The London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium price chart recovered on the November 9 trading session, wish cash reporting nearly 1 per cent gain compared to the November 6 close. Longer-dated contracts and inventories, however, edged lower. The LME aluminium cash bid as well as offer prices gained 0.96 per cent day-on-day on November 9. The bid recovered from USD 3,115 per tonne to USD 3,145 per tonne. The offer price surged from USD 3,117 per tonne to USD 3,147 per tonne . Explore- Most comprehensive and forward-looking industry-focused report — Global Bauxite & Alumina Market Forecast to 2036: Supply–Demand, Trade Flows & Price Outlook The LME aluminium three-month bid price reported a 0.33 per cent rise from USD 3,049 per tonne on November 6 to USD 3,059 per tonne on November 9. The offer...
Iran is expanding its domestic aluminium manufacturing capabilities through nanostructured anodising technology, developing specialised aluminium sheets and profiles for applications across aerospace, medical equipment, electronics and automotive industries. The initiative reflects a move towards higher-value aluminium products by improving the metal's surface properties and expanding its potential industrial applications. According to Pars Today, citing Mehr News Agency, an Iranian aluminium complex is using the technology to produce aluminium components with nanostructured ceramic coatings designed to improve resistance to corrosion and wear. The complex is also working on developing specialised aluminium standards and has so far established eight standards in this field. The...
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Aluminum stocks at Japan's major ports were up 11.1% at the end of January compared with a month earlier, a major Japanese trading house said in an email Thursday. The rise follows a period of slow demand for the light metal in Japan, where it is used in areas such as the automotive and electronics sectors. Stocks totaled 315,500 metric tons at the end of January, with 151,100 tons in Yokohama, 149,400 tons in Nagoya and 15,000 tons in Osaka. Stockpiles were 13.6% higher than the same period a year ago, when they totaled 277,800 tons.
Alba's sales for the full-year of 2012 were US$ 1,978 million, a decline of 16% on the back of low LME prices versus US$ 2,349 million in 2011. The company has registered a Net Income for 2012 of US$ 257 million vs. US$ 564 million in 2011 which is a drop of 54% YoY driven by lower LME prices and higher energy costs. In 2012, the actual cash delivered to the shareholders was US$ 203 million vs. 267 million in 2011. The Board recommended an additional dividend of US$ 52 million bringing the total dividend for 2012 to US$ 105 million. 2013 Alba Priorities: • Accelerate AlbaSafeWay programme • Leverage high physical premiums in 2013 new contracts as well as maintain a sustained focus on Value-Added products • Complete the refinancing of US$ 169 million local bond facility in March 2013 •...
LME aluminium faces a resistance at $2,153 per tonne, and may consolidate in $2,139-$2,153 range for half or one session before gaining more to $2,169. The resistance is established by the 61.8 percent Fibonacci projection level of an upward wave c which started at the Feb. 7 low of $2,082 and is capable of travelling to $2,196, its 100 percent projection level. Strengthening the resistance is another one at $2,147.25, the wave a peak. The two resistances have formed a resistance zone, which will temporarily stop aluminium from climbing towards the 76.4 percent projection level at $2,169. 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...
Rio Tinto Ltd has established a team of high-profile business personalities to oversee a potential $2 billion listing of its Pacific Aluminium business, including the struggling Gove alumina refinery in the Northern Territory, according to The Australian. While Rio has not made a decision regarding the assets, the establishment of the advisory board, which includes WA News chairman Peter Mansell and BHP Billiton Ltd's former China boss Clinton Dines, makes a listing more likely, probably through a distribution to shareholders, the newspaper says. The report comes after Rio chief executive Sam Walsh confirmed the miner would keep the loss-making Gove alumina refinery open during ongoing negotiations about converting the plant to gas-fired power, which would allow Pacific Aluminium to be...
Responsibility for the 17th Arab International Aluminium Conference (ARABAL) was officially handed over to Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) on the 7th of February, 2013, another sign of the continuing rise of the flagship UAE project as a major player in the industry. The conference, due to be held in November, will be hosted for the first time by EMAL in Abu Dhabi. ARABAL brings together all the smelters from the MENA region, a rising power in the industry. The seven primary aluminium producers will provide 9 per cent of total global production by 2020, highlighting the growing importance influence of the region. Testament to the cooperation between the region's primary aluminium producers, a committee meeting took place in Abu Dhabi to witness the handover from Qatalum to EMAL. EMAL is a...
Several big banks are unwinding the lucrative financing deals that tie up millions of tonnes of aluminium as collateral in warehouses, but the activity is flourishing as eager rivals enter it or expand. For years a handful of banks have been buying up aluminium and simultaneously selling it forward for instant profit to futures market speculators, then taking advantage of cheap funding to store it at low cost in warehouses. Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Bank have been the two biggest participants with millions of tonnes of the metal under financing, metals and banking sources said. Credit Suisse had a sizeable holding too. Aluminium financing deals can earn an investor an assured yield of at least 5 percent, not bad with interest rates around historic lows and with returns on...
A crunch meeting will take place today to discuss the future of the last remaining 80 jobs at Anglesey Aluminium. A spokeswoman for the firm confirmed the business is currently consulting with workers and unions over the losses. Holyhead Mayor Cllr Jean Williams said: “This is a shock. We can’t afford to lose anymore jobs here." A spokeswoman for Anglesey Aluminium said: “We’re still in the middle of a consultation period, we don’t have a definite date for these redundancies, it could be this week or the next, no decisions have been taken yet.” John Hamilton, of union Unite, said: “We are meeting with the company to discuss the ongoing consultation. “We’re still in a consultation period and it would be unfair of me to say more.” In September 2009, 400 workers were made redundant at...
Mozambique mining resources minister Esperança Bias says that Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto will be able to find a logistics solution that will allow it to export the coal it mines in the country’s Tete province. Following a valuation of its assets in Mozambique the group recently announced a write- down of US$3 billion in Mozambique, which along with write-downs related to the acquisition of bauxite assets in Canada, led to chief executive Tome Albanese stepping down. In an interview here, the minister played down suggestions that the group may sell its assets in Mozambique due to difficulties in transporting its coal production. “Naturally we are concerned, but if we look at the problems faced by Rio Tinto we can see they are not exclusive to Mozambique, and we believe that a...
Aluminium giant Alcoa and the Victorian state government have designed a complicated set of deals intended to place the liability for rising power costs onto the federal government, according to The Australian Financial Review. The plan addresses a long-standing issue whereby decades-old agreements between Alcoa and the state government included guarantees of cheap power that left Victoria holding the responsibility for the carbon tax due to an inability to pass on those costs to the aluminium giant. The state had long urged the federal government to change the design of the carbon tax, but having failed in those efforts, the coalition government began negotiations with Alcoa and power generator Loy Yang B. Under the deals, the state will pay an increased power price and pass most of that...
The global aluminum production is expected to continue its recovery this year after bottoming out in the course of 2012, Norsk Hydro said on Tuesday on the occasion of the publication of quarterly figures exceeded expectations. The Norwegian group, one of the largest aluminum producers in the world, said this year anticipate global demand outside China primary aluminum increased by 2% to 4% against a 1% rise in , 2012. Over the last three months of last year, the operating profit of Norsk Hydro fell 89%, to 138 million kronor (19 million) due to the sharp drop in the price of aluminum on the period. Financial analysts polled by Reuters on average expected 96 million. "I believe that market participants react more positively to these figures," said Hans-Erik Jacobson, an analyst at...
The disinvestment of NALCO (The National Aluminium Company), which could fetch Rs 1,400 crore to the exchequer, is likely to hit the market during the first week of March after the Budget to ensure it is not impacted by volatility in the stock-markets. The department of disinvestment (DoD) will start roadshows in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, US and UK on February 19 for disinvestment of the state-run aluminium company. The roadshows would conclude on February 25, sources said. "Nalco disinvestment will happen only after the Budget. There is lot of volatility in the markets before the Budget and hence we have decided to schedule it in the beginning of March," sources said. The Budget is to be presented in Lok Sabha on February 28. The 12.5-percent stake or Rs 31.31-crore share-sale of...
The Gulf aluminium industry is poised to become a primary production powerhouse of the metal following a $55 billion investment in new smelters and existing projects to boost the output capacity. According to major industry players, the UAE remains on front with $22 billion investment in its aluminium industry followed by Saudi Arabia (over $17 billion), Kuwait ($7 billion) and Qatar ($5.7 billion). They said four of the top 10 primary aluminium producers in the world will be from the Gulf region and they will be accounting for about 15 per cent of the total world production by 2014. Major groups in Saudi Arabia and UAE are executing multi-billion dollars projects that will increase aluminium output from three million metric tonnes to five million metric tonnes by next year. Saudi...
Aditya Birla’s flagship company, Hindalco Industries, reported a four per cent drop in net profit for the third quarter ended December 31. Its standalone profit stood at Rs 434 crore against Rs 451 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. However, there has been an exceptional item of Rs 144 crore in the profit. Excluding the exceptional items, profit after tax declined 36 per cent to Rs 289 crore. Debu Bhattacharya, managing director, Hindalco Industries, said, “The exceptional item has been on account of treasury and is a one-off gain. Input price pressure continued in the quarter but copper did significantly better than aluminium.” The company, however, reported an increase in its revenues. The company said that its revenues jumped from Rs 6647 crore in the same quarter last year...
In a bid to save Kentucky's two large aluminum smelters from closing, newly filed bipartisan legislation in the Kentucky General Assembly would allow Century Aluminum and Rio Tinto Alcan to buy power off the wholesale market if they cannot resolve a dispute over electricity rates with current supplier Big Rivers Electric. Companion bills H.B. 211 and S.B. 71 authorize industries with at least a 95% electric load factor to go to market. In Kentucky, only two industries fit that bill: Century's 244,000 mt/year smelter in Hawesville and Alcan's 180,000 mt/year smelter in Sebree, State Representative Tommy Thompson, co-sponsor of H.B. 211, a Democrat and his party's Majority Whip, said in an interview. "Kentucky's laws don't have bypass language for electricity so [industries] can go to...
One of the key outcomes from the sixth World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi last month was the contribution of leading UAE companies towards sustainable development. One local company investing significant efforts in sustainability is Emirates Aluminium (EMAL). EMAL has been committed to sustainable development since its inception, and this on-going obligation led to EMAL signing up as an Associate Sponsor of the World Future Energy Summit. Saaed Fadhel Al Mazrooei, President and CEO of EMAL, explains that sustainability is in the company's DNA. "EMAL has invested in the most advanced technologies available to ensure minimal environmental impact. As a result, EMAL does not only meet the minimum regulatory requirements, but tries to push beyond what is required and achieve...
Aluminium maker Hindalco Industries will bring on stream its three greenfield projects by the first half of 2013. Analysts, however, expressed concerns that subdued aluminium prices could put pressure on the operating income of the new projects. While the 1.5 million tonne per annum (tpa) Utkal alumina project and 360,000 tonne per annum (tpa)Mahan project will be ready by April 2013, the Aditya alumina smelter will start rolling out metal by June 2013. This will be accompanied by the start of its 135,000 tonne of Hirakud flat-rolled products factory with marginal production, which will be ramped up in the next 18 months. “With all the expansions, it will be a new Hindalco – more efficient, lower cost of production and higher volumes,” said Debnarayan Bhattacharya, managing director,...
The on-going negotiations on the sale of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (Alscon) Ikot Abasi in Akwa- Ibom State, between the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) and BFIG is tilting towards the rocks, due to alleged distortions on the mutually agreed Share Purchase Agreement (SPA), the document certifying the transaction between the seller and buyer of the company. According to BFIG, the court ordered winner of the bid for ALSCON, there were marked differences in the SPA that was mutually agreed to by both parties in October last year and the final document sent on January 29 for execution and payment. “We have received the supposed BPE’s SPA and found it violently in defiance to the Supreme Court order and decree of July 6, 2012 that asked the two parties to enter into a...
Hindalco Industries may post muted growth in December quarter as it is still in the midst of ramping up production at its Hirakkud plant in Orissa, say analysts. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, the Aditya Birla Group company is expected to witness 10.1%, quarter-on-quarter jump in sales to Rs 6730 crore on higher metal prices which will be partly offset by a stronger Rupee. Profit too is expected to rise 9.7% to Rs 394 crore on higher realisation on strong aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) Analysts also expect EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) to recover from a decline in the first half of FY13 on higher aluminium and copper production with better realisation. After rallying 23 per cent from mid-November to early January, the stock has...
