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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Despite speculations regarding production cuts in Chinese smelters, global aluminium prices have shown no signs of improvement. This has forced India's Vedanta Group to scale down their aluminium business. They may also consider substantial job cuts to reduce overhead cost, said Abhijit Pati, CEO, Vedanta Limited. Presently, about 1.5 million of India's annual aluminium demand is met through imports from the Middle East and China. Imports rose further to 390,000 tonnes in the last quarter from the same period previous year. Rising imports from China and West Asia, moderate demand in the domestic market, and costlier raw materials and power tariffs have been adding to the concerns of aluminium players in India for a while now. Last week they approached the government to seek increase in...
Tracking a weak trend in the base metals pack at the London Metal Exchange (LME) and low demand at spot market, aluminium prices eased by 0.33 per cent to INR 105.55 per kg in futures trade today as speculators reduced positions. In futures trading at the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in July traded lower by 35 paise, or 0.33 per cent, to INR 105.55 per kg in a business turnover of 371 lots. The metal for delivery in August also fell by a similar margin to trade at INR 107.15 per kg in 13 lots. According to market analysts, weakness in copper and other base metals at the LME in tune with a broader selloff in raw materials as a stronger dollar reduced demand for the commodities as alternative assets, weighed on aluminium futures here. Besides, slackened demand at...
Daily average primary aluminum output excluding China fell to 68,500 tonnes in June from a revised 68,900 tonnes in May, data from the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) showed on Monday. Global production for June, excluding China, was 2.056 million tonnes, down from a revised 2.135 million recorded in May.
Forced to operate their plants at nearly half the capacity due to burgeoning imports from China, aluminium companies on Thursday urged the government to raise import duty on aluminium metal scrap and the metal itself to 10% from 2.5% and 5%, respectively. In a presentation to the mines ministry, aluminium producers said though the country’s installed production capacity currently stands at 4.2 MT, the production was just half of that in the previous fiscal, mainly because of cheaper imports. As a result, their share in domestic consumption fell to 44% last fiscal from 60% in FY11. During the same period, the share of imports went up to 56% from 40%. China and West Asia contribute to a lion’s share of aluminium imports to India, which consumed around 2.8 MT last fiscal. Companies from...
Vedanta Resources plc will announce its production results for the first quarter ended 30 June 2015, on Friday, 31 July 2015 at 7:00 a.m. UK time (11:30 a.m. India time). Following the release, a conference call will be held on the same day at 9:00 a.m. UK time (1:30 p.m. India time), where senior management will discuss the results. The results will be webcast and can be accessed via investor relations section of the Vedanta website.
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd (HKEx) No money was paid by either side in arriving at the settlement, the HKEx-owned LME said in a statement. Under the settlement announced by HKEx on Sunday, the plaintiffs agreed to drop the LME from appeals against a U.S. court’s decision last August dismissing them from their cases, the exchange said. This leaves the plaintiffs free to ask the LME for publicly available data, which they were prevented from doing while the LME was a defendant in the lawsuits. LME data includes inventory levels in the warehouses it monitors. "These are the only principal terms of the settlement," the London-based LME said. The lawsuits, brought last year by companies in the United States, accused banks and traders of hoarding metal in LME warehouses, driving up the...
Aluminum ingot production in Iran reached 93,836 metric tons during the first three months of the current Iranian fiscal year, starting March 21 till June 22. The figure shows five-percent growth compared to the same period of preceding year, Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) reported. Iranian Aluminum Company (IRALCO), produced 46,230 metric tons of aluminum ingots in the 3-month period, while the volume of aluminum ingot production in the Al-Mahdi Aluminum Corporation (AAC) and Hormozal companies stood at 21,100 and 26,506 metric tons respectively. Iran produced 62,601 metric tons of alumina powder in the period as well. Some 29,404 metric tons of aluminum ingots and 21,454 metric tons of alumina powder have also been produced in the...
Speculations about production cuts in Chinese smelters and high selling pressure are all set to drive LME aluminum prices to $ 1, 700 – 1,740 per tonne next week, says Shanghai Metals Market. Prime trading indicators- KDJ and MACD are both pointing upwards. A Strong US dollar, however, is likely to cap the price rise in the foreseeable future. In China’s spot market, no demand turnaround will keep favoring spot discounts at 60-100 yuan per tonne over SHFE 1508 contract.
National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco), the navratna PSU under the Union mines ministry, has entered into an R&D (research & development) cooperation agreement with Aluminium Pechiney (AP) / Rio Tinto Alcan. The agreement was signed between B K Satpathy, executive director, Nalco and Bernard Allais, director (sales and marketing), AP Smelter Technology recently. N R Mohanty, chairman cum managing director, S C Padhy, director (human resources), K C Samal, director (finance) and other senior officials of Nalco were present on the occasion. Various developmental research activities in collaborative efforts will be taken up between the two companies under this agreement.
The stock and finance trade is investing in Japanese aluminum again and republicans in the US House unveiled an $8.1 billion infrastructure bill. Big Banks Investing in Aluminum Again Aluminum stocks at major Japanese ports fell for the first month in more than a year in June as western banks started snapping up metal in Asia after spot premiums fell to two-year lows. Aluminum stocks held at three major Japanese ports fell 0.5% to 499,900 metric tons at the end of June from a month earlier, trading house Marubeni Corp. said on Wednesday. It was the first decline since March last year. Prior to June’s fall, stocks had risen to record levels over several months due to rising exports from China and lackluster Asian demand. Republicans Unveil Infrastructure Bill Republicans in the US House of...
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd said on Sunday it had settled two class-action lawsuit complaints against itself and subsidiary the London Metal Exchange (LME) over allegations of anti-competitive and monopolistic behaviour. The lawsuits, brought by small aluminium manufacturers in the United States, accused banks and traders of hoarding metal in LME warehouses, driving up the prices of industrial products from soft-drink cans to aeroplanes. Of 26 lawsuits filed against LME, 24 were consolidated into three complaints according to type of user: "first-level" purchasers that buy primary aluminium, consumer end users and commercial end users. "The consumer end user plaintiffs and commercial end user plaintiffs have entered into a settlement and mutual release ... to bring an end to their...
China’s aluminum output advanced to a record, underscoring the threat to global producers as low-cost capacity expands in the world’s biggest supplier. The country made 2.8 million metric tons of aluminum in June, 18 percent more than a year earlier, National Bureau of Statistics data show. Production climbed 12 percent in the first half to 15.61 million tons. New supply from China is forcing smelters elsewhere to cut output as exports surge and prices slump. Shipments from the country rose to the highest this year in June, boosting a global surplus of the raw material used in everything from cans and cars to aircraft and sending rates to the lowest since 2009. “The Chinese market is in a fundamental surplus and that’s growing,” said Ivan Szpakowski, commodities strategist at Citigroup...
India plans a $3 billion aluminum smelter complex in Iran, now that nuclear negotiations between Tehran and the P5+1 countries have concluded, media reports say. The idea was mooted in 2014 but India has been cooling its heels for the removal of sanctions on Iran to go ahead with the plan. India’s National Aluminium Co.(NALCO) is now seriously considering to implement the project after Iran and the P5+1 finalized their negotiations on Tuesday. The plan includes the construction of a smelter to produce 500,000 metric tons of aluminum per year and a 1,000-megawatt captive power plant. India’s coal stock is not sufficient to power its aluminum production and since imports of coal are not viable, the country has to look for reserves and build a plant abroad. Iran is using a mix of sources for...
China's production of aluminiumr rose 3.3 percent from the previous month in June. New capacity continued to drive up production of primary aluminium to a fresh record of 2.76 million tons in June. In the first half, aluminium output jumped 11.7 percent from a year ago to 15.6 million tonnes. More than 2 million tonnes of aluminium capacity started production in the first half, said Xu Hongping, analyst at China Merchants Futures. Another 3 million tonnes of new capacity is likely to come onstream in the second half, she said. Production costs to many aluminium smelters had fallen due to weak prices of raw material alumina and coal, offsetting weak domestic prices AL-A00-CCNMM, Xu said. Xu expects aluminium production to rise further in the coming months.
The Aluminium Association of India (AAI), the industry body of Indian aluminium producers, met the Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs on Thursday, seeking government action to protect the cheap imports and crushing meltdown in global prices by imposing an import duty of 10%. The delegation also proposed a protectionist policy of mandating Indian buyers to purchase the products of Indian aluminium producers. The association said the new projects set up by Indian players, which could double aluminium production in the country, were functioning at less than the capacity. Total imports to India have surged by over 159% to 1,563 kilo tonne (KT) in 2015 as against the import of 881 KT in 2011, according to AAI. The association said that imports,...
Century Aluminum Company will report second quarter 2015 earnings on Thursday, August 6th after the close of market trading. The news release will be issued through Marketwired. The company will hold a follow-up conference call on Thursday, August 6th at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. The earnings call will be webcast live on the Century Aluminum Company website. Plan to begin the registration process at least 10 minutes before the live call is scheduled to begin. A replay of the webcast will be archived and available for replay approximately two hours following the live call.
Rio Tinto releases strong production results for second quarter 2015 across all sectors. Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh said “We have maintained our emphasis on efficiency and protecting returns, which is reflected in this solid production performance. We have also delivered three significant achievements within our growth portfolio. In aluminium, our Kitimat smelter is now producing metal from its expanded facilities, bringing 80 per cent of our smelting capacity into the first cost quartile. Our combination of world-class assets, financial strength, and operating and commercial excellence provides a sound base to continue to generate sustainable returns for our shareholders.” Aluminium Highlight • The modernised Kitimat aluminium smelter in Canada poured first hot metal during the...
Aluminium settled down -0.7% at 106.25 as major economic indicators released yesterday fell short of market expectations. China's exports of unwrought aluminum and aluminum semis were 450,000 mt in June, with YTD exports from January to June at 2510,000 mt, up 35.2 % YoY. Aluminium stocks held at three major Japanese ports stood at 499,900 tonnes at the end of June, down 0.5 percent from 502,200 tonnes a month earlier. China's economy grew an annual 7.0 percent in the second quarter, steady with the previous quarter and slightly better than analyst forecasts, though further stimulus is still expected after the quarter ended with a stock market crash. The U.S. Commerce Department said that retail sales declined by a seasonally adjusted 0.3% last month, disappointing expectations for a gain...
