LME aluminium prices moved higher on October 6 compared with the previous trading day, with cash and three-month prices rising by nearly 1 per cent. The increase came as LME aluminium opening stocks remained unchanged, while live warrants declined and cancelled warrants increased. On October 6, the LME aluminium cash bid price stood at USD 3,134 per tonne, up 0.90 per cent from USD 3,106 per tonne on October 5. The cash offer price stood at USD 3,134.5 per tonne , compared with USD 3,107 per tonne on October 5, marking a 0.89 per cent increase. The LME aluminium three-month bid price rose to USD 3,148 per tonne on October 6 from USD 3,117.5 per tonne on October 5, an increase of 0.98 per cent. The corresponding three-month offer price increased to USD 3,148.5 per tonne from USD 3,118 per...
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...
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United Co. Rusal, the world’s biggest aluminum producer, said elevated premiums are supported by demand and financing deals as the London Metal Exchange tries to ease backlogs in its warehouses that drew complaints from users including MillerCoors LLC. The LME, which oversees more than 700 warehouses worldwide, proposed rules last month to cut waiting times for withdrawals at some sites. “The broader industry context is greatly supportive of the premiums paid in the market today,” Steve Hodgson, Rusal’s director for sales and marketing, said in an e-mailed comment to Bloomberg. “Today’s conditions are very different to those that prevailed in late 2010 at the time when the load out queues were forming and first reached 100 days.” The aluminum market, excluding China, will have a deficit...
Workers of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) have accused its Russian managers, UC RUSAL, of plotting to cripple operations in the factory by dismantling equipment in the production lines and “siphoning of raw materials”. The workers, who were represented by their trade union leaders, warned that if the federal government failed to wade into the matter, the vandalism of ALSCON’s main production plant by RUSAL will be crippled in the factory. Led by the leaders of the company’s chapter of the Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria (SEWUN), the workers alleged that the Russian managers of ALSCON have dismantled stem rods and anodes used in the manufacture of steel ingots. They also claimed that since the beginning of the year, RUSAL had dismantled parts of the plant...
China's plans to force more than 1,900 companies to cut excess capacity in bloated industries including aluminium, steel and copper have met with an underwhelming response from the market. Certainly, the moves to make China's heavy industries more efficient will have little immediate market impact, but what analysts and investors may be shrugging off a little too lightly is that once trends and processes start, they tend to gather momentum. The edict to close some capacity by September will do very little to end surpluses in aluminium and steel production in China, as they will impact less than 1 percent of capacity. In aluminium, about 260,000 tonnes of annual capacity may be shut, a fraction of the existing capacity of about 27 million tonnes, which is already about 28 percent higher...
Aluminum of China is one of today's biggest movers, up 2.7% to $7.90. The S&P is trading higher by 1.0% to 1,703 and the Dow is trading 0.7% higher to 15,615. Aluminum Corporation of China Limited is a producer of alumina and primary aluminum in China. The Company refines bauxite into alumina and smelts alumina to produce primary aluminum. Aluminum of China has potential upside of 12.0% based on a current price of $7.90 and analysts' consensus price target of $8.85. Aluminum of China shares should first meet resistance at the 50-day moving average (MA) of $8.54 and find additional resistance at the 200-day MA of $10.25. Aluminum of China share prices have moved between a 52-week high of $13.29 and a 52-week low of $7.25 and are now trading 9% above that low price at $7.90 per share. In...
LME aluminium is expected to drop into a range of $1,787-$1,797 per tonne, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci retracement analysis. The rebound from the recent low of $1,772.25 has stopped in a range of $1,828-$1,842, formed by the 61.8 percent and the 76.4 percent Fibonacci retracements on the fall from the July 22 high of $1,863 to this low. These ratios may be applied to the current drop as well, and another Fibonacci retracement analysis on the rise from $1,772.25 to $1,836 reveals the target zone of $1,787-$1,797. A rise above $1,815 may be capped at $1,821, the 23.6 percent retracement. 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,...
Austria Metall AG (AMAG) forecast a fall in core profit of up to 13 percent this year as aluminium prices fall and reported a 10 percent drop in the second quarter, though this was not as severe as expected. AMAG, which is 54 percent owned by a consortium of B&C Industrieholding, Oberbank and the AMAG employees' foundation, said its three divisions had run at full capacity in the first half and it expected this to continue in the third quarter. "The management expects a positive year from an operational point of view, although the factors ... like (the) aluminium price and pressure on margins are likely to result in a year-on-year decline in profit," it said in a statement. AMAG said it expected full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of between 116...
Goldman Sachs' olive branch to beleaguered metals customers will do little to help bring down the high cost of securing aluminium, but even critics praised the proposal as a smart move to placate regulators and silence complaints. Goldman responded to mounting political pressure and regulatory scrutiny of its Metro International metals business on Wednesday, by offering customers immediate access to aluminum stored in its warehouses. In a statement outlining the bank's proposals to cut waiting times at all London Metal Exchange-registered warehouses, Goldman said it would let major consumers swap aluminum held in its warehouses for metal the bank has acquired, without the need to pay a steep cash premium. Novelis Inc, the world's biggest maker of flat-rolled aluminum used to make beverage...
Chalco is likely to be the only aluminium company left standing, says emerging markets fund manager Mark Mobius, as the Chinese government orders more than 1,400 companies to ease back on over capacity. It is thought likely that such a move will mean that some aluminium companies will fall by the wayside, but that Chalco will survive what might amount to a ‘cull’. While Chalco’s shares have dropped, the company is still a ‘good long-term bet’ according to Mobius even if its price performance has been poor. So far this year, Chalco’s share price has dipped 28%. Mobius works for Templeton Emerging Markets Group.
According to preliminary data released by the Aluminum Association, the North American aluminum demand during the first five months of the year rose 1.2% over the same period last year. The North American aluminum demand through May this year totaled 10.252 billion pounds. Out of this, the demand for semi-fabricated mill products totaled 6.870 billion pounds. The semi-fabricated mill products demand fell 0.7% year-on-year. The demand for aluminum semi-fabricated products in the US and Canada-measured in shipments by domestic producers plus imports-totaled an estimated 1.412 billion pounds in May, 4.1% lower than the May 2012 total of 1.473 billion lb. Demand for aluminum sheet and plate totaled 794 million pounds in May 2013, down 3.5% than the demand in May 2012. The year-on-year...
Indonesia announced that it has bought Nippon Asahan Aluminium’s majority shareholding in Indonesia Asahan Aluminium. The deal will be finalised later in the year. The plan is to take over Nippon’s 58.88% stake in the business when the contract ends in October 2013. Currently, the Indonesian government holds 41.12% of shares in the company. Indonesia is looking to boost its downstream industry and hopes that it can double Inalum’s output to 500kt of aluminium ingot per annum. Currently, 60% of the smelter’s output (250kt) is exported to Japan. The Inalum smelter is located in Kuala Tanjung in the Batubara Regency area of North Sumatra. Indonesia’s industry minister, MS Hidayat, hopes to transform the area into an industrial cluster for aluminium-based products. The development of Kuala...
Alcoa announces that effective September 1 Libby Archell is appointed Vice President of Corporate Affairs. Reporting to Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa Chairman and CEO, Ms. Archell will be a member of Alcoa's Executive Council and have responsibility for communications activities that impact Alcoa's reputation, relationships with the media and employee engagement. Libby Archell rejoins Alcoa as Vice President, Corporate Affairs "With her successful track record in challenging assignments in Australia and the U.S., Libby has the ideal background and skills to take on this vital communications role at an important moment in Alcoa's 125th history," said Mr. Kleinfeld. "Communications will play a major role in driving the growth of Alcoa's value add businesses and supporting our actions to improve...
China’s aluminium production for H1 2013 totalled 10.58Mt, up 7.9% on the same period last year, according to CNIA figures. Production is likely to accelerate during the second half of the year as new capacity comes on stream, mainly in the North West of the country. Primary output in June 2013 was 1.84Mt, pointing to an annual rate of 22.4Mt China’s net imports of primary aluminium reached 45.5kt during the H1 2013 period, down by a staggering 81% from 236kt for the same period last year. Aluminium semis production was up by 24.58% to 18.2Mt compared with full-year 2012 growth of 14.60%. Net aluminium semis exports from China totalled 1.25Mt, up almost 8% year-on-year and reversing a downward trend reported last year. Demand for aluminium from the construction sector experienced stable...
Platts Chinese import premiums for Good Western aluminum edged up Wednesday to $245-250/mt CIF plus LME cash from $230-250/mt last week, as Chinese buying interest picked up on the back of weaker London Metal Exchange prices this week, industry sources said. Chinese import queries have increased as LME aluminum prices fell below $1,800/mt, traders and consumers said Wednesday. But actual trades remained lacking as domestic prices also fell in China this week. "There's some interest, but the overall LME price plus premiums and China's VAT is still higher than domestic currently, so we've not seen any actual trades yet," a Shanghai-based trader said. "We've also been asking customers this week since the LME fell, but they think the overall import price is still high compared with the...
Goldman Sachs Group said on Wednesday that it would offer customers of its Metro International metals warehouse business immediate access to aluminium held up in queues through an exchange deal with the bank. "In light of the concerns that end-users have raised about their access to aluminium they are holding in warehouses, Goldman Sachs is contacting end users to offer to swap any aluminium currently in the queue for immediately available aluminium so that they have access to the metal they need to make or package their products," the bank said in a statement outlining ways to speed up aluminium delivery from London Metal Exchange warehouses. Goldman has come under regulatory and political pressure in recent weeks as major consumers of aluminium have complained about waiting excessive...
Calderys, a world leader in Refractory Solutions and a subsidiary of Imerys, announces its latest international expansions into two key areas of the Asia-Pacific market: Indonesia and Japan. Calderys has signed a Joint Venture (JV) agreement with Indonesian refractory manufacturer PT Indoporlen and has also acquired the Japanese refractory producer Tokai Ceramics Co Ltd. In the Indonesian market, Calderys has been a partner of PT Indoporlen during over 30 years of service to the cement, tin, nickel, steel, aluminium and fertilizer industries (with Calderys known prior to 2005 as Lafarge Refractories). The JV was signed with Calderys as the majority shareholder and PT Indoporlen’s founding Halim family as the lead Indonesian shareholders. It includes PT Indoporlen, which produces...
Ohio's state utility regulator on Wednesday rejected Ormet Corp's appeal for an expedited decision on the aluminum producer's request for lower electricity rates, which it said are crucial to operating its aluminum smelter and alumina refinery. The ruling by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) was on the company's emergency appeal for lower rates. A full hearing on Ormet's request remains on the docket for August 27. Ormet had asked for an expedited decision to cut power costs for its 260,000 tonne-per-year Hannibal, Ohio aluminum smelter and for its Burnside, La. alumina refinery, which has an annual capacity of about 600,000 tonnes. Five months ago Ormet filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection citing low aluminum prices and high power costs. Securing lower energy rates is...
LME aluminium is expected to rebound to $1,797 per tonne, as it has completed a five-wave cycle. The cycle fell from the July 22 high of $1,863. A Fibonacci retracement analysis reveals a target at $1,797, the 23.6 percent level, a break above which will lead to a further gain to $1,810, the 38.2 percent level. It is not clear how strong this rebound will be, as a result, the various Fibonacci retracements have to be targeted one after another. A drop below $1,777 will confirm the continuation of the downtrend towards the June 27 low of $1,758. 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...
On Monday, July 29, the aluminum cash price fell by 1.3 percent on the LME, landing at $1,761 per metric ton and making it the day’s biggest mover. Today marks the fifth day in a row of declining prices for the aluminum 3-month price. After falling 1.3 percent on the LME, prices settled at $1,805 per metric ton, driving an accelerated drop-off since Tuesday, July 23. After falling for two days, the Indian aluminum cash price rose 0.6 percent. Chinese aluminum closed mixed on Monday. Following a quiet couple of days, the Chinese aluminum cash price fell 0.4 percent yesterday. The price of Chinese aluminum scrap held steady. The price of Chinese aluminum billet saw essentially no change for the fifth day in a row. The price of Chinese aluminum bar was unchanged.
