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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Century Aluminum Co. on Thursday announced a $3 million expansion at its 530-employee Sebree smelter that will create 45 more jobs and help cement its presence in this region. Century said the expansion is intended to “significantly increase” the percentage of the smelter’s primary aluminum that is produced as premium billet and rolling slabs to meet growing demand in the automotive body, aerospace and construction industries. Century calls the move its “Premium Products Initiative.” “This announcement bolsters the future of this plant and hopefully reinforces that Century Aluminum is proud to be in the region and committed to stay and grow,” Jason Young, the general manager of Century Aluminum Sebree, said in a statement. “This expansion will create dozens of new, quality jobs, and is...
The legal battle between the London Metal Exchange and Rusal over warehousing reforms could rumble on for several more months after a British appeals court declined to make a ruling on Wednesday. The two parties returned to court this week for the first time since March, when the Russian aluminium producer successfully blocked the world’s leading metals bourse from implementing tough rules to tackle long warehouse queues. But after a two-day hearing, the three-judge panel “reserved judgment” on whether to uphold or overturn the High Court ruling. If no decision is made by Friday, the matter will only be resolved in October, at the earliest, after the court’s summer recess. The three-month LME aluminium price rallied on the news on the delayed ruling, rising 2 per cent to $2,022 a tonne....
The Odisha government on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for developing an airport at Jharsuguda in western Odisha at a cost of Rs 210 crore. Currently, AAI operates an airstrip at Jharsuguda, used by a few chartered aircraft. Odisha has just one full-fledged airport — the Biju Patnaik International Airport. Of the overall estimated project cost, the state government will provide Rs 75 crore. AAI has 909.22 acres in Jharsuguda. To upgrade the airstrip to a full-fledged airport, the state government has agreed to provide 296.5 acres free; 118.75 acres will be handed over immediately. “We can construct the airport within a period of two years from the date of physical possession of land,” said AAI Chairman Alok Sinha. The...
AMG Advanced Metallurgical Group N.V. announces that AMG Aluminum has sold its 25% equity interest in Bostlan S.A. ("Bostlan") to Bostlan's majority shareholders for cash. This is the next step in AMG Aluminum's strategy to divest non-core assets, reposition its global operations, and streamline its organization structure. Mr. Julien Crisnaire, President of AMG Aluminum, stated, "This divestment should enable AMG Aluminum to focus on its core operations, better serve customers globally and enhance AMG's return on capital". AMG Aluminum is the world-leading provider of aluminum master alloys and grain refiners for the aluminum industry. With over 300 employees and five ISO 9001 manufacturing plants in Brazil, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States, AMG Aluminum offers a...
Aluminum’s shift into a supply shortage means prices will climb to the highest versus copper since 2009, according to Natixis SA. The CHART OF THE DAY shows a metric ton of aluminum bought 0.29 tons of copper on July 22, the most since October 2011. The ratio will rise to 0.325 next year, the highest since December 2009, Natixis estimates. Prices of copper beat aluminum in four of the previous five years. Aluminum, used in everything from aircraft to beer cans, entered a bull market last week as it reached an almost 17-month high. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. expects the first deficit in at least five years in 2014. In contrast, it sees a glut for copper, this year’s worst performer among six main metals traded on the London Metal Exchange, widening through next year, after consumption mostly...
Global aluminium consumption is growing steadily. Above all the transport sector is driving growth, with CO2 reduction targets in Europe and the US accelerating demand for lightweight base materials. But the construction and packaging sectors are showing excellent growth rates, as well. This increasing demand from all application sectors will also be felt at the industry’s largest trade fair worldwide, ALUMINIUM 2014. About 950 exhibitors from 50 nations are expected at the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre from 7 to 9 October – a new record. On the heels of the successful change of venue from Essen to Düsseldorf two years ago, ALUMINIUM is poised for further growth ahead of its 10th edition. “The decision for Düsseldorf set the stage for the future development of the trade fair. The...
Taking positive cues from overseas markets, aluminium futures prices rose 0.25 per cent to INR 119.65 per kg today as speculators enlarged positions. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in August gained 30 paise, or 0.25 per cent, to INR 119.65 per kg, with a business turnover of 107 lots. The metal for delivery in July also up by 25 paise, or 0.21 per cent, to trade at INR 118.95 per kg in a turnover of 174 lots. Marketmen said apart from a better trend in metal at the London Metal Exchange and pick up in demand from consuming industries at domestic spot markets, mainly supported the upside in aluminium prices at futures trade here.
The London Metal Exchange (LME) and Russian aluminium giant Rusal sparred in court on Tuesday as the LME sought to overturn a court ruling and allow it to implement tough warehousing rules to cut backlogs. The dispute is over whether the LME, the world's oldest and biggest market for industrial metals, should have to launch a fresh consultation after a March court ruling labelled its original process as "unfair and unlawful". The proposed warehouse rules - designed to speed up deliveries of metal from depots in the LME's global network - were not at issue in the original ruling. "The LME makes great play of the fact that the judge did not hold that the proposal in itself was irrational," Rusal's legal team led by Monica Carss-Frisk said in written arguments on the first of two days of...
Century Aluminum Company reported net income of $20.3 million or $0.21 per common share for the second quarter of 2014 on higher aluminum prices and lower power prices in the Midwestern U.S. Results were negatively impacted by a charge of $0.5 million or $0.01 per common share for the finalization of a legal settlement. Sales for the second quarter of 2014 were $458.3 million compared with $331.9 million for the second quarter of 2013. Shipments of primary aluminum for the second quarter of 2014 were 216,044 tonnes, which includes 53,966 tonnes from the Sebree operation acquired June 1, 2013, compared with 176,270 tonnes shipped in the second quarter of 2013. For the second quarter of 2013, Century reported a net loss of $29.4 million or $0.33 per common share. Financial results for the...
Pratt & Whitney and Alcoa recently have revealed that the fan blades of the PW1000G family of geared turbofans will consist mainly of aluminum alloy–an industry first. Although the PW1500G for the Bombardier CSeries–the first member of the engine family–won certification last year, Pratt & Whitney had so far only loosely referred to a “hybrid-metallic” fan blade. Metal engineering company Alcoa now calls using aluminum in a fan blade “revolutionary” due to the material’s ability to combine light weight with affordability. The two companies have just announced a 10-year, $1.1 billion agreement for “key engine parts,” including aluminum fan blades. Pratt & Whitney designed the geared turbofan to run the fan and the low-pressure turbine each at its aerodynamically optimal speed. The fan...
After more than 50 years as one of Geelong's major employers Alcoa will close its aluminium smelter this week. One by one the pot lines are being switched off, with the Point Henry plant's final line being shutdown on Thursday. The shutdown was announced in February after the company decided the ageing smelter was no longer financially viable. The closure will leave about 500 workers jobless. Retirement was not an option for many of the plant's young workers. Only about 50 of them have already found a job and many others are retraining. Inside the smelter, the mood is one of resignation. The pot lines have been switched off one-by-one over the past few weeks.There are photos on the corridor walls marking the sombre occasion. Alcoa's two rolling mills will also close by the end of the year...
A day after regulators said they opposed a request by Ameren Missouri's biggest customer for a rate reduction of about $50 million a year, a panel that advocates for retail ratepayers proposed a deal that would give the company just over half of what it was seeking. The Missouri Public Service Commission hasn't adopted a final order on Noranda Aluminum's rate request, but on Wednesday all five commissioners said they were against lowering the special rate paid by the southeast Missouri smelter. If Noranda is successful in getting its rate lowered, Ameren's customers in the St. Louis area or its shareholders could take a financial hit, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1t0pWvn) reported. Noranda, Missouri's only primary aluminum smelter and one of about 10 in the U.S., spends...
Following the press information on the coordinated actions of the Prosecutor’s Office and the Police, which regard fighting the tax evasion at a group of companies activating in the field of ferrous alloys, whose clients include, among others, our Company, Alro SA, one of the largest aluminium producers in Central and Eastern Europe, informs the market and the interested parties that it rigorously applies the rules of corporate governance and fully enforces the application of the Code of Professional Ethics by all its personnel. The Code of Professional Ethics of the personnel within Alro S.A. outlines the set of rules on the ethical business conduct and the way to prevent illegal and unlawful actions which might arise within the Company in the course of its business. The Code has a...
Second quarter net profit at Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) - owner of the world's No. 4 aluminium smelter - dropped more than 25 percent to $41 million in the second quarter of 2013 as metal prices fell. Total sales fell $5 million to $515 million compared with the same period a year ago. Alba's board recommended a dividend of 12 fils per share, a total of $45 million, the company statement said. Bahrain's government has approved gas allocation for its planned sixth production line, set to come onstream in 2015, which will add 400,000 tonnes to its 890,000-tonne capacity.
Tajikistan Aluminium Co (TALCO), central Asia's largest aluminium smelter, cut production by 47 percent in year-on-year terms in January-June to 61,100 tonnes due to low demand for the metal, a senior Tajik official said on Friday. "Lower aluminium output is caused by objective reasons which are partly linked to falling world prices for the metal," Industry Minister Shavkat Bobozoda told a news conference. The sharp drop in output in the first half means that TALCO's production this year may turn out to be lower than its own pessimistic forecast made at the beginning of 2014. TALCO said in February it expected aluminium production to shrink by 30.7 percent to 150,000 tonnes this year. Hit hard by low aluminium prices, TALCO was forced to reduce output by 20.6 percent to 216,369 tonnes in...
LME aluminium is expected to revisit its July 22 high of $2,054.75 per tonne, as it could have completed a correction from this level. The correction has been triggered by resistance at $2,062, the 138.2 percent Fibonacci projection level of an upward wave c that developed from the June 12 low of $1,836. Bulls could have accumulated enough momentum to retest this resistance. A further drop from the current level could be limited to support at $1,999, the 100 percent projection level.
The Aluminum cash-to-three-month contango on the LME remained pretty steady in the $40 to $50 range between July of last year and April, but since then there has been a marked surge in volatility that has left consumers puzzled as to what will happen next. First, physical delivery premiums soared in January from $250/ton last year to $400/ton this year. Most couldn’t see the logic in this and expected them to fall back but, if anything, they have gotten worse with Q3 premiums remaining above $400 in both Europe and Asia At the same time, a wall of inventory on the LME has been listed for removal and is sitting trapped behind load-out queues waiting to see the light of day. The reasons why so much metal has been listed for removal are hotly debated but Metalminer’s contention has been the...
Alcoa of Australia Chairman and Managing Director, and board member of the Alcoa Foundation, announced that the US based Alcoa Foundation will grant a total of US$559,000 to six organisations in Geelong. Speaking at a function in Geelong to thank Alcoa’s long term community partners, Mr Cransberg said the Alcoa Foundation grants will help underline Alcoa’s proud 51 year history in Geelong. “We have enjoyed tremendous support and created some fantastic partnerships in the Geelong community over the past 50 plus years and now all that is drawing to a close. “We are very proud of the contribution that our employees and the company has made to this community, proud of all the great community initiatives that have come about through collaboration and partnership, and grateful for all the...
