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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Century Aluminum officials want Big Rivers Electric Corporation to file new rates with the Kentucky Public Service Commission that would provide them with a lower rate, and they want Big Rivers to use $150 million in reserve funds to offset the impact the cost-shifting would have on the utility's 112,000 customers. The Monterey, Calif.-based company said again this week that without a more fair power rate, its Hawesville smelter can't survive under current market conditions. Century and Big Rivers have been in discussions to find a solution for the Hawesville aluminum smelter's reported financial crisis given the low market selling price for aluminum and the high cost the company pays for electric power. Century also provided more answers in its communications Monday regarding how the...
Poised for a big leap in its diversification plan, aluminium giant NALCO is all set to invest around Rs 40,000 crore to make a foray into energy sector besides implementing a host of new projects and expansion works. "The company has taken up several greenfield projects. As part of this drive, plans are afoot to set up a new smelter in Western Odisha with an investment of about Rs 16,000 crore," NALCO CMD B L Bagra said. The project is now being pursued with the Odisha government by the Navaratna PSU, he said Turning to the aluminium major's diversification plans, Bagra said in energy sector, the company has formed a Joint Venture with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) to set up nuclear power plants in India. Both the partners have selected Kakrapar Units 3 and 4 of 700 MW...
The US economic data was mixed overnight. Building permits in the US jumped to four-year high in July and Philadelphia Federal manufacturing activity narrowed contraction in August compared with July, easing market risk aversion. German Chancellor Merkel’s promise to support the euro later in the day helped the euro to stage a strong rebound. In response, the US dollar index was under pressure, helping commodities rally. LME aluminum fluctuated during European trading session and slipped to a low of USD 1,827.3/mt, hitting the lowest for the year and also the lowest since October 2009. LME aluminum recovered early losses due to improved mood at the tail of trading. Finally, LME aluminum closed at an intraday high of USD 1,852/mt, up USD 12.3/mt or 0.67%. Latest LME aluminum inventories...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba)’s backing for initiatives that enable the next generation of Bahrain’s business leaders to realise their potential was praised during a recently held inJAz Bahrain’s Appreciation Lunch at the Bahrain Conference Centre, Crown Plaza Hotel. The event brought together more than 600 volunteers from across various supporting establishments during which their efforts were recognised and appreciated. Alba’s Chief Executive, Laurent Schmitt met Alba’s volunteers on the 13th of August at his office in the Alba plant, and praised them for being part of a movement that’s preparing Bahrain’s young people in acquiring skills to succeed in the work environment as well as learn how to make a mark in the global economy. Also present at the gathering was Rawdha Alaradi, Head...
China's XinRen Aluminum Holdings Wednesday posted a net profit of Yuan 4.9 million ($771,872) for the second quarter of 2012 ended June 30, which represented a sharp fall of 96.8% from the profit of Yuan 150.7 million recorded for Q2 2011. For the first half of the year, however, the company posted a net loss of Yuan 5.3 million, compared with a profit of Yuan 263.5 million achieved the year before. "It has been an extremely difficult six months for upstream aluminum producers in China because of weak product prices worldwide, lower volume sales and rising costs, especially for electricity," XinRen Executive Chairman Zeng Chaoyi said. Revenue in Q2 dropped 8.6% from a year ago to Yuan 1.72 billion, with revenue in H1 also down 18.4% to Yuan 3.16 billion from H1 2011. The decrease in...
The Indian aluminum cash price saw the biggest decline of the day, dropping 0.6 percent on Aug. 14, 2012. On the LME, the 3-month price of aluminum fell 0.6 percent to $1,866 per metric ton. Also on the LME, the primary aluminum cash price declined 0.6 percent to $1,823 per metric ton. Meanwhile, Chinese aluminum closed mixed on Tuesday. The cash price of Chinese aluminum saw a 0.2 percent decline, while the price of Chinese aluminum scrap continues hovering above $2,000 per metric ton for the fifth day in a row. Chinese aluminum billet held its value on Tuesday, and the price of Chinese aluminum bar saw essentially no change for the fifth day in a row, holding north of $2,200 per metric ton.
Severe coal shortage has forced the authorities of National Alumunium company (Nalco) to shut down two 120 MW units of its captive power plant (CPP), hitting the aluminium output in the process. Nalco’s CPP has 10 units of 120 Mw each. Faced with sharp drop of power generation in its captive power plant, Nalco officials are regulating power supply to its smelter plant here. This led to a daily aluminium output loss of loss with the smelter now producing about 1,150 tonnes per day against the normal average of 1,250 tonnes. Given the crisis situation, Nalco authorities are importing about 150 to 200 Mw of power from Grid Corporation of Odisha (Gridco) to meet the exigencies. “As against the linkage demand of 11,200 tonne of coal per day in the monsoon season, we have been getting an...
It seems that Narendra Modi’s Gujarat will never be tired of its position as an investment hotspot as the western state, after attracting almost all the major public sector undertakings (PSU), is all set to get aluminium giant Nalco’s projects on it soil soon. The Odisha-based National Aluminium company (Nalco) has already lined up two multi crore projects in Gujarat as part of its business expansion programme. While the Rs 4,500 crore aluminium refinery project is soon to get a green signal (a detailed project report is being prepared), work is on to construct two units (each capable of producing 700 MW) of the proposed nuclear power plant at a cost of Rs 11,500. The latter project, to be completed in collaboration with Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCI), is scheduled to be...
Valuations of mining assets are well down from recent peaks, but don’t expect Rio Tinto to be out and about among the bottom fishers. Analysts who sat down with Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese at a roundtable this week came away with the impression that the Anglo-Australian miner is keeping its purse strings closed–at least for now. “M&A would appear to be well off the agenda at the moment driven by constraint on capital and lack of opportunities that would meet Rio’s asset quality hurdles,” Citi analyst Clarke Wilkins said in a note to clients. J.P.Morgan analyst Lyndon Fagan noted Rio had changed its tune from a previously stated near-term aim of focusing on medium-sized bolt-on acquisitions. “The CEO noted today the focus is now on organic growth,” Mr. Fagan said, reiterating Rio’s...
Boyne Smelter Limited (BSL) yesterday announced it would cut 90 leadership and support jobs from its 1,200-strong workforce. It comes as another blow to the Australian aluminium industry and its employees. "The blow-out in operating costs, taxes and over-regulation is hitting the aluminium industry hard at a time when global economic decline is already sending many businesses to the wall," said Sophie Mirabella, Shadow Minister for Industry, today. Federal Member for Flynn, Ken O'Dowd MP, has directed his outrage at the Federal Government after the announcement today of the organisational restructure at Boyne Smelters. "I am saddened to hear of the announcement from Boyne Smelters Ltd today which is certainly a sign of the times for the aluminium industry in Australia. We have known for a...
Aluminum company shares are poised to return more than the metal they make as financial contracts mask a glut by limiting supplies and raising costs for buyers. United Co. Rusal, the biggest producer, will climb 29 percent in Hong Kong trading and Oslo-based Norsk Hydro ASA, 27 percent, the average of as many as 18 analyst estimates shows. The projected 22 percent gain for Alcoa Inc., the largest in the U.S., would extend this year’s 0.5 percent advance, compared with aluminum’s 8.6 percent drop. The metal will gain 20 percent to $2,200 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange in 12 months, the median of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Production of 45 million tons this year will exceed consumption of 44.6 million tons, while another 11.4 million is currently stored in warehouses,...
Premiums paid for aluminum in Europe and North America are set to extend gains to records in 12 months as financing transactions tying up inventories keep buyers waiting as long as a year for deliveries. The fee in Rotterdam, excluding duties, will rise 17 percent to about $240 a metric ton on top of the price of aluminum for immediate delivery on the London Metal Exchange, according to the median estimate of 11 traders and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The U.S. Midwest premium will climb 20 percent to about 13 cents a pound ($287 a ton). “Metal has been withdrawn from the physical market into warehouse financing,” said Lloyd O’Carroll, an analyst at Davenport & Co. in Richmond, Virginia, who has tracked the market for three decades. “We should expect more metal to go into...
Aluminium company Alcoa said on Wednesday it will sell land and other assets at its Rockdale, Texas plant to the Lower Colorado River Authority, a nonprofit public utility and conservation body. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Alcoa said it will retain ownership of its smelter and aluminium powder operations in Rockdale. The agreement includes about 34 000 acres of property, surface and groundwater rights, common plant and equipment assets, and Alcoa's power contracts with Luminant, the company said. Alcoa temporarily curtailed smelting operations at Rockdale in 2008, when the recession hit demand for aluminum, and it permanently closed two of the six manufacturing lines in January, 2012. The site currently employs about 70 people. The Lower Colorado River Authority was created...
It is expected that the state-owned Aluminium Corp of China Ltd, or Chalco, will drop its takeover bid for Mongolia’s coal-producer SouthGobi Resources Ltd due to fierce resistance from the Mongolian government. In April of this year, Chalco offered $926 million for a 60 percent stake in SouthGobi. Almost immediately, however, the Mongolian government reacted by introducing a new investment law that limits foreign companies from owning more than 49 percent of companies involved in mining, finance, media and telecommunications sectors. In an even more aggressive stance, the Mongolian government has delayed the renewing of some of SouthGobi’s license, scaring away customers and squashing production. This has stalled Chalco’s takeover bid to the extent that it is expected it will be dropped....
National Aluminium Company (Nalco), on Tuesday, said it was investing Rs.7,500 crore as part of third phase brownfield expansion at its existing facilities in Odisha. Addressing the 31st annual meeting of the company, Nalco Chairman and Managing Director B. L. Bagra said, “Detailed project report (DPR) for adding one more stream in the existing alumina refinery is being prepared. The capacity of the stream will be enhanced to one million tonnes per annum (mtpa) with an investment of around Rs.4,000 crore.” Present upgradation of fourth stream of the company’s alumina refinery at Damanjodi in Odisha’s Koraput district, involving an investment of Rs.409 crore, would take its capacity from 21 lakh tonnes to 22.75 lakh tonnes per annum while that of bauxite mines from 6.3 million tonnes to...
State regulators have delayed the timeline for deciding whether to approve a special electricity rate for Century Aluminum's Jackson County plant. Appalachian Power and several other parties told the Public Service Commission that they need more time to file additional briefs. They say they haven't yet received transcripts of recent hearings in the case. The Charleston Daily Mail says the PSC granted their request last week. The commission extended the deadline for filing briefs by about a week. Century Aluminum says it needs to reduce the plant's electricity costs so that it can restart the operation. The Ravenswood plant closed in 2009 and about 650 workers lost their jobs. Century officials say they expect the PSC to issue a decision in mid-September.
Aluminium demand in India, Asia's third largest economy, is likely to grow 7-8 percent annually, a senior official of the country's third largest aluminium maker said on Tuesday. "The major drivers for this growth would be from power transmission, construction and automobile sectors," B L Bagra, chairman of the state-run National Aluminium Co (NALCO) , said while addressing the company's annual general meeting. However, the aluminium industry, being cyclical in nature, is passing through a phase of low global growth and subdued prices which could put pressures on margins, he added.
A complete shutdown of Ormet Corp.'s Hannibal Primary Aluminum Reduction Plant would leave 1,000 employees out of work, a situation Tom Byers said he is doing everything he can to avoid. However, Ormet officials noted they may have to lay off the workers because of metal market pressures and rising American Electric Power rates. The federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice Ormet filed last month states the first round of job cuts will take place by Sept. 18, with the remainder to occur by the end of the year. Company President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Tanchuk said the initial labor reduction will only impact 30-50 workers, but he said the company may have to shut down the plant because of poor market conditions and increased power costs. "There are meetings...
