Vedanta Aluminium reported record quarterly production across aluminium, alumina and value-added products in Q2 FY27, supported by capacity expansion and efficiency improvements. Vedanta Aluminium Metal Limited, India’s largest aluminium producer, recorded its highest-ever quarterly aluminium production of 649,000 tonnes in Q2 FY27, up 5 per cent year on year from 617,000 tonnes in Q2 FY26. Aluminium output also increased 3 per cent quarter on quarter from 632,000 tonnes in Q1 FY27. For the first half of FY27, production reached a record 1,281,000 tonnes, up 5 per cent from 1,222,000 tonnes in H1 FY26. The company attributed the increase to new smelter volumes and efficiency improvements across existing production lines. Alumina output jumps 37 per cent Vedanta Aluminium’s alumina...
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...
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Following a three-day flat streak, the price of Chinese aluminum bar climbed by 1.1 percent on Tuesday, August 6. After two changeless days, the cash price of Chinese aluminum fell 0.2 percent. The price of Chinese aluminum billet saw essentially no change for the fifth day in a row. The price of Chinese aluminum scrap saw little movement. The cash price of primary Indian aluminum rose 1.0 percent after a two-day drop. On the LME, the aluminum 3-month price declined 0.9 percent to $1,801 per metric ton. On the LME, the primary aluminum cash price fell 0.8 percent to $1,755 per metric ton.
Meridian Energy has had to give up previously negotiated price increases and the government has chipped in with a $30 million ""incentive payment"" to keep the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter open until at least January 2017. Meridian chief executive Mark Binns announced the deal in a statement to the NZX, saying the renegotiated contract would "see a reduction in the current electricity charge from July 1, 2013, and allows for price increases should the New Zealand dollar value of aluminium rise above agreed levels". Finance and State-Owned Enterprises Ministers Bill English and Tony Ryall described the new deal as ""returning the price of power paid by NZAS to around pre-2013 levels, in exchange for guarantees on the contract from or on behalf of New Zealand Aluminium Smelter's parent...
Century Aluminum, a company whose shares are moving quickly, is trading 3.2% lower to $8.04. The Dow is down 0.5% to 15,532 and the S&P is currently down 0.5% to 1,699. Over the past year, Century Aluminum has traded in a range of $6.02 to $10.60 and is now at $8.04, 34% above that low. In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day moving average (MA) has fallen 1.1% while the 200-day MA has risen 0.2%. Century Aluminum Company produces primary aluminum, in both molten and ingot form, through facilities located in the United States. The Company owns and operates a reduction facility in Ravenswood, West Virginia, and owns a partial interest in a reduction facility in Mt. Holly, South Carolina. Century is also the operating partner of a reduction facility in Hawesville, Kentucky. Potential...
Data from the customs of Xining city, Qinghai province shows that, in the first half year, the total import and export value of Qinghai province reached 522.12 million dollars, increased by 23.7% year-on-year. The import and export value of ordinary trade totaled 470.17 million dollars, increased by 16%, and accounts for 90.1% in the whole import and export value . The import and export value of processing trade totaled 9.67 million dollars. The import and export value of private enterprises, foreign-funded enterprises, and collectively-owned enterprise increased by 37.6%,12.5% and 97.1% respectively. In terms of the export, the export of unwrought aluminum and aluminum materials in Qinghai Province increased 44.4%.
Rio Tinto's Alcan division said on Wednesday it will shut down its aluminum smelter in Shawinigan, Quebec, by the end of November. The company said it will immediately shut down 50,000 tonnes of production and take the remaining 50,000 tonnes of capacity offline by the end of November. Some 425 workers will be affected. The smelter, commissioned in 1942, uses Soderberg technology, which is less energy efficient than newer ways of smelting aluminum. Rio had said previously that, because of environmental regulations phasing out Soderberg technology in Quebec, its production lines would have to be shut down by the end of 2014 at the latest. The company is set to report earnings before markets open in London on Thursday. The closure will make little difference to the aluminum market, which is...
Nirmal Bang has come out with its fundamental outlook on base metals. The research firm do not expect any major rise in the prices of metals on account of weak physical demand and higher supplies. Aluminium in particular can be sold on rallies, says Nirmal Bang. Industrial metals prices rose, helped by a weak dollar and ahead of trade and industrial output data from China this week that should shed light on the outlook for demand from the top metals consumer. South Korea is seeking a total of 6,000 tonnes of copper with purity more than 99.99 percent via tenders, the state-run Public Procurement Service said on its website China's oversupply of aluminium is likely to escalate in the second half of 2013 as more new capacity is set to come onstream, further reducing the need for imports by...
JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest U.S. bank, was sued with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. over claims it restrained aluminum supplies and drove up prices. The complaint was filed by a Jacksonville, Florida, direct purchaser, Master Screens Inc., and by individual plaintiff Daniel Price Bart of Tallahassee, who is described in the filing as a “purchaser of beverages sold in aluminum cans.” The banks are accused in the complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Tallahassee of racketeering and conspiring with the London Metal Exchange, hoarding aluminum in Detroit-area warehouses and violating federal antitrust laws. Goldman Sachs was sued on Aug. 1 over similar claims by a Michigan company. “By inserting itself into a healthy industry producing widely needed commodities, severely degrading...
Thirty more jobs are in the firing line at the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters yesterday proposed to axe more than 30 maintenance jobs at the smelter. The cuts are part of the company's plan to streamline its operations to help return the smelter to viability in the face of challenging market conditions. Last year, New Zealand Aluminium Smelters told The Southland Times that it planned to review its maintenance services this year to reduce costs. Acting general manager Stew Hamilton said the proposal to cut 31 maintenance jobs would save the company millions of dollars a year. "Unfavourable conditions in the global aluminium markets have made it vital that the smelter further reduce costs. Aluminium prices remain very low and we are continuing to work with...
China's oversupply of aluminium is likely to escalate in the second half of 2013 as more new capacity is set to come on stream, further reducing the need for imports by the world's top consumer and producer of aluminium. Imports have already tumbled 67 percent in the first half from a year earlier, official data showed. China's mounting supplies would also weigh on domestic prices, which AL-A00-CCNMM have fallen more than 5 percent so far this year, said Zhang Chenguang, analyst at information provider SMM. Beijing has tried unsuccessfully to limit aluminium capacity and last month further tightened regulations for new and existing smelters. Analysts and smelter sources said the regulations would not cut production this year, but would limit expansion in the longer term. China has more...
United Co. Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer, may reduce output by as much as 8.4 percent this year to allow prices to recover. The company will idle 350,000 metric tons of capacity at five of its plants with high production costs until aluminum rises to $2,400 a ton, Oleg Deripaska, Rusal’s billionaire chief executive officer, said in an interview with Interfax newswire. Rusal’s press service confirmed the comments when contacted by Bloomberg News. Aluminum prices fell more than 13 percent this year to $1,799 a ton as global stockpiles reached records and last month traded at the lowest level since 2009. Rusal said in March that it would lower production by 300,000 metric tons in 2013 from the 4.2 million tons last year. About 40 percent of producers globally, excluding China,...
LME aluminium is biased to drop below a neutral range of $1,792.25-$1,836 per tonne, and then fall towards the July 31 low of $1,772.25. The metal has approached the Aug. 2 low of $1,792.25, making the consolidation within the range look like a double-top, which will be confirmed when the neckline at $1,792.25 is broken. This pattern will point a target at $1,748, but a more realistic target could be $1,772.25. Resistance is at $1,814, a break above which will increase the chance of a further gain towards the Aug. 1 high of $1,836. 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.
The rates to obtain aluminum tumbled the most in 20 months in Europe last month and retreated from a record in the U.S. as lawmakers and regulators scrutinize long lines for metal that buyers say raised their overheads. The surcharge added to the price of aluminum for immediate delivery on the London Metal Exchange slid 7 percent in Europe, the most since November 2011, according to Metal Bulletin data. U.S. costs dropped as much as 23 percent from a record in June, Harbor Intelligence in Austin, Texas, says. Premiums may fall 25 percent more by year-end at this pace after the LME submitted plans to ease a backlog of metal, Barclays Plc estimates. Consumers led by brewer MillerCoors LLC told a U.S. Senate hearing last month that banks and other warehouse owners are using “unfair” LME...
Australia’s liquid natural gas production is growing fast, and is set to continue. But one of Australia’s biggest gas consuming sectors says it’s suffering from a stifled local market. Miles Prosser, executive director at the Australian Aluminium Council, says despite the immense growth in Australia’s LNG production, local gas buyers, such as alumina and aluminium producers, are the victims of “a thin and shallow market.” A recent government report estimated a 26% rise in LNG exports in the 2012/13 financial year, resulting in a market worth around $15.2bn. And Wayne Calder, deputy executive director of the Bureau of Resource and Energy Economics, said last Friday that the rapid evolution of the global energy market would be key to Australia’s LNG production growth. “Gas is becoming an...
The closure of Holcim's Westport cement plant will lead to increased costs for the cash-strapped Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter, its acting general manager says. This week, Holcim announced it would close its Westport cement plant in about two years and will instead import cement to New Zealand. In 2010, the smelter struck a deal with Holcim to process some of the smelter's waste product known as spent-cell lining at its Westport plant. Spent-cell lining is a byproduct removed from aluminium reduction cells that can be used an alternative fuel, replacing coal, for the cement, brick and industrial ceramics industries. Since the deal, the smelter has sent hundreds of tonnes of the byproduct to be processed at the plant but it may need to be exported when the cement plant closes. New Zealand...
The profitability of aluminium smelter Slovalco is highly dependent on its energy-related costs, and so as its 20-year discounted energy price contract is set to terminate in late 2013, the company is warning a rise to market energy rates will make the firm uncompetitive on the international market. But threats to the business are abating, for now, as a preliminary agreement with Slovakia’s biggest power producer and negotiations to reduce electricity transmission charges clear the way for future operations.
Himadri Chemicals and Industries, which set up its liquid pitch terminal in China last year, is eyeing a turnover of Rs. 400 crore from this unit by 2014-15, and planning an additional capacity of 5,00,000 TPA in five years. "Our China facility is one of the largest liquid pitch terminal globally. We are targeting a topline of Rs. 400 crore from this operation by FY15. We are also planning to increase the capacity and take the total to 1 lakh tonne per annum\ (TPA) by next five years," CEO Anurag Choudhary told PTI. The current capacity of the China liquid pitch is 50,000 TPA. "We invested Rs. 200 crore to set up liquid pitch terminal at Shangdon Dawn in China. We are expecting to break even from this plant by 2014-15," he said. Himadri Chemicals is currently supplying liquid pitch to...
The big story in regional aluminium production is the commencement of operations of the joint venture between Saudi Arabian Mining Company and US market leader Aluminium Company of America (Alcoa) in December 2012. This is the sixth smelter to come into operation in the GCC region. Ma’aden President and CEO Khalid al-Mudaifer said, “Today we see the first aluminium produced in Saudi Arabia, and the launch of a new industry.” The plant will be located at Ras al-Khair in Eastern Province. The Saudi aluminium joint venture is owned 74.9 per cent by Ma’aden, with the rest held by Alcoa. The smelter will have an initial annual capacity of 740,000 metric tonnes per annum (mtpa), and will also feature a bauxite mine with an initial capacity of four million mtpa, and an alumina refinery with an...
The London Metal Exchange and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have been named as co-defendants in a U.S. class-action lawsuit alleging anticompetitive behaviour in aluminium warehousing, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) said. Goldman on Wednesday tried to diffuse years of frustration over long waiting times and inflated prices at metals warehouses across the world, by offering immediate access to aluminium for end users holding metal at its Metro warehouses. Criticism of banks that own commodity assets and trade raw materials has ratcheted up in recent weeks, with the U.S. Department of Justice starting a preliminary probe into the metals warehousing industry, sources said. Britain's financial watchdog is also investigating the LME's warehousing system. The lawsuit alleges...
