Southeast Asia’s largest integrated aluminium producer extended its record earnings run as higher aluminium prices, regional premiums and Middle East supply disruptions supported performance. Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd has extended its record earnings streak into 2026, with the Southeast Asian aluminium producer posting a 51 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit to MYR 1.43 billion (USD 350.78 million) in 1HFY2026. The company had already delivered back-to-back record profits in FY2024 and FY2025, supported by higher aluminium prices, increased sales volumes and a more favourable cost environment. Its latest performance comes as the global aluminium market remains tight, with RHB Research expecting a deficit of around 900,000 to one million tonnes in 2026. Press Metal’s...
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...
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Alcoa Inc. is very optimistic about the demand for aluminium in the year 2014, according to its initial forecast released with its results. It expects that demand for white metal will increase by 7% this year, keeping a match with the growth of last year. Though the forecast says China’s demand will be slow keeping in mind the country’s shift in focus from investment-led economic growth. But regions such as Europe and North America are expected to pick up. In 2014, it is expected that China’s demand growth would be 10%, compared to 12% in the last year, while North America will make a rise from 4% to 5% and Europe goes up from minus 1% to a positive 1% growth. The main sectors that will drive growth are aerospace, automotive, beverage can packaging and commercial construction. In addition...
Aluminium traders and the London Metal Exchange are in advanced discussions over a new contract that will allow consumers to protect themselves against the cost of the surging premiums for the metal. Demand for a hedging tool has mounted in recent weeks as the gap between the physical aluminium market and the official LME benchmark price has widened leaving industrial buyers exposed. The US Midwest aluminium premium – the amount payable on top of the exchange price for immediate delivery of metal – surged to a record level in January, rising from $0.12 a pound to more than $0.20. That equates to about $450 a tonne – or more than a quarter of the current LME price for aluminium. European and Japanese premiums have also rocketed to record levels. The sudden spike in premiums has caused...
The London Metal Exchange is considering launching a U.S. aluminum premium contract, a senior executive said, potentially expanding its most-traded product after years of criticism over high physical prices. The contract, plans for which are still in the early stages, would reflect the cash premium that is paid on top of the LME benchmark for physical delivery, Matt Chamberlain, head of business development, told Reuters. The draft specification will be ready by month-end, at which point the LME will start to canvass the market for support. If liquidity grows, the exchange would expand it to include forward transactions, he said. The plans emerge just as premiums AL-PREM spike to record highs, now accounting for as much as a quarter of the LME price. Historically it has been around 10...
Vedanta group, the owner of Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (HZL) and Bharat Aluminium Co. Ltd. (Balco), will not get any preference when the government auctions its residual stake in the two companies in this financial year, a top government official said. There is no legal hurdle in the sale of the residual stake in HZL and Balco, and Vedanta, the majority owner, will be permitted to participate in the auction like any other bidder, said economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram. “We have very clearly recommended that there should be no put and call option given to the original buyer (Vedanta). It should be auctioned. No first right of refusal, but they will have a right to participate in the auction. So whoever gives the highest price to the government can buy the shares, whether it is the owner...
China's stranglehold on the global aluminium industry could be weakened by changes to export laws in Indonesia, according to American giant Alcoa. Indonesia on Sunday enforced a long-awaited mineral export law that effectively bans unprocessed ores from leaving Indonesian shores. The policy is designed to force companies to build processing plants and other downstream infrastructure on Indonesian soil, and pundits expect it to affect the trade of bauxite and nickel in particular, and possibly tin. China imports close to a quarter of its bauxite - which is the initial raw ingredient in the production of aluminium - from Indonesia, and Alcoa chairman Klaus Kleinfeld said the ban could force China to curtail some of its refining and smelting capacity. ''China is nervous, and you can see that...
As the New Year ushers in, it is expected that Aluminium Corporation of China (Chalco) will make up for their losses for the last year. With their cost reduction as well as asset optimization efforts, they are making every attempt to earn maximum profits. Recently the company said to Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges, it expects to make a net profit of 1 billion yaun ($164 million) approximately making up for earlier loss of 8.23 billion yuan. In the exchange filing, the company said that the alumina products cost have witnessed a drop by 9% approximately year-on-year while the products of electrolysis aluminium have dropped by 5%. The company has worked to achieve the goal of expanding their business to reach heights of success in the industry. In order to achieve this, they have...
A multi-national Chinese construction firm, Huasheng Jiangquan Group, has identified Shama District as a viable place for the construction of an aluminium processing plant. The District hosts the Aboadze Thermal Plant, the Regulatory and Metering Station of the West African Gas Pipeline Company, the fertilizer factory, the Pra River and vast land. The District Chief Executive, Mr. Enoch Kojo Appiah told the GNA in an interview that some officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry visited the project site on Wednesday January 8, to assess its viability. He said a team from the Chinese firm would also arrive in the District next week for further feasibility studies. He said the district had over 6,000 acres of land reserved for infrastructural development and that the traditional...
Shares in Hindalco Industries fall 1.2 percent after its global peer Alcoa Inc, the largest US aluminium producer, reported a massive quarterly loss on Thursday and gave a stagnant outlook on global aluminium demand. Excluding the impairment charge of USD 1.7 billion on smelter acquisitions and other special items, Alcoa group earnings fell to USD 40 million, falling short of analysts expectations. Alcoa said it expected global aluminium demand to grow 7 percent in 2014, consistent with its 7 percent growth in 2013. Analysts tracking the sector say Alcoa's stagnant outlook on global demand for aluminium does not bode well for Hindalco's US subsidiary Novelis Inc.
Alcoa Inc has no plans to follow Russian aluminum producer Rusal and launch legal action against the London Metal Exchange aimed at overturning reforms to its warehousing policy, Chairman and Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld said on Thursday. The U.S. aluminum producer and Rusal have staunchly criticized the LME for implementing changes, which will speed up the rate at which metal is delivered out of storage locations and is expected to pressure the physical prices of aluminum. In a dramatic move last month Rusal - the world's biggest aluminum producer - filed a lawsuit against the LME, demanding the world's oldest and largest metals exchange, scrap the changes. "We understand where those folks are coming from," Kleinfeld said in a conference call to discuss Alcoa's fourth-quarter...
Energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions associated with primary aluminum production in the United States and Canada have declined significantly in recent years according to a new, peer-reviewed life-cycle assessment (LCA) report released by the Aluminum Association. The study covers all life cycle impacts from aluminum production through semi-fabrication and finds major improvements, particularly in terms of more sustainable production. According to the report, the energy needed to produce a single metric ton of primary (new) aluminum has declined 11 percent since 2005 and 26 percent since 1995. The industry’s carbon footprint has fallen even more dramatically, declining 19 percent since 2005 and 37 percent since 1995. A voluntary effort undertaken by the industry in the early 1990s...
In a clear demonstration of the UAE primary aluminium industry’s growing importance in the global sector, Dubai Aluminium (" DUBAL ") and Emirates Aluminium ("EMAL") will participate jointly in the Platts1-hosted Aluminium Symposium 2014 ("Platts 2014"). Held this year in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA from 12 to 14 January, the focus of Platts 2014 is on new trends in volatile global markets. The event is expected to provide a strong platform for leading aluminium producers (such as DUBAL and EMAL), extruders, industrial buyers, investors and analysts to share insights. DUBAL and EMAL’s participation at Platts 2014 is multi-tiered: The two companies will have a combined exhibition stand, appearing for the first time as operating subsidiaries of Emirates Global Aluminium ("EGA") - a...
ALCOA will not seek further government assistance for its troubled Point Henry aluminium smelter, dramatically increasing the chances of its closure this year and the loss of 500 more jobs in Victoria's manufacturing sector. The company revealed yesterday that neither state nor federal aid was being sought for the smelter, despite the Gillard government handing Alcoa $40 million in 2012 to keep the operation near Geelong open. Its decision to eschew further assistance is expected to make it virtually impossible for the business to remain viable at a time when weak aluminium prices have forced the global organisation to review its operations. Alcoa's national communications manager Nichola Holgate said yesterday the company, which has been aided for decades in Victoria by generous state...
China’s second-biggest aluminum producer Shandong Nanshan Aluminium Co. Ltd. will begin construction of processing facilities and supporting infrastructure totaling US$5 billion in Indonesia in the first quarter of this year. Industry Minister MS Hidayat, who last week visited the firm’s integrated processing facilities in China, said on Thursday that it would also build a 300-megawatt power plant to fuel operation of the smelters, and a port to serve the smelter, set to be located on Bintan Island, Riau Islands province. “The firm is now finalizing the land acquisition for the smelter and will begin building in April,” he told reporters at his office. The development of the smelter may be completed within two years and, once the smelter begins operation, it will process bauxite into...
”Aluminum premiums, or costs to get metal out of storage, have soared to all-time highs in the United States with Europe and Asia close behind as smelters shut and spare metal is snatched up by traders for collateral in financing deals,” reports Reuters. “The rise in premiums highlights the London Metal Exchange’s (LME) limited ability to cool a market where low interest rates continue to whet appetites for locking up aluminum as a form of investment.” The LME, “announced big changes to its metals storage system in November after years of complaints…It outlined plans to slash waiting times to a maximum of 50 days, among other measures, which analysts and manufacturers had hoped would lead to lower premiums especially given that the aluminum market is oversupplied.” “But the benchmark...
Chiping Xinyuan Aluminum Industry Co., a major Chinese aluminum rod producer, was ordered to halt production for heavy air pollution by municipal government of Shandong province where it is based, local news website dzwww.com reported today. Chiping Xinyuan Aluminum is one of 6 local enterprises ordered to close in this round of environment protection efforts. Facilities would be shut down if failing to pass emission standards for pollutants before March 31, 2014, according to the report.
The construction of the Saudi mining sector serves the country and citizens over the long term and contributes to creating thousands of jobs for the people of the Kingdom, especially in the technical jobs, as well as investment opportunities for citizens and international companies, Saudi Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi said Wednesday during the inspection tour of Ma'aden Company projects in Ras Al-Khair City, Eastern Province. He said "these mega projects contribute to economic diversification, achievement of high returns for shareholders and investors, transfer and localization of technical professions with high skills. The mining industry constitutes an important basis for the diversity of the economy and the development of new industries based on their...
The rise in premiums highlights the London Metal Exchange's (LME) limited ability to cool a market where low interest rates continue to whet appetites for locking up aluminium as a form of investment. January 08, 2014 12:19 MUMBAI: Aluminium settled down -0.32% at 109.30 despite that Aluminium premiums, or costs to get metal out of storage, have soared to all-time highs in the United States with Europe and Asia close behind as smelters shut and spare metal is snatched up by traders for collateral in financing deals. The rise in premiums highlights the London Metal Exchange's (LME) limited ability to cool a market where low interest rates continue to whet appetites for locking up aluminium as a form of investment. The LME, the world's largest metals marketplace, announced big changes to...
Signals are mixed for LME aluminium, as it is not clear if the rebound from the Jan. 6 low of $1,756 has completed. The rebound failed to go above a resistance at $1,788, the 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement on the fall from the Dec. 30 high of $1,839 to $1,756. The failure indicates a resumption of the preceding downtrend. Unfortunately, the resumption will not be confirmed until aluminium drops below $1,756. On the other hand, the extension of the rebound will only be signalled when aluminium climbs above $1,788. 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...
