Mexico is approaching the final stages of negotiations with the United States on reducing tariffs on aluminum and steel products, with officials indicating that a deal could significantly lower the effective tariff burden on Mexican exporters. Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez, Mexico’s undersecretary of foreign trade, said talks had made progress during the National Auto Parts Industry congress. Discussions covering the automotive sector are targeting a 15% tariff, which could fall to an effective rate of around 4% to 5% after deductions linked to regional value content. The potential reduction would bring Mexico closer to tariff levels faced by competitors including Japan, South Korea and Germany, improving the position of Mexican suppliers in the US market. Explore the production, demand and...
CLSA expects the Odisha High Court’s dismissal of Vedanta Aluminium Metal’s bauxite petition to have a muted medium-term impact, despite a potential one-time liability and higher aluminium production costs. The Odisha High Court dismissed Vedanta Aluminium’s petition seeking bauxite supplies from Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) at the historical rate of INR 1,000 (USD 10.38) per tonne. CLSA said the order could result in a one-time financial impact of up to USD 290 million, including interest, while also increasing the company’s aluminium production costs. The brokerage estimated OMC’s claim for historical dues at around INR 2,500 crore (USD 59.50 million) before tax, excluding interest. Including interest, the one-time impact could reach USD 290 million, equivalent to around 2.8 per cent...
Grow with
AL Circle
LME aluminium is expected to fall to $1,743 per tonne, driven by a downward wave c. This is the third wave of a flat which started at the Feb. 19 high of $1,788. It could be roughly equal to the preceding two waves in length, ending around $1,743, the 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement on the rise from the Feb. 3 low of $1,671.25 to $1,788. Signals will turn neutral should aluminium climb above $1,780, however, only a further gain above $1,788 could confirm the continuation of the uptrend. 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.
Century Aluminum shares have crossed bullishly above their 10-day moving average of $11.49 on a volume of 254K shares. This may provide short-term investors a chance for a long position, as such a crossover often suggests higher prices in the near term. Century Aluminum is currently priced 21.8% above its average consensus analyst price target of $9.17. The stock should discover initial support at its 50-day moving average (MA) of $10.74 and subsequent support at its 200-day MA of $9.42. In the past 52 weeks, shares of Century Aluminum have traded between a low of $6.26 and a high of $12.58 and are now at $11.72, which is 87% above that low price. In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day moving average (MA) has climbed 1.4% while the 200-day MA has risen 0.4%. Century Aluminum...
Reuters reported that China's users of primary aluminium are set to cut imports of spot metal in the April-June quarter as they don't want to pay the record premiums demanded by sellers and may instead use more domestically sourced metal whose prices have fallen. A drop in imports by users in the world's top consumer and producer of primary aluminium could add to pressure on global prices that near levels last seen in mid-2009. Global trading firms are asking Chinese importers to pay premiums of $350-$360 per tonne over the cash London Metal Exchange price of the metal for second-quarter deliveries, while importers were agreeable to a maximum of $340, traders said. The Chinese reluctance to pay up comes as global producers of primary aluminium have sought record $370-$375 premiums from...
Standing at the helm of a leading manufacturing business, Simon MacVicker is a man undaunted by big challenges. Whilst many of us unwind in front of the television, he can be found pounding the county’s lanes training for his next long-distance triathlon. But attributing to Simon a “steely resolve” would perhaps be inappropriate, given that he’s the managing director of Bridgnorth Aluminium in Shropshire, England. Over the next two years, in addition to running a thriving business and pushing himself to the limit physically, he will be helping to further the interests of the aluminium sector as the new president of the Aluminium Federation (ALFED). “It’s a real privilege to represent the industry in this way and I’m very excited about tackling some of the challenges our members face over...
Century Aluminum Co. logoAnalysts at Barclays raised their price target on shares of Century Aluminum from $11.00 to $13.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, StockRatingsNetwork.com reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Barclays’ target price suggests a potential upside of 14.84% from the company’s current price. Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Analysts at Cowen and Company downgraded shares of Century Aluminum from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. They now have a $9.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $10.00. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Separately, analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares...
The Aluminum Association announced the appointment of Ryan Olsen as the new Vice President of Business Information & Statistics. This completes the leadership restructuring effort under Association President and CEO Heidi Brock, creating a dynamic organization designed to promote the use of aluminum. "Ryan brings strong experience to the Aluminum Association's business information and statistics program," said Tim Calvin, Director of Sales and Marketing, Billet & Rod for Noranda Aluminum and Chairman of the Aluminum Association's Statistical and Market Research Committee. "I am looking forward to working with him on the Association's highly valued statistical programs." As Vice President, Olsen will direct the Association's North American aluminum industry statistical and business...
XinRen Aluminium Holdings said it has finalized the deal of selling its loss-making smelting plant for 400 million yuan. Changjiang Aluminum is the owner of 130,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) primary smelting facility in Yichang of Hubei Province (Yichang Plant). The group is also planning to use the net income of 375 million yuan for repaying its debt to the Changjiang Aluminium and for working capital.
More than 250 industry leaders from various countries attended the gala event in Muscat to network and discuss key industry issues. Held under the Patronage of Gulf Aluminum Council (GAC), the Gulf Aluminum Dinner (GAD), an exclusive by-invitation-only event that reflects the importance of the Gulf region as an emerging hub in the global aluminium industry, came to a successful close yesterday. This prestigious event was held in Oman for the first time and was hosted by Sohar Aluminium at Al Bustan Palace Muscat on 5th February 2014. The GAD was graced by the presence of His Highness Sayyid Taimur bin Asaad bin Tariq Al Said as the chief guest and a number of other dignitaries from across the government and private sector of Oman. The dinner saw more than 250 invitees comprising of...
The recent rail freight rate hike in West China is set to drive up the production costs at aluminum smelters, according to Shanghai Metals Market. The National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) of the country raised the rates of rail freight by an average 0.015 yuan ($ 0.00245) per tonne per kilometer. The aluminium smelter in Xinjiang can be seen as a perfect example to witness the impact of this rate hike. Smelters in this region source alumina from Shanxi, Henan, Guangxi and Shandong. As soon as the rate hike came into effect, the charges for freight from Zhengzhou to Urumqi went up 46 yuan per tonne, 50 yuan per tonne from Xiaoyi to Urumqi and 68 yuan per tonne from Nanning. If we assume that 1.95 tonne of alumina per tonne of aluminum isproduced, alumina costs would go high by...
A resolution to assist the expansion of a local industry will come before the Magnolia City Council today. The resolution will support an application by Southern Aluminum for participation in the State of Arkansas’ “Tax Back” program. The program provides sales and use tax refunds on the purchase of building materials and taxable machinery and equipment to qualified businesses investing at least $100,000 and have either a job creation agreement under the Advantage Arkansas or Create Rebate programs within 24 months of signing the Tax Back agreement, or have met the requirements of an Advantage Arkansas or Create Rebate agreement within the previous 48 months. Southern Aluminum must first obtain endorsing resolutions from local governing authorities authorizing the refund of its local...
Noranda Aluminum alleges Ameren Missouri is overcharging consumers for electricity and gas. But one watchdog group says Noranda is just trying skirt the system to get a better deal than it deserves. Tennessee-based Noranda Aluminum runs a large smelting facility in Southeast Missouri … it’s the state’s largest energy consumer. Missourians for a Balanced Energy Future says Noranda wants a better deal than it is already getting though its profit margins speak for themselves. “They issued a claim with the Missouri Public Service Commission alleging that they’re destitute and need a further slash to their electricity rates,” said Irl Scissors, executive director of Missourians for a Balanced Energy Future. But later “… They announced to their shareholders on Wall Street that they’re paying a...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) recently announced Project Titan -- a two-year efficiency programme initiated with the objective to reduce cash cost by $150/mt by end of January 2016. Already in the implementation phase, Project Titan (February 2014 to January 2016) is expected to generate a significant amount of savings, majority of which will be invested in projects that will drive future growth in strategic areas of business. Speaking on the implementation of Project Titan, Alba’s Manager for Operational Excellence, Waleed Tamimi said: “Alba remains committed to improve its efficiency without compromising safety, quality or effectiveness. Project Titan, through its cost initiatives in various areas of operations, aims to drive revenue growth as well as boost profitability, thus...
Europe aluminium premium recorded high in February, a rise of 30 % from 2014 beginning, and have stayed at high levels of approximately $360 a tonne above cash aluminium price at LME. Still, the prices are quite low in North America, where the aluminium premiums in Midwest rose to 20.5 cents per lb ($452/tonne) in the beginning of this year. "Producers are saying that they need to raise the premiums as high as the other regions as physical metal supply is tight," according to three sources at aluminium users. "To offset weaker metal prices, producers need higher premiums. Otherwise, we can't afford to pay production costs," a producer source said. But aluminium buyers were not ready to accept high premium prices. "These offers are insane. Premiums in the Midwest are now falling, and...
Alcoa and the Government of Québec have reached an agreement to improve the competitiveness of Alcoa’s three smelters in Québec, securing approximately 3,000 jobs. Under the agreement, Hydro-Québec will renew Alcoa’s power supply contracts for the Becancour and Deschambault facilities until 2030 and for the Baie-Comeau plant through 2036. The agreement enables Alcoa to proceed with $250 million of planned investments at the smelters over the next five years to further improve their competitiveness. As part of that investment, Alcoa will increase production of aluminum used for auto manufacturing and reduce production of commodity-grade aluminum at the Baie-Comeau casthouse to capture demand from automakers as they turn to aluminum for more fuel-efficient vehicles. According to automakers,...
Spot aluminium stockpiles grew in China by a hefty amount of 82,000 tons last week due to a lack of downstream consumption, according to a survey by Shanghai Metals Market. Stockpiles of the lightweight metal on a spot basis in China’s four major trading regions – Shanghai, Wuxi, Nanhai and Hangzhou - rose to 927,000 tons, with most increases seen in Nanhai and Wuxi on higher local prices, according to the survey. Growth was limited in Shanghai, where spot stocks were estimated at 331,000 tons, the survey shows. SMM expects inventories to continue to rise for the foreseeable future as downstream demand has yet to recover following the holiday season. For instance, aluminium wheel manufacturers are reportedly depleting stocks on hand with the metal prices falling persistently.
Montenegrin privately-held metals trader Uniprom has filed the sole bid in the second tender for the sale of bankrupt aluminium firm KAP's assets, offering to pay the starting price of EUR 28mn, daily Vijesti reported on Feb 20. The offered price was somewhat lower than the EUR 28.5mn Uniprom proposed to pay in the first tender earlier this year. The new offer includes EUR 76mn investments in raising the capacity to 120,000 tonnes of primary and 30,000 tonnes of secondary metal products by 2018 – the same as in the first tender. The investor is also again asking written statements from energy producer EPCG and power grid operator CGES that in the new contract for KAP's electricity supply the price per MWh, including distribution costs, will not go above EUR 38. Only under this condition...
Aluminum buyers in Japan, Asia’s largest importer, are set to agree on a record fee next quarter as global producers reduce output and rates in the United States and Europe surge, said three executives who will start price negotiations next week. The surcharge for the three months starting in April may exceed $350 a metric ton over the London Metal Exchange cash price, according to the executives, who represent buyers and sellers and asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media. That is a gain of as much as 37 percent from the high of $255 to $256 this quarter. United Co. Rusal, the world’s biggest producer, said Tuesday it plans to cut output by 10 percent to 3.5 million tons in 2014, the lowest level in at least eight years. Alcoa Inc., the largest...
China’s output of A356 aluminum alloy dropped in February since the Chinese New Year holiday allowed fewer working days in the month, Shanghai Metals Market has learned. Output at producers surveyed by SMM totaled 110,000 tonnes this month, down 5,500 tonnes from January. Operating rates averaged 66.67%, also down 3.33% month-on-month. Processing charges for alloy delivered to factory held stable at 680 yuan ($ 111) per tonne, but were heard to be 700 yuan per tonne at selected producers. On the demand side, consumption by wheel manufacturers was sluggish. First, wheel manufacturers reopened later following Chinese New year than in years past. Second, persistently falling aluminum prices prompted wheel manufacturers to deplete raw material stocks on hand. SMM expected consumption of A356...
