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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Large-scale reverse repos by the People’s Bank of China on Tuesday raised expectations for more easing policies. Besides, expectations for stimulus policies from the ECB and Fed also helped boost market confidence. As a result, the US dollar index dropped below 82, adding momentum for commodities to rebound. LME aluminum broke through the 10-day and 20-day moving average to a high of USD 1,878.8/mt during European session. However, as investors stayed guarded, trading volumes were less than 10,000 lots and LME aluminum failed to hold onto the 20-day moving average at the tail of trading. Finally, LME aluminum ended the day up USD 29.8/mt or 1.62% at USD 1,868.8/mt. Latest LME aluminum inventories were down 4,225 mt to 4,909,950 mt. With markets awaiting more positive news, cautiousness...
The state Consumer Advocate Division has created a counter-proposal to Century Aluminum's special power rate request that it says will protect customers from higher rates. Division director Byron Harris said he's dubbed the proposal, filed with the state Public Service Commission Monday, the "do no additional harm" plan. Century is asking the PSC to approve a special power rate for its Ravenswood plant, which shut down in 2009 after aluminum prices plummeted. The company says current power prices are too high to make the Ravenswood plant a viable operation. Harris said the Consumer Advocate Division's plan was inspired in part by testimony from Century retiree spokeswoman Karen Gorrell. She testified on the final day of hearings before the PSC last month. Gorrell and other retirees need...
Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), which feeds the captive power plant (CPP) of National Aluminium Company (Nalco) here, has blamed the aluminum major for its failure to ensure regular supply of rakes to lift coal and maintain adequate stock during the lean monsoon season. MCL said, it had sent repeated reminders to Nalco to ensure continuous lifting of coal as coal mining and despatch becomes a tough task during the rainy season. According to an MCL release, the coal company has put in place an early alarm procedure for its consumers wherein it provides information beforehand about situations and remedial measures thereof, so that the Fuel Supply Agreement (FSA) commitments are fulfilled. The coal company also claimed to have enough coal at its pit heads and sidings to meet the...
Reuters reported that Chinese manufacturing plants and merchants have increased purchases of spot primary aluminium in Asia to take advantage of London Metal Exchange prices that are down more than a fifth from their year highs. Traders said that the spike in buying by the world's top aluminium consumer comes despite premiums for spot metal over LME prices rising by a quarter since late May and could help prop up LME prices.
Nirmal Bang is bearish on National Aluminium Company (NALCO) and has recommended sell rating on the stock with a target of Rs 49 in its August 16, 2012 research report. “National Aluminium Company (NALCO) reported stable 1QFY13 results, with EBITDA being 6% and 3% above our/consensus estimates and PAT 16% and 1% above our/consensus estimates, respectively. Revenue was 4% and 3% above our/consensus estimates, respectively, implying higher volume compared to our/street assumptions. We retain our Sell rating and earnings estimates for NALCO while also maintaining our target price at Rs49.” “NALCO posted 51% and 41% YoY drop in EBITDA and PAT, respectively, primarily driven by lower aluminium prices and higher costs. LME aluminium price in rupee terms corrected 8% YoY during 1QFY13. The...
The week’s biggest mover on the weekly Aluminum MMI was the aluminum cash price, which saw a 3.7 percent decline on the LME to $1,803 per metric ton. This comes on the heels of a 1.5 percent increase the week before. The aluminum 3-month price fell 3.3 percent on the LME to $1,845 per metric ton after rising 1.6 percent the week before. Following a 1.4 percent increase in the week prior, the cash price of primary Indian aluminum fell 2.5 percent last week. Chinese aluminum prices were mixed for the week. The Chinese aluminum cash price fell 0.7 percent after rising 0.4 percent the week before. Following a 0.3 percent increase in the week prior, the price of Chinese aluminum billet fell 0.6 percent last week. Prices for Chinese aluminum bar remained constant, closing the week above $2,200...
Japanese aluminum buyers are expecting fourth quarter premiums to rise to record-high levels despite slowing demand, sources said Friday ahead of the negotiations from next week. The highest quarterly premium recorded at least since since September 2000 was $200-210/mt plus LME cash CIF Japan for Q3. And Japanese buyers see Q4 premiums rising from Q3 as spot premiums have risen to $250/mt on the back of tight supply. Meanwhile, Japanese aluminum end-user sources said that demand, with the exception of the housing sector, was slowing due to the winding down of the Japanese car purchase subsidy program and the weaker European and Chinese economies hitting machinery exports. Platts spot Japan import premiums have been at $250/mt plus London Metal Exchange cash CIF Japan since July 25,...
The future of the Tiwai Point smelter is being questioned as falling global aluminium prices and the high New Zealand dollar eat into profits. New Zealand Aluminium Smelters says 100 jobs will be cut in the coming few years and renegotiating the company's electricity deal with Meridian Energy is now crucial. Peneral manager Ryan Cavanagh says the cost of the electricity will go up in January and that will put more strain on an already deteriorating situation. The smelter made a loss of $20 million last year. Meridian Energy won't guarantee a new deal, saying it has an obligation to its own shareholders. But Venture Southland says Meridian may have no option, because the Manapouri power station will be left stranded if the smelter closes.
RUSAL, Russian Aluminum giant and operator of the Aluminum Smelter Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) stands the risk of incurring a financial loss of about $500m if a recent Supreme Court judgement declaring Bancorp Financial Group BFI as preferred bidder for ALSCON, Ikot Abasi Akwa Ibom State is implemented. In the course of the bid in 2004, BFI Group was declared preferred bidder with a total offer of $410m but was disqualified by the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) for failing to pay the stipulated 10 per cent of its proposed bid price. Two years later, United Company RUSAL (UC RUSAL) bought over ALSCON as highest bidder. This action led to BFI Group dragging BPE and RUSAL to court with the Supreme Court ruling in their favour. Sources in ALSCON told The Guardian: “For Nigeria,...
The delayed loose monetary policy by the People’s Bank of China, fall of Shanghai Composite Index below 2,100 points as well as renewed worries over the European debt crisis due to rising bad loans of Spanish banks, dampened investors’ confidence. In response, LME aluminum opened lower overnight and slipped to a low of USD 1,830/mt during the European trading session, with strong resistance at the 5-day moving average. Thin trading was reported, with trading volumes only 7,531 lots. Finally, LME aluminum ended the day down USD 18/mt or 0.97% at USD 1,839/mt. Latest LME aluminum inventories were down 5,750 mt to 4,914,175 mt. Weak global economy and bearish fundamentals will weigh heavily on aluminum prices. LME aluminum should edge down to test support at USD 1,820/mt and move between USD...
Century Aluminum has issued a 12-month notice to terminate its power contract with Big Rivers Electric Corporation for its Hawesville, Ky., smelter, citing unsustainably high power prices. Chief Executive Michael Bless noted the smelter "is competitive on the global market in every category other than the price we pay for electric power, which is among the highest such rates for smelters in the U.S." Mr. Bless added the smelter isn't economically viable under the current power rate and market conditions. "We need a power price that is reflective of the market, helps the plant weather these turbulent economic conditions and allows the plant to be competitive over the long term," he said. During the 12-month notice period, Century is required to pay a demand charge for power, but is not...
National Aluminium Company Ltd has cancelled the coal linkage plan for its captive power plant in Indonesia. The unit was to power the proposed $4-billion, half a million tonne per annum aluminium smelter in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province. Nalco recently communicated the decision to Middle East Coal (MEC), which was to supply five million tonnes of thermal coal a year to run a 1,250-MW plant. Other options “In the past 18 months, MEC failed to formalise the supply agreement,” B. L. Bagra, Nalco’s Chairman and Managing Director, told Business Line. Nalco’s board will now consider other options, including acquisition of a coal mine in Indonesia. “Coal-fired power is the key to the proposed energy-intensive smelter project. There are various options, such as finding another supplier or...
India's aluminium exports could rise 5 percent in the current fiscal year to 325,000 tonnes, despite a slowdown in global demand, a senior industry official said, as falling prices have led rival global producers to cut production. Declining aluminium prices have forced major players such as Alcoa and Norsk Hydro to cut output and have prompted China, the world's largest consumer of the metal, and Japan to ramp up purchases. "Due to the sudden closure of some of the smelters in the U.S.A., the export demand has slightly improved," Mukesh Kumar, president of Vedanta Aluminium Ltd, India's largest aluminium producer, said in an interview. Vedanta Aluminium, a part of billionaire Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta Group, produces about 40 percent of the South Asian nation's total output. India...
Century Aluminum Company, located in the small town of Ravenswood, West Virginia, has announced it will decide in September whether to reopen its smelting plant, restoring health insurance benefits to retirees. Retirees, including men and women in their 60s, 70s, even 80s, began occupying a median strip along Route 33 in front of the closed Century Aluminum smelter plant December 18 last year after Century cancelled their health insurance. The retirees, who were members of the United Steelworkers union, accepted lower wages than those of other industry workers in exchange for lifelong high-quality health coverage—a necessity in an industry fraught with danger, grueling physical labor, and long-term health risks. Once the plant closed in February of 2009, the retirees’ health benefits were...
National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has decided to put its proposed smelter-cum-thermal power project in Indonesia on hold. The country's largest state owned aluminium company has been pursuing plans to invest nearly Rs 16,000 crore set up a aluminium smelter in Indonesia. The company had planns to set up a 0.5 million tonnes per annum capacity aluminium smelter in East Kalimantan area of Indonesia and also has plans to set up a 1,250 MW coal fired captive power plant to feed the smelter. The company had identified a coal mining company to source coal on a long term basis, through competitive bidding and after conducting a due diligence. Nalco's plan in Indonesia was driven by availability of good quality coal at an economic price. However the project has been facing problems and has got...
Hydro is stopping the use of cold metal as the base for aluminum products at its plant in Ardal, Norway, while continuing with finished products based on primary production. One of the two casthouses in Ardal will be closed. “Ardal’s two casthouses that produce sheet ingots and foundry alloys (PFA) are using remelting of cold metal to fill capacity. While we have previously earned money on remelting, we now in practice have to pay in order to fill the capacity of both foundries,” says Olaf Wigstøl, head of Hydro’s wholly owned smelters. By stopping unprofitable remelting activity in Ardal, the sheet ingot casthouse can handle all liquid metal from the primary production there. It will then no longer be a need to maintain the PFA casting operation. As Hydro reported, about 60 positions are...
Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., also known as Chalco, said Friday it swung to a net loss for the first half of the year, as falling aluminum prices, a slowing domestic economy and higher expenses took their toll. The unaudited result, included in an interim earnings briefing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange ahead of the formal release of the company's first-half figures on Aug. 24, bodes ill for Chalco's full-year outlook as it confronts oversupply and weak overall economic growth. "At current aluminum prices, the profit for the second half is unlikely to be materially better than the first half," Barclays Research said in a note Friday. London Metal Exchange three-month aluminum futures are down 22.6% from their peak this year in March. Domestic prices have shed 10.4% since the start of the...
The global aluminum market was in surplus by 381,000 metric tons in the first six months of the year, the World Bureau of Metal Statistics said Wednesday. This compares with a surplus of 1.798 million tons in the whole of 2011. Global demand for primary aluminum in the first six months of 2012 rose 4%, compared with the year-earlier period, the WBMS said, without citing a specific figure. Production, meanwhile rose 3.27%, it said. Global demand in June was 3.840 million tons, while primary aluminum production was 3.836 million tons.
