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...
Grow with
AL Circle
The world's largest aluminum producer, United Co. Rusal PLC, said Thursday that it plans to continue its steep production cuts in 2014 as global markets remain heavily oversupplied. The company said it expects to reduce output by 647,504 tons next year as it continues to feel the impact of the full drop in output from several facilities that were mothballed part way through this year. The cuts would come on top of an output decline of 324,700 tons this year as the company has called for an industry-wide reduction in production as massive global oversupply has knocked the bottom out from prices. "Rusal continues to react to the current market conditions and may consider further actions to improve its cost position in the industry," said the company's first deputy chief executive, Vladislav...
Research analysts at UBS AG dropped their target price on shares of Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. from $3.50 to $2.75 in a report released on Wednesday, Stock Ratings News reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. UBS AG’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 7.00% from the stock’s previous close. A number of other firms have also recently commented on NOR. Analysts at Zacks upgraded shares of Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday, October 8th. They now have a $2.40 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. from $3.75 to $2.50 in a research note to investors on Monday, October...
Aluminium premiums negotiated in Brazil are following a different trend from other parts of the world as local sector fears a material shortage after production curtail announcements and increasing demand, Metal Bulletin understands. Premiums for aluminium ingot in Brazil are trading at $450-500 per tonne on a delivered basis, and are expected to remain at these levels at least until the end of the year, according to local market sources. But very prompt deliveries have commanded even higher premiums, one executive said. "I have seen people paying up to up to $680 per tonne as the company needed the material right away," he told MB. Brazilian aluminum demand for 2013 is estimated at 1.4 million tonnes, between 100,000 and 200,000 tonnes above output, which is forecast at 1.2-1.3 million...
The company may have to look for other options because its Talabira coal mine Stage-II has not yet received approval from the Union environment ministry Industry major in aluminium and copper, Hindalco Industries will have to buy coal from other sources at a very high cost for its aluminium project worth Rs. 170 billion in Odisha, according to a media report. The company may have to look for other options because its Talabira coal mine Stage-II has not yet received approval from the Union environment ministry, the report added. The mine is at the centre of an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for what it claims is the government’s undue benefits to Hindalco. The CBI on Tuesday said that it has found Hindalco chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla had met former coal...
The world’s largest aluminum company says it has won $275 million in damages from Tajikistan’s largest enterprise. Moscow-based Rusal said in an emailed statement on October 16 that a Swiss tribunal had found the Tajik Aluminum Company (TalCo) in breach of two 2003 agreements with Rusal subsidiary Hamer Investing, Ltd. Under those agreements, Hamer had supplied TalCo raw materials for which the state-run Tajik company had failed to pay. The tribunal ordered TalCo to pay damages in excess of $112 million, approximately $147 million in interest, and almost $15 million in legal fees, the Rusal statement said. The statement also said the tribunal had thrown out TalCo’s $400 million counterclaim, in which the company argued that Hamer’s original contracts should be deemed invalid as they had...
US aluminum producer Ormet has been given a three-month extension -- until February 20, 2014 -- to file a Chapter 11 reorganization plan by a federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. In a Tuesday order, US Bankruptcy Court Judge Mary Walrath also gave the Hannibal, Ohio-based company until April 22, 2014, to seek creditors' approval for the plan. "This order shall be without prejudice to the debtors' right to seek further extensions of the time within which only the debtors may file and solicit acceptances of a plan," Walrath said. Ormet had faced an October 23 deadline to submit the plan. The embattled company, which filed for reorganization on February 25, had hoped to exit bankruptcy protection quickly after Minnesota's Wayzata Investment Partners, a private equity firm, won court...
UC Rusal plans to invest RUR 367.9 million modernising gas treatment equipment at the Irkutsk aluminium smelter (IrkAZ). According to the emissions reduction plan, approved by the Ministry of natural resources of the Irkutsk region, between 2013 and 2015, seven electrostatic precipitators in the third and fourth potlines and six foam-type scrubbers in the third potline will be replaced at IrkAZ.? ?In October 2013, in potline 4 of IrkAZ, an electrostatic precipitator was replaced with a new horizontal-type precipitator. The cost of the project amounted to RUR 60 million. The company plans to acquire a further electrostatic precipitator to be installed in potline 4 in 2014. The new equipment is 5% more efficient and will capture up to 99% of particulate fluorides and potroom dust. Three...
On 16 October, Alcoa announced that the smelter at the Ma'aden-Alcoa joint venture, which remains in initial start-up phase, has halted production on one of two potlines. The temporary shutdown was undertaken after a period of pot instability. The joint venture is actively working to restore the potline, and it is expected to be completed and back online between the first and second quarter of 2014. The ramp-up of the second potline was ongoing and will now be accelerated. There is not expected to be any impact to Alcoa's customers. There is no impact to any other part of the joint venture project, including the mine, refinery and rolling mill, which all remain on schedule. Alcoa is the world's leading producer of primary and fabricated aluminum, as well as the world's largest miner of...
Norwegian aluminium company Norsk Hydro has launched syndication of a $1.5 billion loan to refinance an existing undrawn $1.7 billion facility that is due to mature in July 2014, banking sources said on Wednesday. The financing is for five years with two one-year extension options. BBB/Baa2 rated Norsk Hydro is paying a flat margin of 45 basis points (bps) over Libor on the new financing. Bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers are invited into the deal on $175 million tickets for a 10 bps arrangement fee and a 30 bps participation fee, one of the sources said. Average loan pricing for European Triple B rated companies fell to 48 bps in the third quarter from 66 bps in the second quarter, according to Thomson Reuters LPC data, as heightened competition between banks to win mandates has...
The aluminium maker Aluminij Mostar, a crucial pillar of Bosnia's economy, began shutting down its smelter on Tuesday and said it would be forced into bankruptcy unless the government helped it settle a debt to the state-owned power company. The company, EPHZHB, succeeded on Monday in freezing Aluminij Mostar's bank accounts to try to force it to settle a debt of 38 million Bosnian marka (19 million euros), Aluminij General Manager Ivo Bradvica told a news conference on Tuesday. Like other smelters, Aluminij Mostar has suffered from a 30 percent fall in the price of the metal in the last 2-1/2 years, caused by oversupply, as well as high power prices. But the firm accounts for more than a quarter of Bosnia's GDP, and the government has already saved it from collapse in June by taking a 44...
China's Shandong Nanshan Aluminium Co Ltd plans a $5 billion integrated aluminium plant on the Indonesian island of Bintan, company Chairman Song Jianbo said on Wednesday. "(It) will be completed within 3 years. We will use local bauxite to make up alumina and then we will use the alumina to make up aluminium ingot," he told reporters after meeting Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat. The capacity of the alumina smelter will be 2.1 million tonnes per annum, while the capacity for aluminium ingots will be 530,000 tonnes per annum. The output will be for the local Indonesian market as well as for export to such countries as Japan and the United States, he said.
One of Century Aluminum's key senior management members has resigned. Steve Schneider was senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer for Century. He joined the company in April 2001 and had been vice president and corporate controller. He was named chief accounting officer in 2006. Century Spokesman Mike Dildine said Oct. 14 Schneider "left the company to pursue other opportunities." Before he joined Century, Schneider worked in a number of management positions with Alcoa, Inc., according to Century's website which also states Schneider is a Certified Public Accountant who has a MAABS degree from Bastyr University and a BA degree from Marietta College.
Century Aluminum Company will report third quarter 2013 earnings on Monday, November 4th after the close of market trading. The news release will be issued through Marketwired. The company will hold a follow-up conference call on Monday, November 4th at 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. The earnings call will be webcast live on the Century Aluminum Company website, located at www.centuryaluminum.com. Plan to begin the registration process at least 10 minutes before the live call is scheduled to begin. A replay of the webcast will be archived and available for replay approximately two hours following the live call.
China's State Council, the country's cabinet, is tackling production overcapacity, Xinhua reported Tuesday citing the government's website. The 'Guideline to Tackle Serious Production Overcapacity' lists five prime sectors with serious overcapacity: cement, electrolytic aluminium, sheet glass, shipping and steel. The move is key to achieving stable growth and upgrading the Chinese economy. The guideline lists tasks to deal with overcapacity in each sector: new projects expanding capacity are forbidden, projects under construction should be reappraised, illegal capacity should be cleared up, outmoded capacity should be eliminated in an orderly way, and efforts should be made on standards and admittance. Core technology and enterprise management must make breakthroughs to deliver growth...
US service centers shipped 121,700 mt of aluminum products in September, up 8.2% compared with September 2012, the Metals Service Center Institute said Tuesday. Aluminum shipments in the first nine months of 2013 totaled 1.122 million mt, 3.4% below the same period last year, MSCI said in a statement. Inventories of aluminum products were 362,700 mt at the end of September, a decrease of 3.7% compared with September 2012. MSCI said that at the current shipping rate, this represents three months of aluminum inventory, down from 3.3 months a year ago. It also said 12,400 mt of aluminum products were shipped by Canadian service centers in September, 1.1% higher than in the same month last year. Canada's aluminum shipments in the first nine months of 2013 were 117,400 mt, 3.4% below 2012....
Brazilian aluminium exports increased 3% year-on-year in September after a slight growth in volumes sent to Asia. Volumes sent abroad totalled 39,567 tonnes, from 38,396 tonnes in September 2012. Revenues in the month totalled $76.01 million, compared with $70.75 million a year ago. Exports from January to September amounted to 328,213 tonnes, down 11.5% year-on-year. Japan was the main buyer with 18,835 tonnes, a 3% increase year-on-year. The Netherlands acquired 5,042 tonnes, from no purchases a year ago. In addition, 14,967 tonnes were sent to Switzerland in the same month.
China’s power rate cuts from this month pose further downside pressure on aluminium prices, Shanghai Metals Market foresees. China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) cut on-grid power tariffs – prices paid to power producers by the State Grid Corp. of China, effective from this month. For instance, on-grid power tariffs at power plants run by Jiangxi Ganneng Co. were cut by 0.01 yuan/kwh to 0.4752 yuan/kwh from Wednesday, October 9. As electricity prices which industrial consumers are charged remain unchanged, aluminium smelters using electricity from the state grid remains unchanged too. However, a growing number of aluminium smelters in China have built self-run power plants. Power plants are expected to argue for lower coal prices given a supply surplus of steam coal...
The Management of Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) at Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom state has pleaded with the Federal Government to link its internally generated gas fired electric power plant to the national grid as it could serve as an important backup of electricity supply to the smelter in the event of gas interruption. Briefing newsmen yesterday in Uyo, the Smelter Director of public Relations, Mrs Tatyana Smirnova, said that evacuating power from the plant could also facilitate Alscon’s integration into nation’s power thereby contributing to the electricity supply in the country. She disclosed that the Smelter gas fired plant with an install capacity of over 540 MW C is capable of satisfying electricity need of the company and even give out the excess power available to the...
