Asian aluminium premiums are facing more pressure ahead of Q4 talks. CRU’s Asia CIF aluminium premium is now USD 202 per tonne, well below the USD 395 per tonne Main Japanese Port (MJP) Q3 benchmark. MJP Q4 offers have also dropped sharply. They fell from USD 325 per tonne in early September to USD 245–260 per tonne as the new quarter approaches. This shows weaker sentiment in the market. Aluminium premiums are under pressure across Asia, especially in Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan. These markets are more exposed to spot price changes, so premiums can move quickly when supply or demand changes. Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our report: " Global Bauxite & Alumina Market Forecast to 2036: Supply–Demand, Trade Flows & Price Outlook " Premiums...
Rio Tinto is connecting its Kitimat aluminum production with a new British Columbia-based supply chain through a long-term agreement with RevoCast Aluminum Billets Ltd., under which aluminum from BC Works will be combined with recycled aluminum to produce billet for North American manufacturers. Announced on September 28, the agreement gives Rio Tinto exclusive marketing rights for aluminum billet produced at RevoCast’s newly commissioned Langley casting facility. The operation combines primary aluminum from BC Works with recycled aluminum processed by RevoCast. Explore the production, demand and consumption forecasts of bauxite and alumina in our report: “ Global Bauxite & Alumina Market Forecast to 2036: Supply–Demand, Trade Flows & Price Outlook ” The deal, however, will not change...
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Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) swung to a third-quarter net profit on higher sales to Saudi Arabia, the owner of the world's fourth-largest aluminium smelter said. Net profit for the three months to 30 September was BD4.9 million ( $13 million ), versus a net loss of BD13 million a year earlier. Alba said its income was boosted by a seven per cent increase in sales to BD183.3 million, with strong demand from Saudi Arabia, and a 4.7 per cent hike in tonnes produced compared to the same months last year.
According to the data estimates from International Aluminium Institute (IAI) showed that the total primary Aluminium production reached 4.24 million tones in October 2013. This is the all time high production level, since January 1973, when IAI is collecting the data. The production of Aluminium in October 2013, increased by 4% compared to corresponding month last year. China remained the major contributor for this rise. The total reported production in China was 1.95 million tones in October 2013, indicating a 46% share in the world primary production. Unreported production in China is estimated around 200 thousand metric tones.
Aluminum traded near a four-year low, heading for the first monthly decline since June amid signs that the metal will remain in oversupply. The contract for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange was unchanged at $1,754 a metric ton by 3:45 p.m. in Shanghai after tumbling to $1,744 yesterday, the lowest since July 2009. Aluminum decreased 5.7 percent this month, bringing the drop to 15 percent in 2013. Global production will climb 6.2 percent this year, exceeding demand by about 500,000 tons, said Societe Generale SA this week. Stockpiles in LME-monitored warehouses increased 3.6 percent this year through yesterday, daily exchange data show. “Aluminum is weak because it has the worst fundamentals among base metals,” said Xiong Dabiao, an analyst at Minmetals Futures Co. in...
Offers for Chinese ADC12 aluminum alloys have dropped in the last two days ahead of the close of Toyota Motor's tender seeking 10,000 mt/month of molten aluminum alloy and ingot for January-March 2014 on Monday, Japanese traders said Friday. At least two Chinese alloy producers have reduced offers by $5/mt compared to earlier this week, traders said. One producer offered at $2,135/mt CFR Japan for February-loading cargoes, saying December-January cargoes were limited due to the Lunar New Year holidays at the end of January. Another producer, who offered at $2,135/mt CFR Japan, said that December cargoes were available. The most competitive offers were for Nigerian alloy at $2,115-2,225/mt CFR Japan for December shipments, traders said. Offers fell as the yen strengthened against the...
Billionaire Anil Agarwal, who controls London-based Vedanta Resources Plc (VED), said he regrets investing $8 billion in an aluminum complex in India that’s faced a shortage of raw materials. “I could either invest in Vedanta Aluminium or I could have bought Asarco,” Agarwal said in an interview with Bloomberg TV India in New Delhi aired today. “I would have done better if I had bought Asarco. It would have been a feather in my cap.” Regarding the investment into Vedanta Aluminium, Agarwal said: “If you ask me today, I regret it.” Complex government procedures are delaying project approvals in India, impeding businesses, Agarwal said. His Sesa Sterlite Ltd. (SSLT) has seen its iron-ore business slump following court-imposed bans to curb illegal mining, while the group’s failure to obtain...
IDCO has asked the Aditya Aluminium to return 135 acres of land acquired by it for its green field project of Aluminium Park at Lapanga after the State Government did not give its approval to the project. The issue came to light after Aditya Aluminium sought permission to acquire 22.69 acres which were left out of acquisition erroneously. Aditya Aluminium by mistake had not acquired 22.69 acres of land located in Tileimal village (1.22 acres), Dharopain (1.33), Bomaloi (4.86), Khadiapali (3.41), Derba (4) Lapanga (6.86) and Pandloi (one) belonging to 57 families. By the time Aditya Aluminium realised the mistake, it was too late as the land in contention was surrounded by land already acquired by the company. Since official acquisition of land is a cumbersome process, Aditya Aluminium...
In early July, the Commercial Court of Podgorica launched the bankruptcy proceedings for Montenegro's aluminum giant Krombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica (KAP). This massive aluminum plant was founded in 1971 with the intentions to become a stable pillar of the nation's economy; however, KAP has now absorbed millions of euros worth of government stimulus, entering the bankruptcy proceedings with 340 million euros of debt, which equates to approximately 10 per cent of the nation's GDP. The global financial crisis had a detrimental effect on KAP, for the drastic decrease in aluminum prices worldwide caused the company to be unable to pay its workers and buy the necessary manufacturing materials. Prior to the economic crisis, an estimated 10 per cent of Montenegro's population of 680,000 depended...
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), in its continual efforts to boost organisational efficiency, has implemented numerous cost-saving strategies, which enhances the company’s productivity as well as supports Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the Kingdom. Alba’s Supply Chain Group has achieved greater organisational efficiency by focussing on procurement activities, which includes reviewing of total cost of ownership of materials, intensive market study and analysis of market intelligence reports, material sourcing, elimination of duplication and advanced organisation of stock and optimisation of inventory. Alternative local suppliers and material sources is one of the main cost-saving strategies implemented, wherein Alba explores the local market for resources. This has boosted businesses for...
Aluminium slid to its lowest level in more than four years on Wednesday as speculators piled pressure on a market already weighed down by a global surplus. Three month aluminium touched a low of $1,748 a tonne, the weakest since July 2009, and closed down 0.9 percent at $1,757. It has been one of the worst performing base metals, with losses of about 15 percent so far this year. "An excess of production capacity across the globe, massive stockpiles on the LME (London Metal Exchange) as well as off-exchange and fears for the new economic policy in China have reinforced the bearish stance in the longer run," analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov at VTB Capital said. "The technical break below key support at $1,770 today amplified the sell-off," he said, adding that stops were probably hit after prices...
The Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC) is employing FLIR thermal cameras to help the Indian aluminium industry save energy and optimize the production process. Welcomed by the Indian aluminium production industry, the established JNARDDC institute is also using thermal imagers to help aluminium production companies detect faults at a very early stage. Monitoring aluminium production Aluminium production is an energy intensive process, requiring process engineers and designers to constantly seek ways to save energy at each step of the production process. Infrared thermography has played an important role in predictive maintenance of these processes, performing timely interventions for fault detection and scheduling equipment maintenance. The...
Releasing today its 2012 sustainability performance indicators, the aluminium industry urged European policy-makers to address the major competitiveness gap caused by EU policies. At a conference organised by the European Aluminium Association (EAA), industry CEOs presented an Agenda for Action to effectively enable jobs and growth in Europe. The latest sustainability performance indicators published today by the European Aluminium Association show that despite growing demand and continuous environmental leadership, the EU's production base is now at stake. "Europe's aluminium primary production capacity has declined by over a third between 2007 and 2012. This trend will not be reversed unless urgent measures are taken," EAA Director General Gerd Götz said. "Europe needs to retain its...
Russian aluminium company, UC Rusal, which has a major stake in Jamaica's bauxite alumina sector, is set to rake more earnings from aluminium sales in Asia next year. Rusal has asked Japanese buyers of aluminium for an increase as high as 10 per cent. The Russian producer has offered US$270 per ton for the first quarter of next year, up from US$245 to US$247 per ton in the current quarter. Rusal's Director of Asian sales, Geoff Watson, said Japan's demand is stronger than it has been during the previous few quarters and the strength is expected to continue into the first quarter. In the meantime, more than 300 workers at Rusal's operations in Jamaica are set to become unionised. The National Workers' Union (NWU) is to serve a bargaining rights claim on behalf of the employees. According...
Base metals have been dragged lower in what appears to be a commodities-specific sell-off, while equities, including metals and mining equities, are holding strong. With LME inventories for most base metals either flat or falling, Chinese demand surprising to the upside, and market balances tightening, the recent move in base metals prices has little to do with fundamental signals, said Barclays Capital in a research note. As such, we caution against getting too bearish on the sector at these levels. Nickel and aluminium prices have sunk to close to the year’s lows and we see limited downside from here. Prices for these metals are already eating so far into industry cost curves that production cuts are beginning to address surpluses, and in the case of aluminium, are close to moving the...
The Aluminum Association of Canada (AAC) released a market study today which shows that half of the 1,000 to 1,400 short span bridges to be repaired or replaced every year over the next decade in Eastern Canada and the northeastern United States are ideal to incorporate shop-fabricated, aluminum bridge decks. "This study sheds light on the potential use of aluminum to maintain and repair bridges, and to consider a new market for our companies in the processing of aluminium as well as for designers, engineers and entrepreneurs in the construction field," advised the Minister for the Politique industrielle et à la Banque de développement économique du Québec, Ms. Elaine Zakaïb. The participation of Québec businesses in this market fits into the guidelines for Québec's aluminum industrial...
LME aluminium may develop the final drop to $1,760 per tonne, before reversing its downtrend, as indicated by its wave pattern and two trendlines. Wave pattern shows that the metal is riding on the final wave of a five-wave cycle, and this wave could be ending around $1,760, as indicated by the bullish divergence on the hourly RSI and the lower trendline. A bullish reversal of the downtrend will be confirmed when aluminium surges above $1,785, as the long upper trendline will be broken. 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 market sources are becoming more concerned that high freight costs and comparatively low premiums will keep metal away from Europe next year, leading to a shortage of aluminium on the continent. “Japanese premiums are at $240-250 [per tonne], the USA is at $220 and yet Europe is below $200,” a producer said. “Europe is also the most unfavourable place to deliver to because freight costs are the highest. There’s going to be tightness next year.” European premiums fell in July and August after the London Metal Exchange announced proposed changes to its warehousing rules, which saw cuts to the incentives offered by warehouses for deliveries, and thus to premiums as well. Premiums have since firmed as the market came around to the fact that any real market impact from the rule...
Aluminium steadied on Tuesday, after touching four-and-a-half-month lows the previous day, as the dollar fell, but analysts expected more losses due to an overhang of inventories and to speculators adding short positions. Copper was slightly weaker following gains in the past week that had been spurred in part by a shortfall in physical metal. Relative-value trades have been popular this year, including shorting aluminium and going long on copper, analyst Robin Bhar at Societe Generale said. In the last week to Monday, copper gained about 2 percent, while aluminium shed around 1 percent. "That could be a reason why we are seeing copper and aluminium going their own ways. Some of those trades are being put on because copper hasn't gone into surplus yet on a tangible basis and aluminium is...
Home-grown conglomerate Aditya Birla Group aims to hike stake in group companies. CNBC-TV18 learns from sources the AB Group may spend Rs 6,000 crore for stake hike. It is looking to hike stake in Hindalco and Grasim to 40-45 percent. As of June 30, 2013, promoters' holding in Hindalco stood at 33 percent and that in Grasim at 25.5 percent. Sources say the group plans to buy 8 percent (valued at 1,955 crore at CMP) in Hindalco and 19.5 percent (valued at 4,600 crore at CMP) in Grasim. The AB Group is likely to use creeping acquisition and open market purchases. Sources say hiking stake in Grasim is top priority for the group to thwart any bid for a hostile takeover. In June, promoters raised stake in Aditya Birla Nuvo Limited to 53.75% and their stake in Ultratech stands at a comfortable...
