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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In a bid to increase productivity and performance, BHP Billiton is allocating some of its assets to a new $14bn (£8.4bn) company. The Chief Finance Officer of BHP, Graham Kerr, will be heading the new spinoff company that is tentatively being called the NewCo, for now. This new company will be dealing with the aluminium, coal, manganese, nickel and silver operations. BHP itself has enjoyed a 23% rise in the annual profits, surprising analysts. The new company will be listed in the Australian stock market soon with a secondary listing in South African market as well. These, however, will be confirmed only after a shareholder vote and an approval by the regulators. Although BHP shares fell by nearly 4% in the London listings post the announcement, BHP officials are hopeful about the change...
Aluminium slipped to INR 122 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 August eased by 10 paise, or 0.08%, to INR 122 per kg in a business turnover of 248 lots. Similarly, the metal for delivery in September traded lower by 5 paise, or 0.04%, to INR 122.25 per kg in 10 lots. Marketmen said the weakness in aluminium at futures trade was mostly in tune with a weak trend in the metal at the London Metal Exchange and low demand at domestic spot market.
Investors and contractors of the Nhan Co Aluminum project in the Central Highlands of Dak Nong have been asked to put the plant into trial operation by the end of 2014. The request was made on July 31 by a working mission of the steering committee for the implementation of bauxite plants in Central Highlands under the Ministry of Industry and Trade while inspecting the project’s progress. According to the project management board, to date over 12 trillion VND (564 million USD) has been poured into facilities, accounting for 73 percent of the total investment (16.8 trillion VND). However, the progress is one and a half years slower than schedule. All imported equipment and over 80 percent of locally-made ones have been transported to the project site for installation. Head of the...
LME aluminium is expected to retest a support at $1,986 per tonne, a break below which will open the way towards $1,931. The drop from the Aug. 12 high of $2,056 followed the completion of a five-wave cycle that developed from the May 21 low of $1,754.75. This cycle will be reversed more, as indicated by the bearish divergence on the daily MACD. A Fibonacci projection analysis reveals the support at $1,986, the 100 percent level, which has temporarily stopped the fall towards the 76.4 percent level at $1,931. The current moderate rebound triggered by the support may end around $2,022.
The Lam Dong Aluminum-Bauxite Complex Project of the Vietnam Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) has exported 411,000 tonnes of aluminum since operation began in December 2013. The information was released at a Bauxite Complex Project’s meeting in the central highlands province of Lam Dong on August 15. In the past seven months alone, the company shipped abroad a record high 251,000 tonnes of aluminum. According to Vinacomin’s representatives, these aluminum products were exported to many markets such as Switzerland , the Republic of Korea , Singapore , China , and Hong Kong.The group is currently expanding into Malaysia and in the Middle Eastern countries. In domestic market, Vinacomin provided 100 tonnes of aluminum products per month to local customers. The Tan Rai Bauxite...
In 2007, the height of the global commodities boom, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and Tom Albanese, chief executive of Vedanta Resources chief executive and former chief executive of Rio Tinto, made landmark purchases of aluminium assets. Ignoring the advice of his colleagues at Hindalco, Birla acquired the 2005 Alcan spin-off Novelis, the world's largest manufacturer of aluminium rolled products such as can stock and industrial sheets. He knew there would always be money in downstream value-added products, unlike primary aluminium, which is subject to major price swings. At $6 billion, the investment looked stiff. But Birla stands vindicated, considering the post-takeover working of Novelis and its high-end aluminium rolling technologies for application in automobiles,...
The aluminium market is perking up, with the average price per tonne on the London Metal Exchange rising to over $2,000 now from $1,693 in February 2014. While the primary reason for this is high physical delivery premium, the supply-demand dynamics are also brightening. This is due to a long waiting period and a court battle looming over the metal, owing to warehouse rules on delivery. In the last few years, warehouses registered with the LME were witnessing bottlenecks after metals such as aluminium were used as a financing tool. Now, over ten million tonnes is estimated to be stored in the LME warehouses, split equally between official warehouses and unofficial ones. Fitch believes that around 60-70 per cent of the stocks are tied up in commodity financing transactions. To reduce...
Producing aluminum in Brazil got so expensive as electricity prices surged to records this year that Alcoa Inc. (AA) idled its Pocos de Caldas smelter and now sells the facility’s power instead of metal. The worst drought in decades drained reservoirs used to run hydroelectric generators that supply power to extract aluminum, boosting costs already inflated by more spending on labor and transportation. Cities may be forced to ration water, and last week the government cut taxes on imported aluminum to help ease shortages as demand grows for beverage cans. While the country has the world’s third-largest ore reserves, it is importing more refined metal than it ships after output in July fell to the lowest on records going back to 1996, data show. Aluminum prices this week reached the...
China reported record production of aluminium in July. Primary aluminium production went up 1.2 percent in comparison to June. This has hit a second consecutive record as smelters restarted idled capacity after the demand started improving and LME started going up. Aluminium production in China records 1.98 million tonnes in July, compared to the previous record of 1.95 million tonnes in June. The July production was up 7.2 percent from the same period in last year. During the first seven months of 2014, aluminium output increased 7.5 percent to 13.5 million tonnes. Primary Aluminium production may rise further due to new capacity. Chinese research firm Antaike expects about 3 million tonnes of aluminium smelting capacity to come onstream in the second half of 2014, after about 1.6...
VHE has completed the fabrication and installation of a preheating furnace for the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter at Straumsvík in Iceland. Most smelters add cold aluminium metal to the charge of molten aluminium in the casthouse furnaces. This metal may be in the form of sows, pure offcuts, or other scrap arisings. Such metal is frequently stored outdoors and can be wet. Charging of damp aluminium to hot furnaces results in the generation of large volumes of steam, and can cause steam explosions, in the worst cases blasting molten aluminium around the casthouse. Traditionally, scrap metal has been heated with a gas flame to remove moisture, but such localised heating can never fully remove water, and steam explosion can still occur. VHE‘s furnace, which is semi-automatic, is able to heat 15...
Investors have welcomed news that mining giant BHP Billiton appears set to establish a separate $20bn company comprising its aluminium, bauxite and nickel assets. The global mining giant issued a statement on Friday saying a demerger of assets is its preferred option after announcing in April that it is studying the next phase of simplification, including structural options. “A demerger of a selection of assets is our preferred option,” BHP said in a statement. Stocks rose about 2.46% on Friday afternoon after the market received news of the demerger. BHP shares rose 94c to $39.10 by 4pm. The company says a portfolio focused on its iron ore, copper, coal and petroleum assets would retain the benefits of diversification, generate stronger growth in cash flow and a superior return on...
Alcoa shares trended down Thursday after one analyst said the worldwide aluminum market has slipped into an oversupply that will persist into 2015. Alcoa shares are up more than 50 percent year to date, hit a high of $17.22 last month, but has been in retreat in recent days. Nomura's Curt Woodworth said oversupply of the metal is causing weakness in spot prices which is also seen persisting into next year. "Aluminum's recent rally has been overdone," Woodworth said in a note, adding that he expects the metal will retreat to $0.82 per pound. The price recently crossed $0.91 per pound or $2,000 per metric ton. Investors have been buying up aluminum and storing it in warehouses that aren't registered with the London Metals Exchange and Woodworth sees a risk to prices if these stocks enter...
Noranda Aluminum is one of today's best performing low-priced stocks, up 7.2% to $4.46 on 1.0x average daily volume. Thus far today, Noranda Aluminum has traded 641,000 shares, versus average volume of 640,000 shares per day. The stock has outperformed the Dow (7.2% to the Dow's 0.5%) and outperformed the S&P 500 (7.2% to the S&P's 0.7%) during today's trading. Potential upside of 73.8% exists for Noranda Aluminum, based on a current level of $4.46 and analysts' average consensus price target of $7.75. The stock should discover initial support at its 50-day moving average (MA) of $3.92 and subsequent support at its 200-day MA of $3.54. In the past 52 weeks, Noranda Aluminum share prices have been bracketed by a low of $2.21 and a high of $5.08 and are now at $4.46, 102% above that low...
The Quarterly Analysis and Forecast report on Aluminum published by FastMarkets and Sucden Financial forecasts elevated prices and premiums during the third quarter of the current year primarily on account of restricted supply of the metal. According to the report, the downward trend in Aluminum has ended in early-February this year when the prices touched the bottom of $1,671.25 per tonne. Since then, the prices have been moving in an upward trend. The trend is expected to sustain during Q3 2014. However, forward selling by marginal producers are likely to keep the prices capped in the range of $2,000 per tonne. The effect of closure of existing facilities is likely to be offset by the new capacities in the Middle East region. Some local governments in China too are seen focused on...
Hind Aluminium Industries said a substantial drop in standalone net profit for the quarter ended June 2014. During the quarter, the profit of the company declined 74.58% to INR 8.67 million from Rs 34.10 million in the same quarter previous year. Net sales for the quarter declined 34.23% to INR 811.73 million, compared with INR 1,234.28 million for the prior year period. Quarterly Results - Standalone (INR in mn) As at Jun - 14 Jun - 13 %Change Net Sales 811.73 1,234.28 (34.23) Net Profit 8.67 34.10 (74.58) Basic EPS NA NA Shares of the company gained INR 1.1, or 2.43%, to trade at INR 46.35. The total volume of shares traded was 696 at the BSE.
Romanian aluminum producer Alro S.A. recorded an adjusted net loss of RON 80 million (almost EUR 18 million) in the first six months of the year, over four times higher than the RON 17 million loss posted in the same period in 2013, according to the company’s financial results. The turnover also went down to RON 966 million (EUR 216.5 million) in the first half of this year, compared to RON 1.02 billion reported in the same period the year before. “Two major factors continued to impact Alro’s results during this half year as well: the international aluminum market, where the demand is still weak, while, locally we faced the high costs for energy”, said Marian Nastase, Chairman of the Board of Alro. Alro Group registered an adjusted net loss of RON 89 million (almost EUR 20 million) in...
Aluminium prices fell by 0.36% to INR 124.50 per kg in futures trading today as speculators reduced their positions amid weak global cues. Further, subdued demand in the domestic spot markets also weighed on the metal prices. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in August shed 45 paise, or 0.36%, to INR 124.50 per kg in business turnover of 440 lots. Similarly, the metal for delivery in September traded lower by 30 paise, or 0.32%, to INR 125.25 per kg in 367 lots. Globally, aluminum fell 0.2% to $2,048 per tonne at the London Metal Exchange. Market analysts said the weakness in aluminium at futures trade was mostly in tune with a downtrend in base metals at the London Metal Exchange (LME) before data on industrial production from China, the world's biggest user of...
Processing fees for A356 aluminum alloy in China are expected to stabilize between 700-750 yuan ($114-122) per tonne in August after July’s slight rise, Shanghai Metals Market foresees. Tight supply, high production costs and limited demand growth will keep processing charges for the wheel making ingredient stable in August, SMM estimates. Falling supply and rising aluminum prices were major contributors to the 50 yuan/tonne rise in processing fees in July. Some alloy makers cut output against high production costs, while others shifted to aluminum bar production for decent sales. As a consequence, the average operating rate at the surveyed alloy makers slipped month-on-month to 66.88% in July, causing the monthly output to drop 1,000 tonnes from a month ago to 107,000 tonnes.
