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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Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on Monday ended its four-year ownership of its metal-warehousing unit, unloading it to an investment firm run by two British brothers. Just last month, Goldman executives were grilled before a U.S. Senate panel about accusations that the warehousing unit, Metro International Trade Services, withheld metal supplies and drove up aluminum prices in the U.S. Terms of the sale to Reuben Brothers, an investment firm based in Switzerland and founded by brothers David and Simon Reuben, weren't disclosed. The two brothers made much of their fortune in the aluminum industry, most prominently in Russia in the 1990s. Their eponymous firm has also been an active property investor of late and was mentioned earlier this year as a contender to buy the Plaza Hotel in New York....
China Hongqiao Group, one of the mainland’s largest aluminium producers, has announced a 1.9 billion yuan acquisition that would expand its production capacity by around 21 per cent and allow it to generate more of its own power. The Shandong province-based and main-board listed firm said it had entered into a deal to buy all of Binzhou Municipal Binbei New Material, which trades bauxite, aluminium ingots, plates, foils, strips and makes processed aluminium products. Binzhou recorded a net profit of 469.12 million yuan in the first nine months of this year, a net profit of 314.23 million yuan last year and a net profit of 91.35 million yuan in 2012, China Hongqiao said in a filing to Hong Kong’s stock exchange. It owns facilities that have an annual capacity to produce 660,000 tonnes of...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) bolstered its reputation as a leading energy efficient aluminium producer with the addition of a new air compressor to its existing fleet in the utilities wing of the Company’s Power and Utilities Department. The new unit has been installed with an aim to cater to the growing demand for compressed air to match aluminium production creep targets. Highlighting further, Alba’s Director for Power and Utilities, Amin Sultan said: “The installation of the new unit was in line with Alba’s commitment to efficiency, where the Company continually endeavours to upgrade its systems to ensure enhanced productivity. We successfully implemented this project in-house where the cost was optimised by the packaging of contracts to optimum level, and not opting for a turnkey...
Aluminium settled down -1.2% at 119.25 after US economic data were mixed overnight. Initial jobless claims and the Conference Board Leading Economic Index were positive. But Markit’s service PMI and Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing index missed forecasts. A firm dollar and falling crude oil prices dampened market sentiment. In this context, LME aluminum fell back to USD 1,902/mt after rising slightly, and ended at USD 1,911/mt. While the contango in the aluminium forward curve has edged higher in recent weeks after nearly moving into backwardation last month. The contango in the 27-month aluminium forward is now USc5/lb, while the contango in the 15-month aluminium forward is now USc3.5/lb. A contango forms in commodity forward curves when there is a surplus in the underlying commodity....
An agreement signed between Rio Tinto Alcan and the Quebec government now allows Rio Tinto to extend the remaining aluminium operations the company has in Arvida in Saguenay until the end of 2020 that will save 1,000 jobs. Through the agreement, Rio Tinto Alcan will be entitled to low preferential electricity price on the condition that they sell the excess energy to Hydro-Quebec at the same discounted rate. The annual output is going to be stepped up from 35,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes, the company agreed. The smelter was commissioned on 1941 and the outdated Soderbeg technology used here is being phased out of all Quebec smelters to comply with the strict environmental regulations which has to be done by Dec. 31. A nearby Rio Tinto facility in Arvida, the AP60 research and development...
The recent reallocation of mines ordered by the Indian Government has dashed Hindalco’s hopes of bidding for the Mahan coal block to power its smelter as the Coal Ministry has specifically marked it for the power sector. Hindlaco had planned to use the coal from Mahan to power the Mahan Aluminium smelter where the company had invested around INR 10,500 crore. The Odisha-based Mahan coal block had been earlier assigned to Essar Power and Hindalco and now it has been reserved wholly for the power sector, which means that although Hindalco cannot access the mine, Essar Power can if it decides to bid for it. Hindalco also hoped that it would get a second chance at the Talabira coal block which had been de-allocated by the Supreme Court on 24th September. The mine could provide the power to...
Noranda Aluminum Holding ($NOR) was among the biggest gainers on the Russell 2000 for Wednesday December 17 as the stock popped 5.49% to $3.46, representing a gain of $0.18 per share. Some 1.13 million shares traded hands on 4,092 trades, compared with an average daily volume of 843,333 shares out of a total float of 68.87 million. The stock opened at $3.30 and traded with an intraday range of $3.46 to $3.27. After today's gains, Noranda Aluminum Holding reached a market cap of $238.28 million. Noranda Aluminum Holding has had a trading range between $5.64 and $2.34 over the last year, and it had a 50-day SMA of $3.88 and a 200-day SMA of $3.99. Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp is a North American integrated producer of value-added primary aluminum products and high quality rolled aluminum...
Saudi Arabia may have been late to build an aluminium industry compared with the other countries in the GCC, but it is now putting the finishing touches on an integrated production chain that surpasses anything else in the region. A $10.8bn aluminium complex is nearing completion at Ras al-Khair on the east coast that includes an alumina refinery, smelter and a rolling mill. The refinery is fed by a bauxite mine in the north, with the reserves guaranteed supply to the complex for at least 30 years. There are already plans to expand the complex, as well as developing downstream conversion industries. What sets the kingdom apart is that it is an end-to-end aluminium production chain. Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) has once again successfully exploited the country’s rich mineral...
Birla-owned Hindalco Industries is targeting to export a record $1 billion worth of aluminium by 31st March as the demand in Europe and US rise. At the close of the financial year ending March 31, the overseas shipments are expected to triple reaching as much as 400,000 tonnes, whereas they have not even reached half that number as of the middle of last month, say sources. Hindalco, the world’s largest supplier of aluminium sheets supplier has been facing a slowdown on the domestic front for five straight quarters. Now, as the emission norms in US and Europe get stricter, auto makers are scrambling for aluminium to produce lightweight, fuel-efficient cars, Hindalco can look forward to greater overseas sales and a steady market for its new increased capacity. The demand-supply of aluminium...
Shares of Hindalco Industries today plunged over 5.6 per cent amid fresh concerns related to the case of Talabira II coal block allocation to the company. Hindalco's stock tumbled 5.67 per cent to settle at INR 144.70 on the BSE. In the intra-day trade, it had lost 7.49 per cent to a low of INR 141.90. At the NSE, it crashed 5.19 per cent to close at INR 145.25. On the volume front, 25.37 lakh shares of the company changed hands at the BSE, while over one crore shares were traded at the NSE during the day.
The backlog to remove aluminum from Detroit, the most acutely impacted location, shrank by 30 days to 641 days, while the wait to remove other metals stuck behind the wall of aluminum fell from 111 to 93 days. The reduction in waiting times was even sharper at the Dutch port of Vlissingen, a drop from 637 to 555 days, according to the LME's latest monthly report. All good news, it appears, for the LME, which has been lambasted by industrial users for its dysfunctional physical delivery system and its disputed part in fracturing the aluminum market's pricing model. True, the problem can hardly be described as fixed given you'd still have to wait well over a year to get aluminum out of either Detroit or Vlissingen, but at least things are moving in the right direction even before the...
Russia and Bahrain’s relationship is getting stronger as several areas of bilateral trade and investment have been put forth like aluminium, aircraft, chemicals, biotechnology, agriculture and pharmaceuticals. Denis Manturov, the Russian Minister of Industry and Trade said in an interview that discussions are on to set up a mechanism that will activate the Russian-Bahraini Business Council and preparations are being taken to allow a mutual visa-free travel for businessmen between the two countries. According to Mr. Manturov, there is a lot of potential for trade and investment in the aluminium industry, especially in the downstream sector which is weak in Russia and well developed in Bahrain. Russia’s strong upstream industry will facilitate strong joint ventures with Bahrain in the...
Aluminium experts discussed that the aluminium market will balance out in 2015 during the metals market outlook review meeting held on 16th December by Chalco. The meeting was attended by eminent names in the aluminium industry which includes institutions like Commodity Research Unit (CRU), Beijing Antaike Information Development Co. and China International Capital Corporation Limited. The general belief at the meeting was that the aluminium market will perform better overseas while Chinese market goes through a slow phase. The transportation sector will push the medium-to-long term aluminium consumption prospects. In the meantime, China will continue to diversify its search for bauxite supply while their alumina supply continues to tighten. China’s perpetual aluminium surplus is also...
It is heard from reliable sources that Dubai Aluminium, a joint venture between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, will be paying 1.45% more interest over the London interbank offered rate on a loan worth $1.8 billion which is being jointly arranged by Citigroup, Emirates and Societe Generale SA. The sources, who did not wish to be identified as the information was classified, say that the company will pay a one time fee of 0.9% to those lenders committing to fund $200 million. The loan will be used to trigger expansion plans that are likely to close next year. Dubal had been merge with the Abu Dhabi-based smelter Emirates Aluminium Co. last year to form the Emirates Global Aluminium with an enterprise value of $15 million, as a part of the government’s plan to diversify and make use of the high...
The 32nd International Conference and Exhibition of ICSOBA entitled "New Challenges of Bauxite Alumina & Aluminium Industry and Focus on China” was held from 12th to 15th October 2014 at the Zhengzhou Research Institute of CHALCO, in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China. The successful event was organized in co-operation with the host sponsor CHINALCO. The number of participants was about 275 from domestic and international organizations and companies. The Conference consisted of two days of lectures following a Workshop on the aluminium electrolysis. On the opening day there were seven plenary lectures on various focal points of the Chinese aluminium industry and other selectedsubjects, such as technological developments in Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), in Votorantim Metais and RUSAL...
As the industrial data from China, the world’s biggest aluminium consumer continues to be poor, aluminium prices are seen to dip further down on Tuesday hitting its lowest levels in two months. China is constantly sending out signs signaling its weakening economy and the recent decline in its factory sector activities in December for the first time in the past seven months, has been the latest sign. An analyst from the Commerzbank in Frankfurt, Daniel Briesemann said that the continuous weak data received from China over the past few weeks indicate that the prices will not get better any time soon and are likely to dip lower in future. Prices on LME for the metal due for three-month delivery was down by 0.5% at $1,913, dipping lower than the two-month low of $1,909.50.
Base metal prices rose by INR2 per kg at the local non-ferrous market today on increased buying by stockists, tracking a firm global trend. Traders said sentiment bolstered after aluminium rose in global markets on speculation that China will further stimulate the economy and as inventories fell to near a four-year low. Meanwhile, aluminium for delivery in three months gained USD 11 to USD 1,946 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. In the national capital, aluminium ingots, aluminium sheet cutting, aluminium wire scrap and aluminium utensils scrap were up by INR 2 each to INR 164, INR 165, INR 167 and INR 164 per kg respectively.
Sohar Aluminium has announced the successful completion and testing of its Automation Infrastructure Virtualization Project, an initiative that promises to deliver dramatic gains in system scalability, operational efficiency, and security cost savings over the coming years. With this achievement Sohar Aluminium became the first smelter in the GCC region to completely virtualize its automation infrastructure, thus becoming a regional benchmark in operational efficiency and disaster recovery. Virtualization is being increasingly embraced by, among others, manufacturing plants as a powerful tool for improving the overall reliability of its IT hardware and software systems, whilst reducing costs in the operation of these assets. Virtualization allows for multiple operating systems to be...
