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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Even in a city where the population is aging and centenarians are not all that uncommon, a 125th birthday is a rarity worth celebrating. Alcoa, the world's leading producer of primary and fabricated aluminum, observed the watershed on Monday, one day early. Alcoa was born on Oct. 1, 1888, as the Pittsburgh Reduction Co., after founder Alfred Hunt and a group of steel executives bought the rights to Charles Martin Hall's patent for smelting aluminum. As part of the observance, a historical marker was unveiled that will be installed in the Strip District, where the group built its first smelter at 32nd and Smallman streets. In 1907, the firm became the Aluminum Company of America, later shortened to Alcoa. It now employs 61,000 people in 30 countries, 2,000 of them in southwestern...
MARC maintains Press Metal Berhad's (Press Metal) BBB rating on the outstanding Redeemable Convertible Secured Loan Stock (RCSLS) with detachable warrants on MARCWatch Negative. The rating was first placed on MARCWatch Negative on July 3, 2013 following the shutdown of Press Metal's aluminium smelting plant in Mukah, Sarawak, as a result of damage suffered from the recent power outage in the state. MARC notes that the full assessment on Press Metal's damaged aluminium smelting plant has not been concluded as the insurance report is expected to be only finalised by end-October 2013. MARC has been informed that Press Metal has filed an interim claim under its RM300.0 million cover policy for the plant. Meanwhile, the group is utilising internally generated funds for clearing and...
London-listed metals and mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources Plc expects its operational power generation capacity in India to jump by over a half to 10,000 Megawatt (MW) within a year. The $15 billion group is hopeful of bringing three operation-ready projects on stream shortly, completing its Rs 50,000 crore power investment cycle set in motion five years back. The largest private sector power generator in the country has a current capacity of 6,500 MW running on ground. “Over this, we will commission our 1,980 MW Talwandi Sabo project in Punjab in a few months for which Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA) was signed recently with Coal India. Also, 1,200 MW Balco project will come on stream in Chhattisgarh apart from a 210 MW plant at Lanjigarh in Odisha,” a senior company executive told...
In 2010, Evgeny Nikitin was appointed Managing Director of Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Smelter (KrAZ), one of the world's largest aluminium production facilities. From 2008 to 2010, he was managing director of the Sayanogorsk Aluminium Smelter (SAZ) after beginning his career with RUSAL as a pot operator back in 1993. Under the direction of Evgeny Nikitin, KrAZ improved its engineering and financial performance. RUSAL's production system is successfully implemented at the site through continuous production process and working environment improvements. The facility also runs the "Clean Soederberg" technology project, which allows to significantly cut emissions. In his new position, Evgeny Nikitin will focus on the following tasks: increasing management and production efficiency at the ADE...
Domestic consumption of aluminium products in Brazil will grow 4.1% year-on-year in 2013, beating previous estimates of a 3.7% growth, according to Brazil’s aluminium association Abal. A higher GDP growth forecast would have given further boost to our estimates, Luis Carlos Loureiro Filho, Abal’s economy and statistics commission co-ordinator, told Metal Bulletin. Abal’s estimates point at a domestic consumption of 1.48 million tonnes of transformed aluminium products in 2013, from 1.42 million tonnes in 2012. Brazil’s central bank recently lowered the country’s GDP growth forecast for 2013 to 2.5%, from 2.7% expected earlier. In the January-June period, Brazil’s economy grew 2.6% year-on-year, according to official news agency Agência Brasil. Domestic consumption of sheets, the...
Senaat, the industrial conglomerate, and Ducab, the power cable maker, are linking up to open a Dh220 million aluminium rod mill in Abu Dhabi, providing a boost to the emirate’s strategy to develop a downstream industrial heartland. Based in Khalifa Industrial Zone (Kizad), the facility will make aluminium alloy rods and wires for use in cable-making and other manufacturing, as well as bare overhead conductors, mainly for use in the utility industry. “This new joint venture with Ducab is a testament to our ability to successfully create, optimise and champion industrial assets in Abu Dhabi and the UAE, creating value and further expanding the country’s industrial capabilities,” said Suhail bin Athaeeth, the chief executive of Senaat, an Abu Dhabi state-owned industrial holding company. It...
UC Rusal Chief Executive Oleg Deripaska appealed to the new owners of the London Metal Exchange (LME), Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx), to think again on their proposals to force aluminum warehouses to release more metal than they take in, according to a recent Reuters article, saying “the intent of the HKEx to accelerate the transfer into the market of an additional 2 million tons of aluminum, accumulated and stored since the financial crisis, is an unprecedented intervention and one that Rusal strongly objects to.” The firm is worried the proposed rule changes would release a tsunami of aluminum into the market, distorting the supply balance and precipitating even lower prices. Strangely, it adds that the measures would lead to a less transparent marketplace – we’re not sure...
Shares of Noranda Aluminum traded at a new 52-week low today of $2.48. So far today approximately 254,000 shares have been exchanged, as compared to an average 30-day volume of 429,000 shares. Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp is an integrated producer of aluminum products, as well as rolled aluminum coils. The Company produces aluminum products in the form of billets, rods and sows, used mainly for building construction, architectural and transportation applications. Noranda also produces foil and light gauge sheet products from its rolling mills. In the past 52 weeks, shares of Noranda Aluminum have traded between the current low of $2.48 and a high of $6.97 and are now at $2.48. Over the past week, the 200-day moving average (MA) has gone down 2% while the 50-day MA has declined 2.7%....
LME aluminium is expected to extend its loss to $1,795 per tonne, as it could have resumed a preceding downtrend that developed from the Aug. 19 high of $1,949. The trend has been disrupted by a rebound from the Sept. 17 low of $1,775.50. This rebound will be totally reversed over the next few trading sessions. A Fibonacci retracement analysis on the rise from $1,775.50 to the Monday high of $1,860 reveals support at $1,818, the 50 percent level, which looks vulnerable following the sharp drop on Tuesday. The support at $1,808, provided by the 61.8 percent retracement, has been ignored as it may not work, simply because the support at $1,818 has caused a weak rebound. No information in this analysis should be considered as being business, financial or legal advice. Each reader should...
China’s aluminium prices are likely to fall in the fourth quarter, as supply is expected to rise amid sliding demand. Some analysts have predicted that the prices will fall to an all-time low. Traditionally, the fourth quarter has been a weak season for aluminium consumption, as cold weather in north China slows down construction activities. In north-west China, however, smelters who are able to operate at relatively low costs are still gearing up. Market participants have estimated that about 2 million tonnes of new aluminium capacity will start operations before year-end in China, with most coming from Xinjiang. Ample coal resources and cheap power in the area have allowed new aluminium capacities to emerge in recent years. Xinjiang’s aluminium capacity will reach 4 million tpy by the...
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio voted on Wednesday to approve Ormet Corp's revised power deal with energy supplier American Electric Power Co Inc, saving the U.S. aluminum producer from likely closure. The commission added, however, that it was modifying parts of Hannibal, Ohio-based Ormet's request for a unique subsidized power arrangement, as it works to emerge from bankruptcy. PUCO Chairman Todd Snitchler said at the commission's weekly meeting, monitored by webcast, that approval was also contingent on Ormet employing at least 650 full-time workers through 2018. Ormet is the region's largest employer, as well as Ohio's largest energy user. In February, Ormet filed for bankruptcy protection. Cutting the high cost of energy to run its 270,000-tonne-per-year aluminum smelter was...
Slovak aluminium producer Slovalco and the country's dominant power producer Slovenske Elektrarne (SE) have reached an agreement on a new electricity supply contract, an important step towards keeping the aluminium smelter afloat, Pravda daily reported. Under the new contract, SE will supply a total of 19TWh of electricity to Slovalco for a period of eight years starting from January 2014 at discount prices, which were not disclosed. Slovalco's current electricity supply contract at fixed prices with SE expires at the end of 2013. The aluminium producer has previously said that if it buys electricity at market prices this would threaten the viability of its operations. Slovalco is majority owned by Norwegian aluminium supplier Hydro with a 55.3% stake, while Slovak company ZSNP SCO holds...
US aluminum producer Ormet Corp again is asking a federal bankruptcy court for more time to file a Chapter 11 reorganization plan that currently is due by October 23. The Hannibal, Ohio-based company, in a filing Friday with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, said it wants until February 20, 2014, to submit a plan and until April 22, 2014, to seek creditors' approval of the plan. Ormet filed bankruptcy on February 25 and, earlier this year, received an initial extension to file a plan by October 23. Ormet said it has made "great strides" since the February Chapter 11 filing. The court on June 4 approved a proposal by Smelter Acquisition LLC, owned by Minnesota's Wayzata Investment Partners, to purchase virtually all of Ormet's assets for $282 million. But the deal has...
United Co Rusal will convert its loss-making Russian aluminium smelters to the production of vehicle components as well as rolled and cable products, it said on Monday September 30. To fund the transformation, Rusal has signed a memorandum of intent with state-owned development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB). New production facilities will be constructed at the Bogoslovsk, Urals, Nadvoitsy, Kandalaksha, Volkhov and Volgograd aluminium smelters, all part of Rusal’s Aluminium Division West. New facilities are also feasible at Rusal’s other Russian sites. Finished goods will be supplied to the Russian market, where Russian and foreign carmakers have commitments to boost the share of Russian-made parts in their supply chains. Under the agreement, Rusal will attract investors, provide existing...
Relying on hydroelectric power, the nine aluminum smelters in Quebec have reduced their carbon footprint to “the lowest in the world,” an industry spokesman told a provincial government commission studying energy options on Monday. But “a green ingot gives the industry nothing,” Jean Simard, president of the Aluminum Association of Canada, told the commission, which is travelling across the province to hear briefs on reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and energy independence. Quebec counts about 10,000 direct jobs in aluminum, with the average smelter wage at $46 an hour, plus another 20,000 indirect jobs, in the industry’s 4,500 outside suppliers and 1,800 companies processing aluminum, many of them in the Montreal region. Quebec’s three aluminum producers — Alcoa Canada, Alouette and Rio...
National Aluminium Company (Nalco) whose bottomline took a hit in the April-June quarter of this fiscal due to weak aluminium prices in the global market expects prices to recover in the last quarter as a glut in supply is likely to trigger capacity cut in China and Russia. “In fourth quarter (January-March), price improvement is expected as about 100 million tonne capacity will be shut down around that time. The prices may look up then,” said Ansuman Das, chairman and managing director (CMD) of Nalco at the company’s annual press meet. “The company’s profit margin would improve this fiscal amid an expected upswing in aluminium prices. We hope the operating profit margin will also go up this year”, he said. The company had reported 28 per cent decline in net profit during the first...
Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) today signed a ten year agreement with Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) to handle the export logistics of finished aluminium products from EMAL's production site. The volume of exported metal is expected to grow from 600,000 metric tonnes in 2014 to 750,000 in 2015. The signed agreement covers all of the handling operations and transport logistics for the finished products from EMAL's site to the container freight station and export terminal at Khalifa Port. EMAL's site in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), adjacent to the port, houses one of the largest industrial projects in the UAE, one of the biggest single site smelters in the world and the fastest to produce 1.3 million tonnes of hot metal. EMAL and ADPC have worked closely with Abu Dhabi Terminals...
Aluminium giant National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) has announced a total dividend payout of 25 per cent, amounting to Rs 322.15 crore for 2012-13, as against 20 per cent paid in the previous year. Announcing this after the Annual General Meeting of the company here, National Aluminium Company CMD Ansuman Das said the shareholders of the Navaratna PSU approved a total dividend payout of 25 per cent which works out to Rs 1.25 per share. With this, the total payout would be Rs 322.15 crore for 2012-13, he said, adding, since inception National Aluminium Company had paid a total of Rs 4519.17 crore as dividend, including Rs 3920.73 crore as share of the central government. National Aluminium Company's upward revision was approved following a recommendation for payment of a final dividend...
