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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Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) is sponsoring a commemorative book being released by the Bahrain Japan Business & Friendship Society (BJBFS). The book will highlight the historic visit by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to Japan in April. It will also focus on the fortieth anniversary of the start of BJBFS’ activities in the Kingdom. “The commercial, social and cultural relations between Bahrain and Japan continue to grow and have laid the foundation for stronger links between the people of both countries,” said Alba’s chief executive Laurent Schmitt during a meeting with a BJBFS delegation. “Our support for BJBFS underlines this emphasis, and expresses our confidence in its potential to broaden understanding between the two communities and to create avenues for greater growth.” The...
Rio Tinto Alcan has declined to set an indicative price in quarterly premium talks due to kick off next week with Japanese buyers of primary aluminium, and will instead negotiate individual deals, two sources involved in the talks said. The company told buyers in a letter on Friday it did not intend to use as a bargaining tool a supply halt caused by a force majeure event at its refinery in Oman from July 19 to August 16, said the sources, who declined to be identified. Instead, Alcan, a unit of global miner Rio Tinto (RIO.L), will negotiate with buyers individually on the premiums for the October-December shipments, the sources quoted the letter as saying. Buyers pay a premium in addition to the LME cash price to cover freight and insurance and to reflect regional supply and demand. In...
The Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco), one of biggest companies in the country, reported a loss of 3. 25 billion yuan (over USD 513 million) for the first six months of the year. The figure is in sharp contrast to the 413 million yuan profits during the same period last year, the company said in a report filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The losses were incurred by falling market prices, rising costs of raw materials, and higher financial expenses caused by interest rate hikes, said Chalco, a listed arm of the Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco), the country's top producer of aluminum. Its financial expenses surged 51. 4 percent year on year to 2.3 billion yuan in the first six months, official Xinhua news agency reported. Meanwhile, Chalco's revenues went up 8.7...
The week’s biggest mover on the weekly Aluminum MMI® was the Indian aluminum cash price, which saw a 2.3 percent increase. This comes on the heels of a 2.5 percent decline the week prior. The cash price of primary aluminum rose 1.4 percent on the LME to $1,828 per metric ton after falling 3.7 percent during the previous week. The 3-month price of aluminum rose 1.3 percent on the LME to $1,868 per metric ton after falling 3.3 percent during the previous week. Chinese aluminum prices were flat for the week. Following a steady week, prices for the Chinese aluminum cash price closed flat at around $2,400 per metric ton. Prices for Chinese aluminum bar remained constant, closing the week at slightly above $2,200 per metric ton. At around $2,400 per metric ton, the week finished with no...
Guinea's biggest mining town is stuck in desperate limbo as its key aluminium plant remains shut five months after a pay dispute saw Russian owners abandon their posts for security reasons. "We're living through the end of Guinea's most famous mine," said trade union activist Mamadi Kourouma in the town of Fria, 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Conakry and home to Africa's first aluminium refinery. Owned by the world's biggest aluminium producer Rusal, the Friguia plant ground to a halt in April after a lengthy pay dispute, leaving residents in despair and Russian management and Moscow bemoaning a "human catastrophe." Weeds stand high around the desolate town, which paces itself according to the rhythm of power cuts. "Fria is dependent on the factory for water and electricity. The same...
The United Arab Emirates' Dodsal Group has won an estimated $450 million contract to build two pipelines from a gas processing plant south west of Abu Dhabi to industrial users to the north east of the capital, two sources said on Sunday. The 297 km pipeline will supply gas to Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) and other industries in Taweelah, a new industrial hub between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. "The contract was awarded a few weeks ago and work has begun," one source involved in the project said, adding that completion is scheduled for 2015. A source at Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Company (Gasco) confirmed the company awarded the contract to Dodsal. Habshan is an oil and gas hub in the western part of the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Gasco is a joint venture between Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc)...
Russia's RUSAL, the world's top aluminium producer, reported sharply lower profits for the second quarter on Monday, battered by high inventories and low prices, and trimmed its outlook for global aluminium consumption. Despite a 72 percent drop in recurring net profit from a year ago, tight cost controls helped RUSAL beat earnings estimates, and analysts said the company's comparatively low production costs should help it outperform competitors. RUSAL said it would review 275,000 tonnes of capacity and expected to cut up to 150,000 tonnes by year-end, with subsequent cuts in stages through 2018. That relatively high cost capacity would be replaced by new cost-effective smelters in Siberia that are under construction, it added. Concerns about weakening demand for the metal, which is used...
It was reported last Friday that the ECB is considering setting yield band targets under a new bond-buying program. Meanwhile, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a letter to a Congressional oversight panel that the Federal Reserve has room to deliver additional monetary stimulus, also boosting market confidence. In response, LME aluminum regained USD 1,900/mt following other base metals to a high of USD 1,922/mt during European session. However, as trading volumes shrank slightly to 13,797 lots, LME aluminum failed to break through the highest point for the month. Finally, LME aluminum ended the day up USD 24.5/mt or 1.29% at USD 1,919.5/mt. Latest LME aluminum inventories were down 9,025 mt to 4,904,025 mt. LME market will be closed on Monday, and domestic aluminum prices should edge up...
Record aluminum premiums have two major implications for the aluminum market, said R.J. O'Brien & Associates in a commodities research note. "Since the premiums are paid to the smelters, the revenues arising provide some offset to the fall in LME (London Metal Exchange) prices. Thus less production is operating at a loss than would otherwise be the case," the firm added. Further, smelters are bound more closely to their key counterparties than in the past since such a high percentage of revenue is now generated by premiums. Premiums in all major regions have been rising, with the U.S. Midwest premium hitting a record of 10.75 to 11.25 cents a pound, up from 10.50 to 11 cents the prior week, R.J. O'Brien noted. These premiums exist in part because access to metal has been limited by carry...
Vedanta Resources Plc. (VED), controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal, will raise its offer to increase its stakes in Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (HZ) and Bharat Aluminium Co., seeking control of bauxite mines and India’s biggest zinc maker. The company will ask for shareholder approval on Aug. 28 to offer as much as 15 percent more for Hindustan Zinc, it said in a note to investors. The offer price for Bharat Aluminium will be raised as much as 63 percent to $550 million. The London-listed mines and metals company had offered a combined $3.28 billion for the government’s 29.5 percent stake in Hindustan Zinc and 49 percent in Bharat Aluminium. Vedanta holds 65 percent in Hindustan Zinc and 51 percent in Bharat Aluminium through its Indian subsidiary and copper maker Sterlite Industries India Ltd....
Public comment is now being taken on permits requested for the proposed modernization of the Aluminum Company of America plants in Massena. The proposed permits are available for public review. Comments will be taken until Sept. 21. Alcoa owns and operates two primary aluminum reduction facilities in Massena. The proposed modernization at Massena East Plant includes replacing the three old Soderberg potlines with a modern technology pre-bake potline and adding an anode cooling room and bath dumping station. This project will result in net decreases in emissions of sulfur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, total fluoride, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and carbon monoxide, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The proposed modernization for the Alcoa...
Despite a decline in profits for the first quarter reported by India’s state-run National Aluminum Company Ltd (Nalco), aluminum producers here remain optimistic about the sector. Most of this sentiment is based on the likely positive demand from the automobile and power sectors which are expected to see an increase in the last months of 2012, also dubbed as the “festive season” in India, when purchases generally register a hike. India produces around 1.6 million tons of aluminum annually, of which about 1.3 million tons are used by domestic buyers. While its domestic demand is poised to grow by about 8 percent a year, this year’s export figures, too, are also expected to see a rise. Nalco, India’s third-largest producer of aluminum, reported a 41 percent decline in net profit in the...
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) recently demonstrated its safety standards to a delegation from the Electricity & Water Authority (EWA)’s Water Transmission Directorate Safety Committee. Alba’s environment & safety engineer Hubert Satheesh met the 14-member delegation headed by EWA’s chief of Safety & Environment, Qatami Al-Marasi. The delegation was briefed on the safety guidelines and procedures adopted in Alba, and was later given an insight on the company’s operations and state-of-the-art production process involved in producing Alba’s high-grade aluminium products and presence in international markets. “Alba takes pride in promoting safety as a key priority in all of its operations. This priority is specified in our charter and remains a key focus for developing a safe working environment...
Hundreds of VAL employees demonstrated before the main gate of Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) at Lanjigarh on Wednesday as their future appears to be in the dark. They appealed to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to save the industry from closure. On the one hand, the stiff opposition by the tribal community and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s commitment to save the Dongria and Jharnia Kondh tribals’ livelihoods by protecting the Niyamgiri hill and on the other hand the uncertain future of the VAL refinery plant due to scarcity of bauxite has put the State Government in trouble in ensuring continuance of the industry in this backward region. Had the Government given a favourable decision earlier for bauxite mining at Niyamgiri, neither the tribals nor the VAL employees would have...
Aluminium output of China in July fell sequentially (-8% m/m), which is further supported by a trend of rising aluminium inventories in China during the July-August period, suggesting that weaker demand has offset the moderation in output, according to CNIA data. Domestic smelter production has been buttressed by Chinese government power subsidies to counteract the pressures on margins from lower SHFE prices, the latest CNIA data showed a modest sequential fall in Aluminium production levels. Output of aluminium in July was recorded at 53.9Ktd (19.7Mty), which represented a 4% m/m decline from June's record production level (56.1Ktd, 20.5Mty). Bauxite imports continued to contract sharply y/y in July, reflecting the impact of Indonesia’s export restrictions. Total imports fell by 62% y/y...
Century Aluminum Co. has notified its power provider that it plans to cease all aluminum production at its Hawesville, Ky., smelter, although a spokeswoman for the company told AMM a shutdown may still be avoided given the right circumstances. In documents filed with Big Rivers Electric Corp. on Aug. 20 and signed by president and chief executive officer Michael Bless, Century said that it "has made a business judgment in good faith to terminate and cease all aluminum smelting at the Hawesville smelter and has no current intention of recommencing smelting operations at the Hawesville smelter.” Earlier this week, Century announced that it had given Big Rivers 12 months’ notice to cancel its power contract (amm.com, Aug. 20). Bless told AMM at the time that the company has every intention...
Continued from Part One. (http://www.alcircle.com/NewsDetails.aspx?center=NC&recId=12612) President of Vedanta Aluminum Ltd, India’s numero uno aluminum producer, Mukesh Kumar, told Reuters that due to the closure of some of the aluminum smelters in the US, the demand had improved marginally. Vedanta Aluminum is part of the billionaire Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta Group, and produces about 40 percent of the South Asian nation’s total output. Indian aluminum exports to South Korea, Japan and China were currently priced at a premium of $223-$230 per ton above the London Metal Exchange (LME) benchmark, lower than the $240-$260 premium from other countries, the news report said. Low costs and availability of better grades of inputs, such as bauxite, give Indian smelters an edge over other...
China and Europe’s weak flash PMI reading for August raised expectations for easing monetary policies in the two regions. Combined with hint of possible QE3 by the US Federal Reserve (Fed), the US dollar extended losses for a fourth straight trading day to 81.221, the lowest for the month. In response, LME aluminum jumped to USD 1,900/mt and broke through resistance at the 60-day moving average during European session. Trading volumes doubled to 16,667 lots, the highest since July 3. However, as investors took profits at high prices, LME aluminum trimmed some early gains at the tail of trading. Finally, LME aluminum ended the day up USD 25/mt or 1.34% at USD 1,895/mt. Latest LME aluminum inventories were up 700 mt to 4,913,050 mt. Investors are generally standing on the sidelines as the...
