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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Vedanta on Tuesday said it will fork out the right price, arrived at a "transparent process", for buying out government's residual stake in Hindustan Zinc (HZL) and Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco). "Whatever is fair. I am looking at the process, we are not looking at negotiating anything. Whatever is the right price, (there is a) process to be adopted," Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal told reporters in New Delhi. "We know this is the process, transparent process and whatever is the price, that's the price," he said when asked whether Vedanta would sweeten the offer from what it had made in January. The government, which currently holds a 29.5-percent stake in HZL and a 49-percent stake in Balco, is looking at exiting from the two firms in which majority stakes were sold to the mining giant...
Slow progress over the budget negotiations in the US and the decline of October new home sales released by the US Commerce Department overnight triggered concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone and US. Investors turned to the safety of the US dollar as a result, curbing the upward momentum of commodities. LME aluminum failed to reach USD 2,000/mt before finally closing at USD 1,999/mt, down USD 7/mt or 0.35%. Latest LME aluminum inventories were up 3,750 mt to 5,178,250 mt, a fresh record high. Worries over the debt crisis in the US and euro zone will weigh on aluminum prices. LME aluminum should continue to struggle at USD 2,000/mt and move between USD 1,980-2,010/mt on Thursday. The SHFE 1301 aluminum contract is expected to open lower at RMB 15,310/mt, with prices between RMB...
Saudi Saline Water Conversion Corp (SWCC) expects the start up of a new power plant at Ras Al Khair to be delayed until late 2013, the head of the utility said, which may affect production at a new aluminium smelter relying on it. Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) expects to begin production at the aluminium smelter it shares with US-based Alcoa in December. The smelter is supposed to be supplied by the new 2,400-megawatt (MW) power plant which was expected to have started production by now. "First production of electricity was supposed to be in October 2012... We are anticipating a 10-month delay," the head of SWCC Abdulrahman Mohammed al-Ibrahim said on Monday. "To overcome this delay SWCC has taken the responsibility to provide power to the grid in excess of 450 MW to meet client...
The key players in the UAE’s primary aluminium industry, Dubai Aluminium, DUBAL, and Emirates Aluminium Company Limited, EMAL, demonstrated their common commitment to the development of the Middle East as a global aluminium hub by participating jointly in the 16th International Arab Aluminium Conference and Exhibition, ARABAL 2012, held Doha, Qatar from 20 to 22 November this year. The strength of the two UAE Smelters, whose total sales volume in 2011 amounted to 1,780,545 metric tonnes, about 50 per cent of the regional total, was communicated through a combined display stand in the exhibition held alongside ARABAL 2012, where attention was focused on the two companies’ combined product portfolio as well as the benefits of DUBAL’s proprietary reduction cell technologies. Moreover,...
In October 2012 China produced 381.2 thousand tons of aluminum alloy products, increased 6.8% yoy. According to the data showed whole nation’s aluminum alloy production was 3663.9 thousand tons from January to October, increased 12.13% compared with the same period of last year. In terms of the production in each province, Hebei produced 406.9 thousand tons of aluminum alloy from January to October this year, increased 9.25% yoy, occupied 11.11% of the total output. Tianjin, Jiangsu and Henan just follow behind, occupied 10.86%?10.66% and 9.09% of the total output respectively.
Rio Tinto Alcan has written to Japanese buyers asking them to pay a premium of $240 per tonne over the LME cash price for January-March primary aluminium shipments, a source directly involved in the talks said on Monday. That compares with average premiums of $254 to $255 a tonne , a record high, in the previous quarter.
Hopes have been very futile for bearish sentiments in November. Aluminium has seen sharp recovery on Monday on account of hopes that Greece will be able to avoid bankruptcy and things will move on industrial front in China. LME three month forward Aluminium prices were driven by these hopes and were up by almost 2 percent in Asian trades. The prices were at $ 1983 per tonne, compared to $ 1948 per tonne. The rise has been at a time when Aluminium inventories are at all time highs in London Metal Exchange. The total inventories now rule at 5177425 tonnes, up 4% since the beginning of this year. Indian MCX Aluminium has gained on fact that Rupee now is dragged near 56 against the Dollar. The benchmark Aluminium contract was trading at Rs 110.3 per kg, up 0.8%.
Effort by the Federal Government to comply with the Supreme Court ruling ceding the management of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, in Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State to its rightful buyers, BFIG Corporation, has been rebuffed by Rusal, the Russian Aluminium Company, that was sacked by the apex court. In a preliminary move to ascertain the state of the plant with a view to handing over to BFIG, the BPE informed RUSAL of its intention to carry out an assessment of the plant with a view to obtaining its status report. The National Council on Privatisation, NCP, had ordered PBE to urgently carry out the assessment and turn in the status report on the company and to submit a roadmap for resolving all the issues relating to ALSCON sale in line with the Supreme Court ruling. The BPE...
According to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics’ most recent report, the market surplus for primary aluminum between January and September 2012 was 488,000 tons, which follows a surplus of 1,871,000 tons recorded for the whole of 2011. Production in January to September 2012 rose by 835,000 tons from the same period in 2011 and following on from a 3.1 million-metric-ton increase over the whole of 2011, suggesting a sharp slowdown in production growth. The WBMS reports that while production in the EU27 fell by 17.8 percent and NAFTA output fell by 2.3 percent, demand also fell with the EU27 down by 12.1 percent compared to 2011, even as global demand rose by 3.6 percent during the first nine months of the year, compared with the 2011 period. China, meanwhile, has continued to expand...
A hit to electricity contracts with aluminum smelters reduced Hydro-Quebec's profits in the third quarter. Excluding a charge related to the planned closure of the Gentilly-2 nuclear reactor, the public utility's profits fell 6.9 per cent to $376 million for the period ended Sept. 30. That's down from $404 million a year ago. Including the charge, Hydro-Quebec lost $1.46 billion. Hydro-Quebec lost $61 million more than a year ago from its contracts with aluminum producers. The causes were aluminum prices which slowed production, the high Canadian dollar, and the purchase from Rio Tinto Alcan of $45 million of electricity. Hydro was forced to make the purchases because of the lockout of employees at Rio Tinto's Alma plant, which ended last summer. This shortfall was largely offset by an...
Market risk appetite grew overnight as there was a good chance that the euro zone finance ministers would reach an agreement on approving Greece’s request for another round of bailout funds. As a result, LME aluminum jumped to a high of USD 2,000/mt during the European session before finally ending the day up USD 15/mt or 0.76% at USD 1,994.5/mt. Latest LME aluminum inventories were down 325 mt to 5,177,100 mt. Greece finally obtained another round of bailout funds, but renewed worries over the US fiscal cliff and European debt crisis will cap the gains of aluminum prices. LME aluminum should test resistance at USD 2,000/mt and move between USD 1,970-2,010/mt on Tuesday. The SHFE 1301 aluminum contract is expected to open higher at RMB 15,350/mt, with prices between RMB 15,300-15,375/mt....
The premier trade event of the UAE’s aluminium industry, the 16th Arab International Aluminium Conference (ARABAL 2012) was held at the Grand Hyatt Doha, Qatar from 20 to 22 November. The conference, taking place under the patronage of Ministry of Energy and Industry, was attended by every single primary aluminium manufacturer from the Middle East. It is also the coveted event for anyone interested in the Middle East aluminium industry. The conference included several topics, panel discussions and outstanding workshops that focus on the aluminum sector at the local and global levels, and hosted some of the most prominent figures including experts and academics addressing the conference and presenting their expertise to participants and audience. This year the Conference was attended by...
Iran needs to import 120,000 tons of aluminum ingot per year, IRNA quoted a member of the Iranian aluminum producers syndicate as saying. Shahen Markarian added that the total output of Iranian aluminum ingot producers is currently around 250,000 tons per year. The output is projected to be increased to 910,000 tons by the end of the fifth national five-year development plan (March 2016). In October, ISNA reported that Iran exported over 92,000 tons of aluminum ingots, valued at $166.5 million, in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, showing a 3.3 percent growth in terms of weight year on year. Based on the Iranian Customs Administration data, the exports decreased by 17.7 percent in terms of value, compared to last year. Taiwan, India, and Turkey...
Aluminum prices look likely to remain propped up for some time, as the metal's popularity with nonmanufacturers, who hold the aluminum in anticipation of selling it at higher prices later, outweighs the bearish impact of a sizable production surplus. By all accounts, there is a lot more aluminum around than there is demand from manufacturers of such things as airplanes or cans. The global market has a hefty surplus, with Société Générale GLE.FR +1.10% forecasting production to outpace demand by 1.4 million metric tons this year and 1.1 million tons in 2013. Inventories of aluminum held in London Metal Exchange warehouses hit a record last week of 5.177 million tons. But instead of making its way to manufacturers, much of this metal is finding its way into the hands of the investment...
State-owned aluminium producer Nalco has funded many educational institutions as part of its corporate social responsibility but no financial assistance has been given to any private university, the government said today. "Financial assistance from Peripheral Development Fund has been provided by Nalco to many educational institutions, trusts, etc, over the years. Financial assistance has not been provided to any private university," Mines Minister Dinsha Patel said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. He was replying to a question whether National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) has extended financial assistance to a private university from the Peripheral Development Fund (PDF) in gross violation of laid down norms/guidelines. According to the Mines Minister, Nalco had provided financial...
In this week's commodity dissector, we take a close look at aluminium traded in London Metal Exchange. Its unit is measured in USD/MT. For this technical analysis, LME primary aluminium 3 month rolling forward has been taken. It closed at $1,983, gaining $38.5 or almost 2 per cent on Friday. Long-term trend remains up for aluminium as long as it trades above its significant long-term band between $1,800 and $1,850 levels. This base band coincides with the 61.8 per cent Fibonacci retracement level of the contract’s prior up-move from its February 2009 low to May 2011 peak. A strong decline below the aforementioned base band will pull the commodity down to $1,685 and then to $1,600 in the long-term. On the upside, the commodity needs to rally above its key long-term resistance level at...
With the increasing use of aluminium in automotive industry (140 kg/car in 2011), over 16mt of new aluminium capacity is expected to hit the market by 2015. And after China, the Middle East will be the leading supplier for the growing world metal needs, experts speaking on the third day of “ARABAL 2012” said yesterday. The peculiar economics of China’s aluminium industry, and its effect on the global cost curve were stand outs of the morning session of the final day of Arab International Aluminium Conference, which the increased prevalence of aluminium in the auto industry, while sustainability and safety dominated the rest of the day. Senior executives from Qatalum, Ma’aden, Soahr Aluminium, Dubal, Emal, Hydro, and other firms took part in panels, workshops and presentations – making the...
The European physical aluminium market has seen little spot activity this week with buyers and sellers continuing to negotiate contracts for next year. "There is nothing exciting happening. We are still trying to find the right prices and agreements for next year," one consumer said. He said that he had finalized some small quantities for 2013 but noted that there was still tension on the buyer and seller sides of negotiations, with most buyers looking to secure premiums below the current spot market level. "Producers have made their offers, but buyers are still trying to push the premiums down," the consumer said. He added that most people wanted to achieve premiums below $280/mt for duty-paid material on an in-warehouse basis. "We cannot live with such high numbers and there is no big...
