The US September consumer confidence index plunged 6.7 points to 81.9, the lowest since 2014 and deteriorating across the board. The University of Michigan survey showed consumers' assessments of their current financial situation and that one year ahead both fell about 10 per cent, with high-price concerns continuing to brew. Inflation pressure showed no signs of easing. US Fed Governor Cook said AI demand growth, rising oil prices, and supply chain disruptions from Middle East conflicts would keep inflation under pressure, but gave no clear guidance on rate hikes. CME data showed the market-implied probability of a 25 bp rate hike in October had risen to 70.9 per cent, and the probability of a cumulative 50 bp hike by December reached 58.7 per cent. Tightening expectations strengthened...
The proposed Srikakulam aluminium smelter project in Andhra Pradesh is gaining momentum, with around 6,800 acres of saline land earmarked at Mulapeta and Pundi for the large-scale industrial development. The proposal could also bridge Odisha’s alumina industry with Andhra Pradesh’s coastal port infrastructure, forming a potential industrial link between the two states. Union Minister for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu discussed the proposed smelter with Union Minister for Mines G Kishan Reddy in Delhi, highlighting the availability of around 6,800 acres of saline land in Srikakulam district. Out of this, 5,000 acres are located in Mulapeta and 1,800 acres in Pundi. Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our report: “ Global Bauxite &...
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According to the Shanghai Metals forecast, the aluminium supplies on China’s four prime regions – Shanghai, Wuxi, Nanhai and Hangzhou will start increasing again in September as the idled and new capacity will be put back on stream by revived smelters. Some of the smelters that were idled in the first half of the year began restarting in early June as a result of the preferential power tariffs and a rally in aluminum prices. Nearly 745,000-tpy or 36.3% was supposedly idled according to SMM estimates. In January-July around 1.19 million-tpy entered operations in terms of new aluminium capacity while an additional 2.55 million-tpy is due to be commissioned in the latter part of the year.
A sum of INR 294 crore has been invested by the Nalco in favour of the micro and small enterprise (MSE) units in 2013-14. The Chairman and Managing Director of Nalco, Ansuman Das said during the 19th level Advisory Committee meet on Monday, both aluminium major and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) units in collaboration with the Government are helping with the business dealings. 57 MSEs in the State have received ancillary status from the Navratna Public Sector Undertaking. He said that the MSE units at the moment should focus their attention to maintain quality, cost competitiveness and technological upgrade. The Nalco has also promised to deliver 50,000 mt of hot metal to the joint venture company and industries based in the Odisha district should take advantage of it. There is...
Alcoa today announced that it intends to permanently close its Portovesme (Carbonia-Iglesias, Italy) primary aluminum smelter, which has been curtailed since November 2012. The closure will reduce Alcoa’s global smelting capacity by 150,000 metric tons to 3.6 million metric tons per year. The Portovesme smelter was curtailed in 2012 because it was one of the highest cost smelters in the Alcoa system and had limited prospects for becoming competitive. “The fundamental reasons that made the Portovesme smelter uncompetitive unfortunately have not changed,” said Bob Wilt, President, Alcoa Global Primary Products. “We will continue to meet the commitments made to our employees and our stakeholders, acting in good faith as we have always done.” As committed to the government and unions, Alcoa...
Aluminium prices rose marginally by 0.28 per cent in futures trade today in line with a firming trend in the global markets. Besides, increased demand at domestic spot markets also influenced prices. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in current month rose by 35 paise, or 0.28 per cent, to INR 124.60 per kg in a business turnover of 60 lots. The September contract rose by a similar margin to trade at INR 124.75 per kg in six lots. Analysts said the rise in aluminium prices at futures trade was mostly due to a firming trend in global markets on stronger-than-expected US home sales and before a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and rising demand at spot markets here.
Hindalco Industries Ltd is importing coal for its aluminium plants amid lack of clarity on when the controversial Mahan coal project in Madhya Pradesh may be cleared, showing the government’s inability to fast track projects and pushing companies to resort to costly imports. “Our problem is that we are away from the ports, but it has come to the point now that we are resorting to imports and it may not be a terribly bad news,” Debu Bhattacharya, managing director of Hindalco, said in an interview. “We have already bought something... that gives both the quantity and in some cases, a landed cost which is not too bad,” he added, not commenting on how much the company has contracted to import and at what price. A few quarters ago, Bhattacharya had talked about the futility of imports as...
China Aluminum International Engineering Corporation Limited( Chalieco) announces the unaudited interim results for the six-month period ended 30 June 2014. In face of the tough market environment, the Group benefited from the exploration efforts of both international and domestic markets and achieved newly signed contracts with the value of RMB19.8 billion in the first half of the year, maintaining a good momentum of development. The contracts backlog of the Company as of 30 June 2014 amounted to RMB70.7 billion, representing an increase of 15% over the end of 2013. Revenue coverage ratio reached a 4 times growth which builds a solid foundation for future performance. The Group grew steadily in the first half of the year with a revenue of RMB8.85 billion, 25.5% up over that of the same...
LME aluminium may rise more to $2,129 per tonne, as indicated by a Fibonacci projection analysis. The analysis reveals that the metal has briefly pieced above a resistance at $2,074, the 138.2 percent Fibonacci projection level of an upward wave C that developed from the May 21 low of $1,754.75. The next resistance will be at $2,129, the 161.8 percent projection level. The wave C consists of five small waves. The trendline passing the peaks of the first and the third waves points to a level similar to the target of $2,129. Strategically, this target will be confirmed when aluminium goes above its Aug. 20 high of $2,083.75.
Aluminum climbed in London to the highest in almost 18 months after a report showed global production trailing consumption. The output shortfall in the first six months of 2014 was 393,000 metric tons, compared with a 1.057 million-ton surplus in all of 2013, the World Bureau of Metal Statistics said in a report today. Demand for zinc topped output by 191,000 tons, after a surplus of 116,000 tons for 2013. Shortfalls were also seen in copper, lead and tin. “People are coming to accept the fact that the market is moving into a deficit” in aluminum, Tim Hayes, a Richmond, Virginia-based principal at Lawrence Capital Management, said in a telephone interview. “Those deficits are going to look even larger come next year and even the year after that, and so we’re getting a lot more positive...
According to a Bloomberg report, China, the biggest consumer of aluminium, revealed a dismal manufacturing data causing decline in industrial metals after an 18-month high. There was a drop of 6% in the contract due for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange to $2,069 per metric ton at 3:54pm and was $2,069.50 at 3:54 p.m. Hong Kong time on 20th August. Prices finally closed at $2,076 which was the highest after 20th Feb last year. The PMI readings clearly indicated a dip in the Chinese economy and Helen Lau, a Hong Kong-based UOB Kay HIan Ltd analyst, states that this dip will likely ‘dampen sentiments’ affecting metal demands. The effects have also echoed in New York with December futures dropping by 0.6% reading as $3.178 a pound. The ones slated for October delivery...
An Alcoa Inc. smelter has been idled as producing aluminium in Brazil has become very expensive. The Pocos de Caldas smelter has stopped producing aluminium and selling the facility’s power instead to combat the high electricity prices. With the worst drought seen in decades, the water reservoirs that were used for hydroelectric generation have started to dry up. This, coupled with the high costs of labor and transportation, has made aluminium production uneconomical. The Brazil government has taken suitable steps to combat the situation with possible water rationing on the cards, while taxes on imported aluminum are being cut to meet the high demand for aluminium beverage cans. Despite having the third-largest ore reserves, the country is forced to import more refined metal than it...
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation reported today that the Missouri Public Service Commission has denied Noranda's request for a lower electricity rate at the Company's aluminum smelter in New Madrid, Missouri ("New Madrid"). The denial by the PSC does not increase New Madrid's electricity rate, it only denies Noranda's petition for a lower rate at this point. "While we are disappointed with the PSC's decision to deny Noranda rate relief at this point, we remain committed to transforming our cost structure and to reducing the cost of New Madrid's electricity," said Layle K. "Kip" Smith, Noranda's President and CEO. "We will thoughtfully evaluate our alternatives for accomplishing our objectives and provide additional information at an appropriate time."
A suspected short-term shortage of aluminium has caused the price rise witnessed on Tuesday while an expected additional supply of copper has dipped its prices in the market. A 1% rise has been noticed on the London Metal Exchange in benchmark aluminum pushing the price to a closing of $ 2,039 a tonne. Aluminium price curve is moving forward showing constant signs of supply constraint. In the same line, cash trading on Monday is closing at its highest against the benchmark three-month contract since 2012 December. In mid-June a sharp decline in discount of cash aluminum was noticed, from $44.25 a tonne to $1.25, indicating that in the future the supply of aluminium is going to be restricted. Standard Bank analyst, Leon Westgate echoes the same prediction stating, "The upward move is...
Strong spot demands and firming overseas trend have edged the aluminium price to INR 123.40 per kg, up by 45 paise, in future trade on Wednesday. This 0.37% rise in prices was noticed for aluminium slated for August delivery at the Multi Commodity Exchange. For a business turnover of 205 lots, the price per kg of aluminium is slated as INR 123.40 per kg. Following the trend, even the trade value for aluminium for September delivery has risen by 35 paise to 123.80 per kg in 36 lots, up by 0.28%. Even The aluminium for delivery in three months has gained 1% in the LME standing at USD 2,039 per tonne. Although domestic spot demand is a major cause in the price hike, the changing foreign trends are also adding to the cause. With a speculated increase in home building, a higher demand in the...
President and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg had the pleasure of opening the pilot line in Årdal on Wednesday. “Innovation and technological expertise has always been a backbone of Hydro, and this project shows that the innovative spirit in Hydro is as strong today as it was more than 100 years ago when the company was founded,” he says. Better on quality and cost According to Head of Technology in Hydro, Hans Erik Vatne, the pilot may represent a leap in the production process for anodes, both in terms of cost and quality. “With the new technology in place, we are able to handle more variations in raw material quality, and we see a potential to reduce the carbon consumption in the electrolytic process,” says Vatne. At the same time, the renewed production process is set to deliver anodes...
One of today's stocks on the move is Aluminum of China, down 1.9% to $11.31. The S&P is currently trading 0.4% higher to 1,979 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading 0.4% higher to 16,908. Over the past year, Aluminum of China has traded in a range of $8.08 to $12.60 and is now at $11.31, 40% above that low. In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day moving average (MA) has climbed 1.5% while the 200-day MA has risen 0.3%. Aluminum Corporation of China Limited is a producer of alumina and primary aluminum in China. The Company refines bauxite into alumina and smelts alumina to produce primary aluminum. Aluminum of China is currently priced 28.7% above its average consensus analyst price target of $8.06. The stock should find initial support at its 50-day moving average (MA) of...
An aluminium foundry is turning down the heat – fractionally – on its energy use to earn as much as £25,000 a year. Caparo Bridge Aluminium is installing smart software to adjust the aluminium holding pots to help balance the National Grid’s supply and demand. It will be paid for reducing energy use for minutes at a time. It recently signed the 10 year deal with Open Energi for the ‘Dynamic Demand’ system at its manufacturing site. The Wednesbury-based plant has forty-six holding pots, which store molten aluminium at around 7500C. The material is kept at constant temperatures before it is poured into dies for the manufacture of the casting. Wayne Priest, Plant Director at Bridge Aluminium said: “We are constantly looking at ways of reducing our overheads and energy is a massive part of...
Gas giant AGL says it is basing forward modelling on conservative assumptions that a newly acquired Hunter Valley power plant and the Tomago Aluminium smelter near Newcastle could close within three years. AGL has finalised its $1.5 billion acquisition of Macquarie Generation, but highlights several risks in a briefing to the stock exchange. It values the Bayswater power plant near Muswellbrook at $780 million, but says the Liddell plant is worth nothing. It says conservative modelling shows the Tomago aluminium smelter shutting in 2017 and as a result the Liddell power plant would close the same year. But AGL says there are many strategic benefits for its assets and plans to upgrade them. The company says it intends to spend $405 million over four years on revised maintenance to reverse...
The owners of the Kurri Kurri aluminium plant have told a recent meeting they have no plans to redevelop the site themselves. The Hydro plant as Kurri Kurri was officially closed earlier this year after being placed in care and maintenance mode about 18 months prior. The company now wants to remediate the site to allow future development. A community reference group has been formed as plans for the site are developed. The group, which met for the first time last month, was told Hydro has 'no ambition to develop the site' itself, 'but rather facilitate the rezoning to ultimately sell the land'. Managing Director Richard Brown said Hydro is not interested in selling the land block by block. Instead, its current thinking is to remediate, rezone and get out relatively quickly. He said the...
