 40% of underlying earnings to our shareholders from next year.” Kerr adds the...
Noranda Aluminum Holding Co has delayed efforts to ramp up production at its New Madrid, Missouri, smelter due to a sharp decline in aluminum prices, said President and CEO Kip Smith, as the company's quarterly losses widened. The company had previously expected the 253,000 tonne-per-year smelter to reach full capacity by the third quarter. It is currently operating at about 85 percent of capacity, down from 90 percent in May, Smith said on a conference call to discuss the company's second-quarter earnings. "The economics of ramping up production changed," Smith said, noting that the company would focus on achieving "operating stability" and "prudently" increasing production at the smelter through the fourth quarter of 2015. The company announced a loss of 25 cents a share for the second...
Industrial metals from copper to zinc fell again on Wednesday, buffeted by a strengthening US dollar and nagging concerns about China. Aluminium, a lightweight metal used in everything from aeroplane bodies to drinks cans, was among the fallers. It dropped to a fresh six-year low after the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said China would deal with excess capacity in its aluminium industry by exporting it to the rest of the world. On Wednesday, aluminium for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange hit $1,651 a tonne before recovering to end $4 lower at $1,658. Although Chinese aluminium consumption is forecast to grow by more than 9 per cent, this output is growing at a faster pace, according to Alcoa, one of the world’s biggest producers. Data from China’s...
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 five months of the year. As per the report, the market turned into a deficit of 261,000 tons when matched with the deficit of 723,000 reported during entire year 2014. The production of primary aluminum was up by 3,288 kt during the four-month period from January to May this year. The total reported stock of metal has declined further by 32000 tonnes during the month of May. The stocks at the end of the initial five-month period stood at 4,697 kt. It must be noted that the stock levels at the end of 2014 had stood at 5,020 kt. The combined stocks held in London, Shanghai, USA and Tokyo exchanges totaled 4,033 kt at the end of...
Aluminium Powder Company (Alpoco), Holyhead has been reported to be making around 10 redundancies. This led to fears of more than a quarter of workforce reduction in its Anglesey aluminium plant. The GMB union said it was dealing with a redundancy issue at the company. Holyhead mayor JV Owen said any loss of jobs was a massive blow to the town of Holyhead. He added: "I would be happy to meet the company to discuss if the council can assist in any way to help secure jobs." Alpoco is among the world’s largest manufacturers of aluminium powders and granules. They are exported around the globe and used in pastes, pigments, chemicals, metallurgy, refractory, propulsion, pyrotechnics, spray deposition and powder metallurgy. Last month an explosion at the plant caused the A55 to be closed for a...
The Mines Ministry of India, after being approached by AAI and leading aluminium makers of the country last week, has agreed on the issue of increasing import tax on aluminium. The Ministry will ask its counterparts in the government’s finance department to double the import tax to counter cheap imports from China and the Middle East. Producers have sought a 10 percent increase in custom duty, confirmed Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar. “The industry is in a difficult situation and they need some sort of government support to tide over the situation,” he said. Cheap imports from China and the Middle East along with plunging LME prices because of global glut have made aluminium smelters across the country economically unviable. The metal slumped 18.6 percent to a six-year low on LME in the...
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation today reported results for second quarter 2015 on July 23, 2015. "In a volatile second quarter 2015 aluminum price environment, we successfully managed cash and available liquidity while continuing to focus on improving our operational reliability and implementing key productivity initiatives," said Layle K. "Kip" Smith, Noranda's President and Chief Executive Officer. "At a time when aluminum prices have declined sharply, maintaining cash and liquidity is a strategic priority. We believe our cash and available liquidity position supports our business as we execute our other strategic priorities." "Our strategic priorities are to preserve cash and liquidity while reducing our costs by improving our operational reliability and implementing key...
China’s aluminum exports that are compounding a glut of the metal are unfair competition to overseas producers, according to Norsk Hydro ASA. China accounts for half of the world’s aluminum supply and has been producing record amounts of the metal, which it then ships out in the form of semi-fabricated products. A “significant amount” of primary material is also leaving the country disguised into shapes that circumvent the country’s tax rules, said Hydro’s Chief Executive Officer Svein Richard Brandtzaeg. “This is definitely unfair competition,” Brandtzaeg said in an interview in London on Tuesday. “This is absolutely damaging the industry. It’s taking the market share from other companies.” Aluminum is trading near a six-year low amid an oversupply that Hydro, Europe’s third-largest...
The most recent statistics released by the International Aluminum Institute (IAI) indicates that the global aluminum output during the month of June this year, excluding China, dropped when compared with the prior month. As per IAI data, the total aluminum production during June this year totaled 2.056 million mt, down by almost 3.7% when compared with the revised output figure of 2.135 million mt in May. The average daily aluminum output during the month of June this year was slightly lower month-on-month. The daily output, excluding China, averaged at 68,500 mt per day, lower by 400 mt per day when compared with the average daily output of 68,900 mt per day during May this year. The average daily output in China stood at 91,900 tons, significantly higher when compared with 87,200 tons...
Aluminum slid to the lowest in almost two weeks as increasing supply from China adds to a global glut in the metal. Chinese exports of unwrought aluminum and products swelled 35 percent in the first half from a year earlier to 2.5 million metric ons, according to customs data. While demand in the rest of the world will exceed supply this year, the excess supply in China will mean a global surplus of 500,000 to 1 million tons, according to Norsk Hydro ASA. “A number of commodity complexes, ranging from aluminum, to copper, steel and oil among others, are all are saddled with too much supply,” Edward Meir, an analyst at INTL FCStone Inc. in New York, said in an e-mailed report. There’s “no willingness on behalf of their respective producers to ratchet down output in order to lend an element...
BHP Billiton spin-off South32 will record a $US1.9 billion writedown on manganese and coal assets, and said curtailing production of manganese and aluminium was designed to maximise shareholder value, rather than volume. South32 today said the $US1.3bn reduction in book value of the manganese assets largely offsets the previous "fair value uplift" of $US2.1bn described in its listing documents. The company also flagged a $US539 million writedown on its Wolvekrans Middelburg complex at its South Africa energy coal unit. "The associated reduction in book value will result in a lower depreciation charge for the manganese assets than previously indicated," South32 added. BHP Billiton spun off its non-core assets into South32, in May, as the parent miner focusses on commodities including iron...
China's Shandong Electric Power Corporation or SEPCO on Tuesday handed over the first unit of Balco's INR 5,000-crore 1,200 MW power plant to the aluminium producer. Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco), a part of the billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group, said work will start on the remaining three units of the power plant shortly. Vedanta holds a 51 per cent stake in Balco, while the remaining is with the government of India. "The first unit of the 12,00 MW power plant established by Balco has been handed over by Sepco to the Balco management for operation," Balco said in a statement. Balco's head for 1,200 MW operations Pankaj Sharma said SEPCO had started the reliability run test (RRT) on July 3, 2015, and the plant was run with average load continuously till July 16, and no...
Hydro's underlying earnings before financial items and tax declined to NOK 2,667 million in the second quarter from NOK 3,208 million in the first quarter of 2015, mainly reflecting lower aluminium prices and premiums. Highlight: • Underlying EBIT of NOK 2,667 million • Record downstream results on seasonally stronger sales • Lower realized alumina and all-in aluminium prices • New ICMS tax-framework in place • Long-term power sourcing secured for Rheinwerk • Continued challenging global market balance • 2015 global primary aluminium demand growth ~5% "Results this quarter are affected by weaker prices, but I am pleased to see demand growing and aluminium taking over as the preferred metal in more and more applications, contributing to record results in our downstream operations," says...
