OCBC has raised its end-2026 aluminium price forecast to about USD 3,150 per tonne from USD 3,050, citing a slower-than-expected recovery in Gulf production, although strong Chinese output is expected to continue offsetting supply disruptions. Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 0.9 per cent month-on-month in September to USD 3,214 per tonne as of September 29, remaining 2 per cent above OCBC’s third-quarter forecast of USD 3,150. The cash-to-three-month spread was broadly unchanged at a USD 7.40-per-tonne contango, compared with USD 7.60 at the end of August. The spread suggests limited urgency for immediate metal supply despite a continued decline in global exchange inventories. Gulf aluminium recovery loses momentum OCBC said aluminium production across the...
European aluminium premiums have climbed to their highest level in almost four months as the market weighs the potential impact of lower US tariffs on Canadian aluminium supplies. The front-month COMEX European duty-paid aluminium premium rose 10 per cent to USD 574 per tonne on October 1, Thursday, according to LSEG data. The premium, which is paid on top of the London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium price for physical metal, reached its highest level since June 8. Canadian metal flows drive European supply concerns The European premium has risen in recent weeks amid reports that the US could reduce its 50 per cent tariff on Canadian aluminium imports to 25 per cent. A lower tariff could make the US market more attractive to Canadian producers, potentially reducing the metal available to...
Grow with
AL Circle
Hindalco Industries Ltd, India’s second-largest aluminum producer, is targeting a record output of the lightweight metal this fiscal year to resurrect earnings estimated to have plunged to the lowest in nine years. Billionaire chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla plans to raise production by more than 50% to about 1 million tonnes in the year ending 31 March, two people familiar with the plans said. “The higher output will mainly come from the Mumbai- based company’s new units in the central state of Madhya Pradesh and the eastern state of Odisha,” said the people, who asked not to be identified, pending an announcement. Alcoa Inc., the largest US aluminum producer, last month forecast demand will exceed production this year, predicting an end to an almost decade-long surplus driven by Chinese...
The third Iran International Aluminum Conference (IIAC) will be held in Tehran on May 25-26, secretary of the conference announced. Mansour Soltaniyeh said 13 firms from eight countries, namely China, Spain, France, Italy, Germany, India, Turkey and Britain will take part in the third edition of the conference. He said an aluminum exhibition is also planned to be held on the sidelines of the international event. Soltaniyeh further referred to Iran’s advantage in aluminum industry, saying that the country ought to make optimum use of its joint oil and gas resources with other Persian Gulf countries by turning natural gas into “solid energy”, namely aluminum. He noted that the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are rapidly boosting their aluminum production....
Witnessing demand recovery, state-owned National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) has planned to marginally increase its aluminium output. The company had early this week reopened 10 aluminium-producing pots at its Angul smelter in Odisha. Last fiscal, Nalco had reduced its capacity utilisation by a third because of the sluggish aluminium market and lower LME realisation and coal shortage. It had shut down 329 of its total 960 pots or 4.6 lakh tonnes a year of its smelter. Now the number of operational pots has gone up to 641. A Nalco pot can produce 1.37 tonnes a day. According to Nalco CMD, Angsuman Das, “It’s a small, but significant step” considering the change in the outlook. Nalco, which is yet to announce the results of Q4 of 2013-14, today said in a statement that it was running...
LME Aluminium averaged at $ 1812.75 per tonne, up 6.4 % in the month ending 30 April 2014. However prices are expected to face pressure due to rise in production to all time highs. The rise has come at the time when the production of Aluminium reached record levels. The viability in terms of upcoming demand in Aluminium remains grim even though the prices saw sharp appreciation last month. The data estimates from International Aluminium Institute (IAI) showed that the total primary Aluminium production reached 4.33 million tonnes in the month of March 2014 from 3.96 million tonnes in January 2014. This is the all time high production of Aluminium. The production of Aluminium in March 2014, gained by 5.1% compared to corresponding period last year when it was 4.12 million tonnes. China...
Brazilian aluminium premiums have posted a modest decrease over the past week, as sellers attempted to find buyers to its metal supplies amid concerns with a persistent slowdown of the country’s economy. Brazil's average premiums for the aluminium ingot P1020A (taking 100 tonnes as reference) in the spot market were being negotiated at $550-$600 per tonne this week, below the $570-$630 of the past two weeks. "I doubt that anyone would be willing to pay premiums higher than $600," said one buyer. "And even if you were to put prices down, there is still very little interest," he added. Market participants agree that the demand for aluminium in the country remains very low, as Brazil's economy keeps losing momentum, while consumers are still quite well supplied for the short term. "Buyers...
Prices of aluminium fell to a month low on May 1st; following the disappointing data on the factory activity in China’s top consumer after central bank of U.S withdrew their monetary stimulus. Prices fell after the data showed that there was a marginal increase in the activity of China’s factories in month of April but the government survey showed a sharp decrease in exports. This added to the concerns that economic growth may again slow after the first quarter’s slowdown. Three- month aluminium on LME closed 0.8% lower at $1,785 per ton. Earlier there was a drop in the price of the metal to the lowest at $1,779. After the Federal Reserve announced the cut down in the huge bond-buying stimulus, more liquidity was taken away from the markets. "There's less liquidity with the FOMC decision...
The Board of Directors of Alcoa declared (a) a quarterly common stock dividend of 3 cents per share payable May 27, 2014 to shareholders of record at the close of business on May 12, 2014 and (b) a quarterly dividend of 93.75 cents per share on Alcoa’s $3.75 cumulative preferred stock payable July 1, 2014 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 13, 2014.
Iran International Aluminium conference 2014 (IIAC2014) is set to be one of the most significant nonferrous events in the Persian Gulf. With the participation of attenders from France, Germany, Italy, Netherland, Switzerland, Spain, New Zealand, Russia, Brazil, Turkey, Emirates, Oman, India, China etc … this international event is to be considered the start of a new era for business and scientific opportunities in Iran and around the globe. Overall, 170 papers were submitted to the conference of which 110 are announced accepted. Prior to the conference a two day workshop will take place utilizing the expertise of specialists such as Prof.Margaret Hyland, Dr.Mark Doreen, Dr.Walter Dalla Barba and Prof.Juergen Hirch and Dr.Jose Clemente. The workshop titles presented are as follows: 1-...
In the first quarter, Chalco posted a loss of CNY 2.2 billion, or roughly $350 million, even though companywide sales increased 3% relative to the same period last year. Before its earnings update, in light of prevailing low aluminum prices, Chalco announced that it intends to shutter 800 thousand metric tons per year of refining capacity and 600 thousand metric tons per year of smelting capacity. Although taking roughly 5% of its refining capacity and 15% of its high-cost smelting capacity off line will allow Chalco to produce aluminum more efficiently, this significant scale reduction signals the possibility of additional curtailments in the future as the high-cost producer makes an effort to rationalize its production volume. After being bailed out by parent Chinalco, which purchased...
Sesa Sterlite has come out with its production for the fourth quarter and financial year ending 2014. The company has reported that the total Aluminium production for FY 2014 was 794000 tonnes in financial year ending 2014, compared to 774000 tonnes in the year 2013. Alumina production was 524000 tonnes in FY 2014 compared to 527000 tonnes in FY 2013. The Lanjigarh alumina refinery operated at 91% of its rated capacity and produced 227000 tonnes in Q4 FY 2014, 25% higher than Q3. Full year production was 524000 tonnes, after restarting the refinery in July 2013. Total Aluminium production was 200000 tonnes, unchanged from Q3 2014. This resulted in a steady increase of alumina feed from Lanjigarh to our smelters, contributing to 28% of the smelters' alumina requirements in FY 2014 and 49%...
Norsk Hydro employees have purchased shares under a general arrangement offered to employees employed by Norsk Hydro in Norway each year. All employees employed by Norsk Hydro in Norway have been offered to purchase shares valued at NOK 10,000 with a 25 percent discount. 82 percent of the employees entitled to the offer have subscribed, and have each been allocated 336 shares at NOK 22.28 per share. The total number of shares allocated and transferred on April 30, 2014 is 921,984. Norsk Hydro ASA holds 29,165,988 own shares after this transaction and the number of outstanding shares are 2,039,832,288. With reference to the stock exchange announcement as of April 1, 2014, the following primary insiders have under the above mentioned scheme each purchased 336 shares: - President and CEO...
An employer of choice and an avid proponent of Omanisation, Sohar Aluminium (SA) participated in various career fairs held across Oman this year. Career Fairs provide a platform for Omani Nationals with qualifications in diverse fields of expertise to meet directly with recruiters and hiring managers as well as seek out various training and career opportunities. SA is fully committed to the vision of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said regarding Omanisation of the country's workforce. The company has established dedicated strategies and policies, to ensure that Omani Nationals are developed to take on challenging roles with increased responsibilities within the organization. Highlighting SA participation in the career fairs, Mr Mohammed Al Shahab, Human Resources Administration (HRA)...
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has informed that India has launched a safeguard investigation to determine whether increased imports of unwrought aluminium is causing a threat or is adversely impacting the prospects of the domestic industry. According to WTO, India notified the Commitee on Safeguards that initiated on 7 April a safeguard investigation on "not-alloyed ingots of unwrought aluminium." A safeguard investigation seeks to determine whether increased imports of a product are causing, or is threatening to cause, serious injury to a domestic industry. During a safeguard investigation, importers, exporters and other interested parties may present evidence and views and respond to the presentations of other parties. A WTO member may take a safeguard action (i.e. restrict imports...
We had a bearish view on Aluminum last day with the anticipation that the commodity may take price correction in the form of profit booking on the long positions. Also, a rebound in the inventory supported the metal to retreat from the highs. 3 month forward LME Aluminum ended the day at $1826.75 down by $22 from its previous close. In the similar lines prices at MCX for April future also declined and ended at Rs. 108.80 down by Rs. 1.80 from its previous close. We saw prices taking downward correction since the beginning of the session on Monday which was followed through during the day. Although US equities posted a mixed close and the countries pending home sales number improved but a broad based sell of pulled the metal to trade down. This morning Aluminum at LME is seen trading at...
LME aluminium is expected drop to $1,814 per tonne, as it has cleared support at $1,848. This support is provided by the 23.6 percent Fibonacci retracement on the rise from the Feb. 3 low of $1,671.25 to the April 11 high of $1,902.50. The next support will be at $1,814, the 38.2 percent level, a break below which will lead to a further loss to $1,787, the 50 percent level. Rebound from the current level could be limited to $1,848. The views expressed are his own. No information in this analysis should be considered as being business, financial or legal advice. Each reader should consult his or her own professional or other advisers for business, financial or legal advice regarding the products mentioned in the analyses.
Aluminium premiums in China moved down to $355-370 per tonne this week, amid limited import interest, with traders eyeing carrying trade opportunities. The range fell lower than the premium of $370 per tonne in March, although trading was thin. "There have been almost no offers or bids recently, as the price gap between the global and Chinese markets is huge," a major trader said. "We have very little aluminium on hand to sell at the moment and no one wanted imported aluminium because it would result in a loss of over 2,000 yuan ($324) per tonne," the trader said. Another trader said he was offering $370 per tonne, but admitted it was "very hard" to reach any deal at the level. The three-month London Metal Exchange aluminium settled at an official price of $1,840/40.50 per tonne on Monday...
Prices of aluminium dropped to the lowest in London for two weeks or more as the inventories expanded. Inventories of the unwrought aluminium rose to 1.215 mn mt in the month of March from an amount of 1.71 mn tons that were revised a month earlier. This was said in a recent report published in International Aluminium Institute. The stockpiles climbed to 1.215 mn metric tons in those warehouses that were tracked by LME. “Prices are going to be hampered from moving higher because of that supply, particularly on the LME,” Mike Dragosits, a senior commodity strategist at TD Securities in Toronto, said in an interview over the phone. Aluminum to be delivered fell to 1.3% in 3 months fell to settle at $1,829 per ton in London, after reaching $1,826.75, recorded as the lowest since 9th April.
Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., the nation’s biggest producer of the lightweight metal, said its first-quarter loss widened as industry overcapacity caused prices to fall. The Beijing-based company posted a loss of 2.2 billion yuan ($352 million), or 0.16 yuan a share, in the three months ended March 31 from 975 million yuan, or 0.07 yuan a share, a year ago, it said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Sales rose 3 percent to 35.2 billion yuan. Average aluminum prices in London dropped 14 percent during the quarter from a year earlier following nine years of excess global production, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Aluminum Corp., known as Chalco, said April 16 it would cut 600,000 metric tons of production capacity as part of its plan to trim 1 million tons this year....
