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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Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd., the nation’s biggest producer of the lightweight metal, agreed to buy 35.3 percent of Ningxia Electric Power Group Co. for 2.02 billion yuan ($318 million) to increase energy self-sufficiency. The company, known as Chalco, will buy 23.4 percent of Ningxia Power from Bank of China Group Investment Ltd. for 1.35 billion yuan and 11.9% from China Zhongtou Trust for 675 million yuan, according to statements to the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges yesterday. “The proposed acquisition will fulfill the strategic transformation and structural adjustment targets of the company, accelerate industry allocations and improve its energy and resources self-sufficiency,” Chalco said in the statement. Chalco, based in Beijing, is buying coal, iron ore and...
Emirates Aluminium Co., the company building the world’s biggest aluminum smelter in the United Arab Emirates, is seeking to raise $4 billion from loans and bonds to finance expansion, a banker familiar with the plan said. The Abu Dhabi-based company also known as Emal aims to raise $500 million in loans from four export-credit agencies, between $2 billion and $2.5 billion from commercial-bank loans and the remainder by selling bonds, according to the banker, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The amortizing bank loans, to be repaid over 15.5 years, may be both conventional and Islamic, although their relative proportions have yet to be finalized, the banker said. A spokeswoman for Emal, a venture between Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Co. and Dubai...
Russian aluminium tycoon Oleg Deripaska's vehicle Basic Element (BasEl), a longtime investor in agriculture, has decided to start trading grain, aiming to sell direct to world markets instead of through Louis Dreyfus and Glencore. "Basic Element plans to create its own trading structure in order to improve the efficiency of its agribusiness and to get an additional profit," a spokesman for BasEl told Reuters on Monday. Oleg Deripaska is one of Russia's richest men, and is the biggest shareholder of aluminium giant RUSAL, part of which is also owned by Glencore. Deripaska is increasing his focus on agriculture and grain markets at a time when global wheat prices are up more than 40 percent since mid-June after drought hurt crops across the globe and have fanned fears of a global food...
The aluminum 3-month price saw the largest upwards shift on MetalMiner’s weekly Aluminum MMI, rising 1.6 percent on the LME to settle at $1,907 per metric ton. The cash price of primary aluminum shifted up 1.5 percent on the LME to close at $1,872 per metric ton this week. The Indian aluminum cash price rose 1.4 percent after falling 2.7 percent during the previous week. Chinese aluminum prices were mixed for the week. The cash price of Chinese aluminum settled after shifting up of 0.4 percent. Chinese aluminum billet rose by a slight 0.3 percent. Following a steady week, prices for Chinese aluminum bar closed flat at north of $2,200 per metric ton. Korean 3003 coil premium over 1050 sheet traded sideways last week. The price of Korean 5052 coil premium over 1050 sheet also did not change...
Rio Tinto Alcan has no immediate plans to lift a force majeure on primary aluminum shipments to customers in the Asia Pacific, spokesman Bryan Tucker said late Monday, although quality problems at the Sohar Aluminium joint venture smelter has been brought under control. The smelter is turning out 100% on-spec material, and currently running its 365,000 mt/year facility at full capacity, Sohar spokeswoman Lisa Christowitz told Platts at the weekend. Rio Tinto Alcan on July 19 declared force majeure on supplies of P1020 standard 99.7% aluminum ingot to all customers in Asia, citing quality issues at Sohar. According to sources, Rio Tinto Alcan explained in a letter to customers that the breakdown of certain critical plant equipment had made it difficult for Sohar to control deviations in...
According to the data of China Custom that China imported 460 thousand tons of alumina in July 2012, from January to July imported 2,930 thousand tons totally increased 172.0% yoy. The import volume of unwrought aluminum and aluminum products was 97,651 tons, from January to July imported 711,363 tons increased 34.0% yoy. As to the aluminum scrap has imported 230 thousand tons in July, 1460 thousand tons from January to July totally, decreased 1.2% yoy. At the same time, China exported 54,051 tons of unwrought aluminum in July, totally 396,158 tons from January to July also decreased 8.0% yoy.
The federal opposition says the carbon tax is partly responsible for 90 job losses at Australia's largest aluminium smelter in Queensland. Opposition industry spokeswoman Sophie Mirabella says an organisation restructure, as well as a blow-out in operating costs, taxes and over-regulation has hit Boyne Smelters hard. "With the industry operating on such small profit margins, it's no surprise that the added expense of the carbon tax is the last straw for many businesses," she said in a statement. Boyne Smelters, near Gladstone in central Queensland, has a production capacity of 545,000 tonnes of aluminium per year and employs 1500 people. It is 59 per cent owned by Rio Tinto. It is the second Rio Tinto project in Queensland revealed as being under pressure in a week. Rio Tinto announced...
Most Asian equities traded lower on Monday as the result of a dearth of major global data points over the weekend. On Chinese exchanges, Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH, quote) was no exception, leading shares in Hong Kong (EWH, quote) downwards. Both Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese indices (FXI, quote) traded lower on Monday. The Shanghai Composite was the biggest mover to the downside, falling almost a percent. Hong Kong followed its norther neighbor’s lead, dropping a third of a percent. Chinese exchanges were adversely affected due to the lack of news over the weekend; traders were hoping that Beijing would announce new plans to stimulate the economy. However with the government not announcing any new measures, many stocks performed poorly. ACH was one such stock. Its poor performance...
National Aluminium Company (NALCO) is set to declare its results for the quarter ended June 2012 on Tuesday. Analysts on an average expect the profit after tax to fall by 38% year-on-year and 17% quarter-on-quarter to Rs 234.3 crore. Net sales are expected to be flat at Rs 1,740 crore during the quarter as against Rs 1,733 crore in a year ago period and Rs 1,753.4 crore in the previous quarter. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) are seen gong down by 39% YoY to Rs 304.3 crore, but quarter-on-quarter the same is likely to rise by 10%. EBITDA margin is expected to be at 17.5% as against 28.9% in the corresponding quarter of last fiscal and 15.7% in the previous quarter. In the fourth quarter of financial year 2011-12, the profit after tax had included more...
Chalco’s $925-million (U.S.) offer for a 60 per cent stake in SouthGobi in April produced an unfriendly response: a new investment law limiting foreign companies to 49 per cent ownership of mines. More insidiously, Mongolia has dragged its feet over renewing some of SouthGobi’s licences, scaring away customers and squashing production. SouthGobi’s shares now trade at less than half the value of Chalco’s April approach, which stands until September. Mongolia has picked some hefty targets. Rio Tinto indirectly holds a controlling stake in SouthGobi, through its controlling position in Toronto-listed Turquoise Hill. China Investment Corp. also owns 13 per cent of SouthGobi, bought at around the level of Chinalco’s bid. Mongolia’s protectionism looks short-sighted, but its opponents are...
The slowing global economy dashed hopes for consumption growth. Coupled with stronger risk aversion overnight, LME aluminum extended losses for a fourth straight trading day and dipped to a low of USD 1,855/mt. Total positions were up 4,345 lots to 711,584 lots. As shorts dominated, LME aluminum was deprived of any rising momentum at the tail of trading. Finally, LME aluminum ended the day down USD 20.5/mt or 1.09% to a near intraday low of USD 1,856.5/mt. Latest LME aluminum inventories were up 6,775 mt to 4,867,725 mt. Aluminum prices are facing downward risks due to a lack of positive news. LME aluminum should continue to test support at USD 1,850/mt and move between USD 1,845-1,875/mt on Tuesday. The most active SHFE 1211 aluminum contract is expected to open lower at near RMB...
Rio Tinto Alcan has offered more flexible licensing terms for rivals to end an antitrust investigation and avert a possible fine, EU regulators said on Friday as they sought feedback from competitors on the proposals. The European Commission said it had been investigating the issue following a 2008 merger which created Rio Tinto Alcan, a unit of Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto. The EU antitrust watchdog said it was concerned Rio Tinto Alcan's practice of contractually tying the licences of its AP aluminium smelting technology to the purchase of aluminium smelter equipment supplied by a subsidiary may have breached EU rules. AP aluminium smelting technology reduces energy consumption in aluminium production. "To address these concerns, Rio Tinto Alcan offered to modify its AP...
China's exports of finished aluminium products are expected to rise in August, slightly boosting aluminium ingot demand. But this should not be taken as a sign that global aluminium demand has picked up as these exporters are selling at thin and sometimes even negative profit margins due to the unfavourable price arbitrage, consultancy Shanghai Metals Market said in a recent note. Chinese aluminium foil producers are selling into the Middle East and North America markets to avoid a complete shutdown of their plants. "This will cause production of aluminium foil to spike in August," SMM added.
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has arranged a €45 million financing package for the Alutech Group, the largest private manufacturer of aluminum products in Belarus, to support the company’s growth and expansion of exports. IFC provided a €25 million loan from its own account and mobilized another €20 million from Priorbank, a leading commercial bank in Belarus and a member of RZB Group. This is IFC’s second investment in Alutech. “We are facing a growing regional market and opportunities in Europe,” said Alexei Zhukov, general director of the Alutech Group. “IFC’s financing will help us finance construction of a new production plant, consolidate positions in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, and expand into new markets.” Alutech aluminum products are widely used in industrial,...
Contact Energy is expected to report a pickup in underlying earnings, but faces headwinds from state asset sales and Meridian's contract negotiations with the Tiwai aluminium smelter. New Zealand's largest private sector electricity company, Contact is due to report results for the year to June 30 tomorrow. Forsyth Barr analyst Andrew Harvey-Green has forecast that the Wellington-headquartered company will report earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) of $496.4 million, an increase of 12.5 per cent on the previous year. Craigs Investment Partners head of research Grant Swanepoel has even stronger forecasts, predicting ebitda of about $511m. With Contact reporting an increase in first-half underlying earnings of just 2.4 per cent, the forecast implies an...
State mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) says it is looking for around US$650 million in bank loans to finance part of the construction of a smelter-grade alumina (SGA) plant in Mempawah, West Kalimantan, Jakarta Post reported. Antam president director Alwin Syah Lubis said in Jakarta on Thursday that the firm and partner Hangzhou Jinjiang of China would need at least $1 billion to finance the project, 65 percent of which would be funded externally, while 35 percent would come from internal funds. “We are conducting a feasibility study and hope it can be completed by the end of the year. Hopefully, we can start to look for funding next year,” he said during a gathering to break the Ramadhan fast. Alwin said the smelter would produce 1.2 million tons of alumina a year when complete....
State-owned Meridian Energy won't "take one for the team" and accept non-commercial terms for electricity to keep the Rio Tinto-controlled Tiwai Point aluminium smelter open, says chief executive Mark Binns. He described as "a concern" the London-listed multinational metals firm's desire to renegotiate electricity contracts representing about one-seventh of all the electricity consumed in the country. But he dismissed "indications in the press that Meridian will 'take one for the team." "I would reiterate that the board and management are very clear on what their obligations are" under the Companies Act to make decisions "in the best interests of the company." The issue has the capacity to delay the planned partial privatisation of Meridian, expected next year, because the smelter...
The decline of China’s trade and loans data for July as well as the US Import Price Index increased market concerns over the slowdown of the global economy. In response, total positions of LME aluminum surged 8,402 lots due to short selling. LME aluminum slipped below all moving averages to a low of USD 1,872/mt. Finally, LME aluminum shed USD 22.8/mt or 1.20% to close at USD 1,877/mt due to a lack of rising momentum. Latest LME aluminum inventories were down 2,250 mt to 4,860,950 mt. Aluminum prices are under pressure from worries over the slowing global economy. LME aluminum should struggle at the 10-day moving average and move between USD 1,860-1,895/mt on Monday. The most active SHFE 1211 aluminum contract is expected to open at near RMB 15,385/mt on Monday and resistance at RMB...
