In the final three trading days before the National Day holiday, the South China spot market stayed soft: aluminium prices continued to edge lower, the SHFE aluminium backwardation structure strengthened, and premiums over the next-month and far-month contracts were actually elevated. Ahead of the holiday, the willingness to cash out at the high basis was strong, and amid ongoing destocking, discount-priced cargoes still dominated spot circulation; demand was largely subdued, with only localized bargain-hunting replenishment and quite limited buying interest. On the whole, however, the high spot premium for aluminium ingots in South China remained largely intact. As of September 30, the SMM A00 aluminium (Foshan) spot premium over the 2610 contract stood at RMB 260 per tonne, still within...
Four days to go, and the aluminium world is getting ready to move to Düsseldorf. From October 6-8, the city will host ALUMINIUM 2026 , with more than 800 exhibitors and partners and over 21,000 trade visitors expected at Messe Düsseldorf. The event will bring together producers, recyclers, downstream manufacturers, technology providers, equipment suppliers, policymakers and end users from across the global aluminium value chain. The 2026 edition comes at an important point for the aluminium industry. European producers are facing pressure from energy costs, international competition and tighter climate requirements, while concerns around raw material security and resilient supply chains continue to grow. At the same time, demand for aluminium is expanding across electric mobility,...
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Japan’s Fuji Pigment Co. Ltd. announced on January 8 that it has developed a new type of aluminium-air battery rechargeable by refilling salty or normal water and having a modified structure which ensures longer battery lifetime. Due to fossil fuel depletion and the air pollution arising from its combustion, there is urgent demand for renewable, clean fuel alternatives for our future energy supply. Although commercialized rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are widely used in mobile phones, laptop computers, and similar electronic devices, their energy density is still insufficient to permit their use in electric vehicles at an industrial level with economical cost. The highest energy storage technologies faced by recent researchers are the metal-air batteries. Several metal-air batteries...
Aluminium futures traded a shade lower at INR 113.40 per kg in futures trade today as participants reduced their exposures amidst weak global cues. Besides, sluggish demand in the domestic spot markets also weighed on the metal's price. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in February eased by 10 paise, or 0.09 per cent, to INR 113.40 per kg in a business turnover of six lots. Similarly, the metal for delivery in January traded lower by 5 paise, or 0.04 per cent, to INR 112.55 per kg in 175 lots. Marketmen said the weakness in aluminium at futures trade was mostly in tune with a weak trend in copper and other metals at the London Metal Exchange and low demand at domestic spot market.
The most traded March aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange hit a contract low for the fourth session running, due to a glut of capacity in the world's top producer of the metal. The ShFE contract launched in 2005. China aluminium producers have been stepping up exports of semi manufactured products to global markets, weighing on LME prices that slipped to a new 7-month low at $1,781.25. Prices have also been hurt by worries over Chinese growth and as the possibility that Greece will quit the eurozone dents appetite for risk. "It's easy to blame oil, but I think clearly Greece was (also) one of the key issues, and the numbers towards the end of the year from China were on the weak side," said analyst Dominic Schnider of UBS Wealth Management in Hong Kong.
A project, being undertaken by some of the researchers of Qatar University, aims to partially make use of aluminium slags in concrete structures. Initiated under the auspices of the Centre for Advanced Materials, (CAM) at Qatar University, the project aims to partially replace cement which is expensive and environmentally pollutant, with aluminium slags which are discarded in landfills and are not environmentally friendly either. According to a report in Qatar University Research Magazine, the project team is led by Dr Nesibe Gozde Ozerkan, assistant professor and assistant researcher at CAM. Omar al-Azzawi, a Masters student in the project team, claimed that using the mix design specified in the research will reduce the concrete final setting time by 48%. It will also, Omar said, reduce...
Under the patronage of His Excellency Dr Mohammed bin Saleh bin Abdullah Al Sada, the Minister of Energy and Industry, the first Gulf Aluminium Casthouse Conference “GulfCast”, an annual three day event dedicated to successive and continuous developments of the aluminium industry with distinguished international guest speakers has been scheduled for 2nd – 4thMarch 2015 at Sharq Village & SPA in Doha, by Qatar Aluminium “Qatalum”. Many pioneers of the aluminium industry at both regional and global levels will be hosted at the GulfCast conference, including workers and specialists, brought together for a special program to share in the accomplishments and developments of the aluminium industry. Speakers at the three-day conference will discuss a number of key aspects pertaining to the...
Predicting the market conditions for the new year is always a tricky business and it becomes even more so when it is in regard to a volatile market like aluminium which has seen such ups and downs in the previous year itself. Yet industry experts are making tentative predictions about what may happen in 2015 in the aluminium industry. At present, the common consensus that is being heard in the industry is that the unnaturally high premiums seen in the first quarter is likely to dip in the second and third quarters as warehouse financing deals expire and there is more inflow of metal into the market. However assuming that the premium will come down enough to make the LME price the larger part of the all-in price is still assuming too much, as something similar had been said last year as...
Rusal, the Russian aluminium company, is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its Hong Kong listing in an innovative new way – through a Facebook Quiz. On Rusal’s “Friends of Russia" Facebook page, those who are interested in participating can find the Quiz with a lucky few eligible to win the new Russian-developed smartphone called YotaPhone 2, as mentioned in the company statement. The phone has already received a fair bit of media coverage not just because it is the world’s first and at the time only phone with a dual screen but also because the phone was gifted to the President Xi Jinping by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. People may question, why Rusal is celebrating at all considering its dismal state at the stock market which reveals a price of HK$5.23 which is far below its...
Oman government is set to divest its stake in several state-owned firms in a move to cover an unprecedented budget deficit of OMR2.5 billion in 2015. The semi-government or state-owned companies that have been identified for privatisation include Majan Glass, National Aluminium Products Company, and Muscat Electricity Distribution Company. The government will divest its stakes in these companies either by an initial public offering or selling ownership to strategic partners or a combination of both. The planned privatisation programme of a number of state-owned firms is under preparation and would be carried out in the next three years (2015-17), after getting necessary approvals, said the Ministry of Finance in a statement. Apart from borrowing from within the country and outside,...
Brazil has been a sufferer in the aluminium business in 2014, with exports dipping by 23.5% year-on-year as the primary producers in the country cut production capacities. In 2013, 404,847 tonnes of unwrought non alloyed metal was shipped abroad which fell to 309,878 tonnes in 2014 according to the figures released on January 5, by the Brazil’s foreign trade mininstry, MDIC. The company that is partly owned by Norsk Hydro and partly by the Japanese Nippon Amazon Aluminium Corp. is the only primary aluminium producer that has not cut production in the year due to its prior commitment to its Japanese vendors. The total revenues generated from export was $225.1 billion in 2014 while $229.03 billion was the import costs resulting in the $3.93 billion trade deficit seen last year which is the...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba)’s metal production soared to 931,427 metric tonnes in 2014 – jumping 18,727 metric tonnes from 912,700 metric tonnes achieved in 2013. A ceremony to mark Alba’s all-time production record was held at HRH Princess Sabeeka Oasis on Monday, January 5, 2015. The event was attended by Alba’s Chief Executive, Tim Murray, Chief Operations Officer, Isa Al Ansari, Chief Financial Officer, Ali Al Baqali, Chief Marketing Officer, Jean Baptiste Lucas, Chairman of Alba Labour Union, Ali Al Binali as well as a large number of senior officials and employees. Commenting on the company’s production record, Alba’s Chief Executive, Tim Murray said: “Alba continues to push the limit on operational performance with our existing assets. In 2014 we were able to exceed the record...
Aluminium futures were marginally up by 0.38% at INR 118 per kg today amid a rising demand at spot markets and a firming trend overseas. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in February moved up by 45 paise, or 0.38%, to INR 118 per kg, with a business turnover of five lots. Similarly, the metal for delivery in January traded higher 15 paise, or 0.11%, at INR 117.40 per kg, with a business turnover of 143 lots. Marketmen said apart from rising demand at spot markets, a firming trend at global markets influenced aluminium futures here.
Oversupply in China’s aluminum market is expected to escalate in Q1 2015 on massive new capacities and falling demand, CNMN reported on January 2. Most new capacities came on stream in H2 2014. Nearly 3 million-tpy aluminum capacities in Xinjiang and at Shandong Weiqiao Group began to enter operations in September 2014, which will gradually reach full capacity in Q1 2015. On the demand side, many aluminum processors will not return to production immediately after the Chinese New Year holiday – February 19 this year – due to cash crunch and poor orders. Moreover, power costs at aluminum smelters have fallen sharply, due to the flooding of new capacities in Xinjiang, growing use of captive power in major producing regions, such as Shandong and Henan, as well as falling thermal coal prices....
The Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO), which is the nodal agency for land acquisition for various projects in the state, has already allotted 8,066 acres of land for proposed aluminium projects in the state. “We have allotted 8,066 acres of land for the proposed projects in aluminium sector in the state. Total land requirement for all MoU projects in this segment is pegged at 13,924.5 acres,” an official of IDCO said. As per documents of the state agency, IDCO had acquired and allotted 2,053.2 acres of government land and 6,012.77 acres of private land for these projects. In the aluminium sector, the state government had signed memorandum of understanding with Vedanta Aluminium (now Sesa Sterlite), Aditya Aluminium and home grown RSB Metaltech Ltd. In case of...
Market analysts are assuming, in 2015 the aluminium prices will build on the gains made in the past 12 months with the large-scale production cuts worldwide and the growing demand for the metal, pushing the market into a deficit after many years. The aluminium prices have been on a roller-coaster ride with the LME cash prices hovering around $1,635 per tonne in February and shooting up to $2,100 per tonne in August. By November 17, the price stood at $2,050 per tonne. With the supply tightening across the world outside China, and the demand at an all time high, experts believe that in 2015, the average price would be around $2,063. There are threats of course that threaten the growth of aluminium prices. The first and obvious threat is the universal slowdown in global demand which is...
Aluminium settled down -0.43% at 116.85 as pressure seen amid signs of an economic slowdown in China, the world’s largest metals consumer. The final reading this month for the manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for China from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics came in at 49.6, the lowest in seven months. A figure below 50 signifies contraction. China is on course for the slowest year of economic growth since 1990, according to a survey. Prices seen under pressuree this year amid prospects for fading demand from the Asian nation. Warehouses registered by the LME will raise average rental rates for aluminium by 3.6 percent in 2015, more than double the increase for the previous year, partly offsetting the impact of falling load-out queues. The S&P/CS index of 20 large cities in...
Shri V. Balasubramanyam, Executive Director (Production), NALCO, Bhubaneswar has taken over as the new Director (Production) of National Aluminium Company Limited, a Navratna PSU of Govt. of India from 1st January 2015 on superannuation of Shri S.S. Mahapatra, on 31st December 2014. After completing his B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from ANNA UNIVERSITY, Chennai in 1984, Shri Balasubramanyam started his career with National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) in December 1984 as Graduate Engineer Trainee. During his long service association of three decades with NALCO, Shri Balasubramanyam has contributed significantly from Technology adoption to absorption in the field of Aluminium Technology. With his vast professional experience, which nested from project execution to plant operation at...
A statement released by the Inner Mongolia’s local government reveals that they are not approving any new aluminium or steel plants in the region. This decision is taken by the government in a bid to improve the air quality in the region, for the same reason, the government is also putting a restriction on the expansion of any capacity in the cement and plate glass industry. The same rules are being imposed on the coke, calcium carbide and ferro-alloys in its counties close to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area. The region currently has nearly 3.1 million tpy of total aluminium capacity, according to SMM data and by 2017, the government plans to shut downs outdated aluminium smelting capacity worth of 58,000 tonnes along with plans to curb aluminium capacity growth in the region which has...
China’s uncertain economic situation is likely to hang heavy over the non-ferrous metals sector in 2015. The country is one of the largest consumers and producers of non-ferrous metals and its decision to re-balance economic growth from an investment-focused one to a consumption-oriented one has upset demand-supply balances. It has not helped that the other emerging markets, too, are seeing slower growth, while Europe’s growth continues to disappoint. Moreover, capacities that were planned in the years when the prices were high are coming on line at a time when demand is flagging. Despite all these factors, non-ferrous metals such as zinc and aluminium were better off in 2014. Copper has had a bad year, in comparison, aluminium and zinc prices did better with their prices rising by around...
