The ANZ World Commodity Price Index rose 0.6 per cent month on month and 1.0 per cent year on year, with prices increasing across most categories. The rise was largely driven by higher energy prices, while a weaker New Zealand dollar pushed the index in local-currency terms up 2.8 per cent. Oil surge lifts aluminium prices along with milk powder Aluminium benefited from supply disruption linked to the Middle East conflict. Prices rose 1.1 per cent during September and are around 23 per cent higher year on year, with production and exports in the region remaining disrupted. Dairy prices increased 1.0 per cent in September, led by skim milk powder. Prices for the product jumped 9.2 per cent month on month and are now 41.1 per cent higher than a year earlier. ANZ said milk powder prices are...
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...
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Alcoa today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Carol L. Roberts a director of the Company and member of the Audit Committee of the Board. Ms. Roberts, 54, is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of International Paper Company (IP), a global leader in packaging and paper with manufacturing operations in 24 countries and 2012 net sales of $28 billion. Her career spans engineering, manufacturing, business management, human resources and finance, bringing a strong set of cross-functional experiences to the Alcoa Board. “Carol has been a highly successful leader, delivering proven results at every level from operating mill to global business group,” said Alcoa Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld. “With her finance and operational experience and...
Critics have argued BHP Billiton’s power deal with Eskom might be a great deal for the firm but turn out to be a disaster for South Africa. Brokered initially by Mick Davis and then by Derek Keys, the finance minister of the National Party, Gencor (later as BHP) built the Richards Bay smelters. This was done to take advantage of additional electricity supply that the firm was selling at a cheap price in the 90s. Since the middle of last decade, though, Eskom has faced electricity supply crisis with widespread blackouts in the year 2008 as well as continual horse-trading with the big industrial users and few of the users even had to cut down on their consumption to keep the lights on. The power rate of BHP Billiton, in such a situation,was reported at R0.09/Kwhr (US$0.01/Kwhr), appears...
Aluminum prices had plunged by 0.8% at LME platform and settled at $1783/MT as a result of a stronger dollar. The dollar strengthened due to the increasing Global growth forecast by IMF from 3.6% to 3.7% and it weighed negatively on aluminum. Though the inventory picture of aluminum depicts positivism in the face of declining inventories as well as increase in cancelled warrants, these did not protect aluminum from falling in last day’s session. Aluminum is expected to business in a ranged manner at MCX platform as the metal might take positive signals from high physical premiums still hovering above 20 cents per pound mark as a result of supply tightness. However the metal might also take negative signals from the weak manufacturing data of Chinese.
According to Oleg Deripaska, the CEO of Rusal, the largest aluminium company in the world, discipline among aluminium producers and restrictions in supply to the market can save the aluminium market from the current financial crisis. "Now we realize only discipline on the supply side… will help us to recover," said Mr. Deripaska. "It is interesting that finally the world recognized we should have more disciplined in terms of supply of commodities to the market. We were very optimistic in 2005, 2006 and 2007 in thinking that growth could continue for ever," he added. Deripaska passed this message to CNBC from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Rusal stopped production at its non-profit European smelters and cut down heavily on its aluminium output in 2013 to keep the falling...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba)'s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray recently visited customers in Asia as part of Alba's drive to improve customer satisfaction as well as expand its customer base across the region. Mr. Murray met with Alba's customers, trade partners as well as employees in the company's local offices to discuss the key role played by them in the growth of the company. The visit also served the purpose of meeting with potential customers for Alba and forging a significant business relationship with the companies. Alba's CEO was accompanied by Alba's Manager for Customer Services & Operations, Khalid A. Latif, Manager Sales Asia & Pacific, Yogesh Kumar and key sales personnel for Asia - Enoch Kwok, Mohammed AI Awadhi and Teresa So. Highlighting the purpose of the Asia...
Anahata specializes in the delivery of cross-platform solutions that are developed using open source technology with open standards. With this, the company is able to guarantee compatibility, stability and security over the lifespan of the application while reducing ongoing and upfront license fees. The firm delivers cross-platform software solutions for Mac that work flawlessly with Mac applications. This included the Patient Record Management System that is operated on a Pac platform and is integrated with a Mac application Genie. On the Windows platform, the Perth software company provides tailor-made software solutions based on Oracle technology as a Certified Oracle Partner. These include Oracle Database, MySQL, Java Enterprise Edition, Java. Anahata also delivers customized software...
A356 aluminum alloy stocks in China were expected to grow in January due to growing production and sagging demand, Shanghai Metals Market has learned. Output at producers surveyed by SMM totaled 115,500 tonnes this month, up 6,000 tonnes from a month ago. Operating rates averaged 70.0%, also an increase of 0.7% month-on-month. Aluminum smelters geared up production of alloy as closure of nearby processors for the Chinese New Year holiday created an overhang of aluminum liquid. This drove A356 aluminum alloy output up. The upcoming weeklong holiday undermined demand from wheel manufactures. Large wheel manufactures will remain in operation till January 25, but most SMEs began to close on January 20. In addition, poor orders and depressed aluminum prices also deterred wheel makers from...
A meeting of the Board of Directors of National Aluminium Company Ltd will be held on January 29, 2014, to take on record the Unaudited Financial Results of the Company for the quarter ended December 31, 2013 (Q3). Shares of National Aluminium Company Ltd was last trading in BSE at Rs.36.95, up by Rs.0.45 or 1.23%. The stock hit an intraday high of Rs.37.30 and intraday low of Rs.36.40. The total traded quantity was 0.29 lakh shares as compared to 2 week average of 0.78 lakh shares.
Hydro's fourth quarter results 2013 will be released at 07:00 CET (01:00 AM EST, 06:00 UK time), on Wednesday February 12, 2014. The quarterly report and presentation slides will be available on www.hydro.com at the same time. Hydro will host a combined analyst and press conference at its corporate headquarters at Drammensveien 260, Oslo at 08:30 CET the same day. The presentation will be held by President and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg and CFO Eivind Kallevik and can also be seen on web TV. There will be a Conference Call at 15:00 UK Time (16:00 CET, 10:00 AM EST,) the same day. The Q&A will be held by President and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg and CFO Eivind Kallevik.
The Energy Department has sought the views of Gridco, the power trading utility of the State, on the issue of granting permission to the Vedanta Aluminium and Power to use power from Sterlite Energy. This is in response to Vedanta Group’s request to the State Government for using 600 MW power from Sterlite Energy (a subsidiary of Vedanta Group) to run its smelter plant at Jharsuguda. Vedanta Aluminium Limited has set up a 1.1 million tonne per annum (mtpa) new aluminium smelter at Jharsuguda as Special Economic Zone (SEZ), is lying idle presently for want of power. “We are providing 600 MW to Gridco for the last three years. Since Odisha is now power surplus State, we may be allowed to use this power for running the new smelter plant to full capacity,” said Vedanta Aluminium and Power...
LME aluminium is expected to revisit its Jan. 17 high of $1,825.25 per tonne, as it has completed a correction from this level. The correction could be considered as a pullback towards the neckline of an inverted head-and-shoulders that formed between Jan. 6 and Jan. 15. The quick recovery of the price from the Tuesday low of $1,781 indicates a completion of the correction. Further indication of the completion is a long-shadowed hammer which appeared on the daily candlestick chart on Tuesday. 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.
JPMorgan upgraded Century Aluminum from Underweight to Overweight with a price target of $13.00 (from $6.00). "We are increasing estimates, raising our price target to $13, and upgrading CENX to Overweight from Underweight to reflect the impact of tightening aluminum markets and rising Midwest premiums on the company’s earnings. Given the pace and amount at which premiums increased recently it is clearly difficult to forecast how long they will remain near current levels which we believe provide a significant amount of earnings support to the company’s primary aluminum smelting operations," said analyst Michael F. Gambardella. Shares of Century Aluminum closed at $11.12 yesterday, with a 52 week range of $6.26-$11.42.
Analysts predict a tightening surplus in the aluminium market. The surplus this year is seen at 568,400 tons compared to an oversupply of 591,747 predicted in a previous poll. Cash aluminium prices are seen averaging $1,840 a ton this year, according to 31 analysts, down from previous forecasts of $1,885, and slightly lower than average 2013 cash prices of $1,844.95 a ton. Next year aluminium prices are seen at $1,984.10 a ton, coinciding with a further tightening of the surplus to 500,000 tons in 2015.
According to a latest report by General Administration of Customs in China, there has been a decline in aluminum imports of 2013. Total unwrought Aluminium imports in the year 2013 (Jan- Dec) were 371483 tonnes. On the contrary, a marked rise has been witnessed in overall unwrought Aluminium imports in December. The report said the total imports of unwrought Aluminium gained by 428.77% to about 76060 tonnes in December 2013. Regionwise, imports of unwrought Aluminium from North Korea gained by 240.75% around13709 tonnes in 2013 December. Unwrought Aluminium imports from the region increased to 100.78% around 20081 tonnes.
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba)'s Administration Department today (Tuesday, January 21, 2014) launched its HSE Week under the theme "Together, We Build a Safe Culture", encompassing administration employees across all departments at Alba. The HSE event - to be held from January 21 to 23, 2014 - will feature presentations, films and discussions highlighting administration safety issues as well as conduct safety drills, inspection walks and HSE quiz competitions for employees. The ceremony was inaugurated by Alba's Chief Executive, Tim Murray along with Chief Marketing Officer, Jean Baptiste Lucas, Chief Financial Officer Ali Al Baqali, Chairman of Alba Labour Union, Ali Al Binali, Acting Director for Administration, Abdul Rahman Janahi and attended by various other department managers as...
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said on Monday that global mining giant BHP Billiton had not "officially" consulted it about the possible closure of parts of the Bayside aluminium smelter in the port of Richards Bay, in KwaZulu-Natal. On Friday last week, the world’s largest diversified mining company said it had begun consultations with employees in its Aluminium SA business on the proposed halting of aluminium smelting and associated services at Bayside. Through Aluminium SA, BHP Billiton runs two aluminium smelters at Richards Bay — Bayside and Hillside. Hillside was the largest producer of standard aluminium ingots in the southern hemisphere, while Bayside provided value-added products to downstream manufacturers in South Africa. BHP Billiton also said that...
Last year the close down of Aluminium Delfzijl (Aldel), the only smelter in Netherlands is not considered to be the last. That is what Citicorp’s David Wilson says. With an overall capacity of 110,000 metric tons annually, the smelter announced its closure after the owners was not able to negotiate a low-cost energy deal. “There’s no reason to produce aluminium in Europe,” and “production in Europe will fall to 2 million tons this year, the lowest since 1971,” Wilson predicted. He said smelters in Germany and Spain are under greatest threat. With the shutdown of Italy’s Fusina permanently last year, future of aluminium smelters in Europe has been quite doubtful. Lynemouth and Anglesey smelters in UK also closed down due to financial crisis. The overall production of France is in a better...
PhosAgro has signed a long term deal with RUSAL for aluminium fluoride and raw materials supply needed for the production process. According to the first contract, PhosAgro-Cherepovets will supply aluminum fluoride to UC RUSAL TD until December 31, 2034. The transaction costs over RUB20bn. UC RUSAL TD will supply aluminium hydroxide to PhosAgro-Cherepovets for production of aluminium fluoride, under a second agreement. The second transaction costs approximately RUB6.5bn.
