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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According to figures released by the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), the global aluminium inventories at the end of September slipped by 4.7% over the previous month. The total global aluminium stocks at the end of September amounted to 2.130 million mt. The September inventories were 106,000 mt down when compared with the adjusted August inventory of 2.236 million mt. The inventories fell 4.7% month-on-month in September. Year-on-year, the total global aluminium inventories fell by 8.7% from revised stock figures of 2.333 million mt recorded during September 2012. The total world unwrought aluminium inventories at the end of September amounted to 1.096 million mt. The September inventories were 86,000 mt down when compared with the adjusted August inventory of 1.182 million mt....
The Kentucky Public Service Commission has approved a rate increase for customers of a western Kentucky utility that sought the increase to absorb the loss of its biggest customer, an aluminum smelter. The PSC authorized Big Rivers Electric Corp. to seek an additional $54.2 million annually from customers. The PSC says in a statement the authorization is about $20 million less than what Big Rivers requested. The increase means the average customer's monthly bill will go up by about $17. Century Aluminum's Hawesville smelter consumed about 40 percent of the power generated by Big Rivers before ending its relationship with the utility in August. Another Century Aluminum smelter, in Sebree, is scheduled to depart the Big Rivers system in January. Big Rivers serves about 112,000 customers in...
Global unwrought aluminum inventories at the end of September were down 86,000 mt from August and down 210,000 mt from September 2012, according to figures released Monday by the International Aluminium Institute. Unwrought inventories totaled 1.096 million mt at the end of September, down from a revised 1.182 million mt in August and a revised 1.306 million mt at the end of September 2012. Total aluminum inventories at the end of September were down 106,000 mt at 2.130 million mt from a revised 2.236 million mt in August, and down 203,000 mt from a revised 2.333 million mt at the end of September 2012, the IAI said.
Investors are again locking up aluminium in warehouses as collateral for financing deals, driving up premiums consumers must pay to to obtain metal quickly, months after the London Metal Exchange proposed plans to free up backlogged metal. This month the premiums, the amount paid above LME prices to withdraw physical aluminium from the storage network overseen by the exchange, have climbed nearly 5 percent. The LME, which in July put forward ideas for consultation, said on Friday it had made a decision "in principle" on reforming its global warehouse system, which is blamed for inflating metal costs and has drawn scrutiny from U.S. and European regulators. The LME, the world's biggest marketplace for industrial metals, has yet to release details of Friday's decision. Pressure for it to...
More than 800 visitors from across the aluminium industry attended the CIAC event last week featuring AluSolutions, INALCO, REGAL Students'day (JER) 2013, AAC cocktail party and the exhibition. All were well received and the events can boast a combined attendance of more than 800 participants from across the aluminium industry worldwide. While the AluSolutions exhibition provided a platform to discuss solutions to common problems and explore the latest developments and solutions for aluminium production and processing, the AluSolutions conference ran a full two-day programme, with sessions dedicated to sustainability in the aluminium industry. Visitors were able to meet with more than 70 exhibiting companies, which included the likes of Alcoa, Rio Tinto Alcan, Wagstaff, Aluminerie...
Aluminum output in China is soaring, and according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, approximately 10 million tons of capacity are being built. Meanwhile, in the West, run rates are finally coming down. Delay in closing plant among western smelters have finally turned into a consistent downward trend. September was 620,500 tons lower than the end of 2012, with cutbacks announced since the start of the year, totaling 1.2 million tons. The largest are generally leading, and Rusal is now cutting back some 648,000 tons or 15% of its capacity. As the rest of the world struggles to bring the market closer to balance, notwithstanding the 10 million tons of metal sitting in exchange and off-market warehouses, China continues to add ever more capacity. So far, this has been...
Aluminium touched the highest level in two months on Monday as traders said investors were betting that the London Metal Exchange (LME) would make changes to warehouse rules that would boost the price of the metal. Three-month aluminium on the LME climbed to a session high of $1,900 a tonne, the highest since Aug. 23. It failed to trade in closing open outcry activity but was last bid at $1,895, up 0.8 percent. The LME said on Friday its board had made a decision on whether to overhaul its controversial warehousing network, which is plagued by backlogs especially in aluminium, but it would reveal that decision later. "There's a belief that when the LME changes come out, it will have a positive effect on aluminium," a trader said. Aluminium volumes were the highest of any LME metal on...
The council members will share their insights and views on the challenges facing today's corporations and the business community. The CFOs, who collectively manage more than $2.9 trillion in market capitalization, will also take part in quarterly sentiment surveys which will provide insight into the health of the global economy, according to CNBC. Following the launch of the Council in the U.S., the new members will make appearances on CNBC's flagship morning program Squawk Box, on its regional TV networks in Asia, the Pacific region, Europa, the Middle East and Africa, as well as online at cfocouncil.cnbc.com. At right is a link to an extensive TV interview with Eivind Kallevik on CNBC, as well as a short introductory interview with Kallevik and other CFOs, made in connection with the...
India’s National Aluminium Co (Nalco) sold 3,000 tonnes of aluminium ingot in a tender at a premium of $227 per tonne over the LME cash price on a cif Singapore basis, according to two trader sources. The company’s tender was for delivery of 500 tonnes per month from November to April, a trader said. “I can’t believe why anyone will pay that high an amount,” he said, adding that it went at those levels because of a smaller tonnage. “Nalco’s premium last week was at plus $225 per tonne levels, we don’t know who won it though,” a second Asian trader source said. Company officials at Nalco were not immediately available for comment.
It’s hard to understand how the Chinese market price for aluminum can be so strong and the growth in new smelter capacity so enduring when the global aluminum market is oversupplied. However, investment in new capacity is one thing. Prices are another. Some look at SHFE prices that are way above LME and scratch their heads in wonder. SHFE prices for aluminum are in the region of 14,470 RMB per metric ton this week, a price that includes 17% domestic vat, but equates to $2,379 per metric ton at 6.25 RMB to the dollar. Meanwhile, the LME is at $ 1,844 per metric ton. However — and this is what’s riling metals consumers in the West — the LME price is not representative of the true cost of primary aluminum in the market. To actually get delivery of metal, consumers have to pay close to a...
What was once the largest private employer in its region is now Ohio's largest industrial layoff of the year. Republican Gov. John Kasich is facing criticism over the indefinite shuttering of Ormet Corp., an aluminum smelting giant along the Ohio River and the onetime largest customer of American Electric Power. About 1,000 workers -- mostly unionized steelworkers -- are out of work. State utility regulators recently rejected key portions of Ormet's proposal for dealing with hefty electric costs as it struggles against bankruptcy. The company and its union fault Kasich for not intervening passionately enough in Ormet's case before the Public Utilities Commission. Governors appoint the board, but it acts independently. Other observers said Ormet was doomed by the economic realities of huge...
Some 29,600 tons of aluminium ingots were produced in Iran during the sixth calendar month (August 22 - September 22). The figure shows 6.5 per cent increase compared to the same month of the previous year, the ISNA News Agency reported. Iran's aluminium ingot output stood at 178,000 tons in the first six months of the ?current Iranian calendar year, which started on March 21. It was previously announced that Iran plans to increase its annual aluminium ingot production capacity up to 910,000 ?tons by the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic ?Development Plan (March 2016). According to the Iranian Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Vajihollah Ja'fari, Iran's current consumption of aluminium per capita stands at 4.5 kilogram, while the world aluminium consumption per capita...
Under the impact of rising virgin aluminum prices, Nanshan Aluminum announced on October 22 that considering the bauxite export restriction of Indonesia to China, the company intends to build factories in Indonesia to insure supply and is conducting preliminary research. But the feasibility of the project and the content of construction work are yet confirmed. Some foreign media reported that Nanshan Aluminum plans is looking to building a comprehensive aluminum plant with $ 5 billion in Bintan, Indonesia. The plant, to be completed in three years, will produce alumina ingots with local bauxite. The annual production capacity of aluminium oxide will be 2.1 million tons and that of alumina ingots will be 530,000 tons. The first half of 2013 has witnessed expanding difference between...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba)'s continuing success in bolstering a learning culture across all levels of the organisation combined with steps taken towards strengthening the professional development of its national workforce were outlined in the Alba Training Review H1 2013 that was officially distributed to employees and other stakeholders on Wednesday, October 23, 2013. The Alba Training Review H1 2013 is based on a report presented to the Alba Board of Directors during the third quarterly Board meeting for the year 2013. The report gives an overview of the core objectives of the Training & Recruitment Department. It further expands on some of the training programmes initiated in 2013 such as, the Executive Education Series; Soft Skills Series; Technical Training; Safety, Health...
The first part of the Canadian International Aluminum Conference (CIAC) ended yesterday and more than 1,100 participants took in an exhibition as well as training sessions and conferences sponsored by the International Aluminum Conference (INALCO) and AluSolutions at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. More than 70 exhibitors from Asia, Europe and North America were present to demonstrate their know-how and expertise in all facets of aluminum processing. "This first initiative on Canadian soil has been a resounding success. Over four days, participants networked, broadened their technical skills and tapped countless business opportunities" says Jean Simard, President and General Manager of the Aluminum Association of Canada, which organized the event. Next meeting in June 2014 The second...
A New study has highlighted the significant social and economic contribution Boyne Smelters makes to Australia, Queensland and the Gladstone region. The study found Boyne Smelters contributes more than $1.4 billion annually to Australia's gross domestic product, with more than half of this economic benefit going to the Gladstone region. The study also found the smelter employs about 1000 people, and indirectly supports about 6700 jobs nationally with 3000 of these jobs in the Gladstone region. Key findings from the study were released at the tenth annual Gladstone Engineering Alliance Major Industry Conference presented by Golding Contractors. Speaking at the conference, Boyne Smelters general manager Joe Rea said everyone working at Boyne Smelters was proud of the social and economic...
Former and current employees of the Aluminum Plant Podgorica (KAP ), who are entitled to retirement , will block on November 4, exports of aluminum, if the issue of their retirement is not solved until then.A representative of the workers, Radovan Toškovic says that workers don’t know what will happen until then, adding that they have decided to block the export of aluminum . He said that their lawyer Zoran Piperovic didn’t meet the Economy Minister , Vladimir Kavaric , as previously announced, adding that he doesn’t know when this meeting should be held . According to him, the workers think that the current situation is caused by the chief management of KAP, Nebojsa Dozic . " Dozic blocks agreement between Government , KAP and workers with his statements and ignorance. We will not allow...
Rusayl-based power cables manufacture Oman Cables Industry (OCI) has reiterated its backing for the proposed expansion of its subsidiary, Oman Aluminium Processing Industries Limited LLC (OAPIL). OAPIL, based in Sohar Industrial Estate, is a joint venture between Oman Cables Industry and Takamul Investment Company, a downstream start-up company majority owned by Oman Oil Company. The plant utilizes molten metal from Sohar Aluminium to produce aluminium and alloy rods, as well as overhead transmission line conductors. Plant capacity is currently pegged at 48,000 tons per annum of products. In a filing to the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) on Thursday, Oman Cables Industry stated: “Further to the Company’s [public disclosure dated 24 July 2012] regarding OAPIL’s Expansion Project, the...
