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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JPMorgan Chase increased their price target on shares of Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ: CENX) from $6.00 to $7.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday. The analysts wrote, “Century continues to successfully turn around its two domestic smelters and for the second quarter in a row, we lift our earnings estimates and price target to reflect moderating operating cost pressures. The company should also continue to realize robust Midwest premiums as low interest rates, long warehouse queues, and strong demand keep physical markets tight. However, Century needs to restructure its domestic power contracts to achieve sustained profitability. While management obtained some power relief at Mt. Holly and extended negotiations one year, Hawesville is presently cash cost negative while the...
The casthouse and its associated departments of Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) have been re-certified to the ISO 9001:2008 standard by the Bahrain-based Bureau Veritas certifying body. The company's latest certification remains in place until 2015 and embraces procurement and warehousing, casthouse maintenance and instrumentation, metallurgy, customer technical assistance and marketing. Laurent Schmitt, Alba's CEO, said that the company remains focused on quality across its entire operation. ISO certification, said Schmitt, is a global benchmark that enables the company to measure its performance and develop action plans for the business to be continually recognised for the quality of its products. Alba was first upgraded to ISO 9001: 2008 in June 2009.
An ECB official expressed support for the European Stability Mechanism to get a banking license so as to borrow from the European Central Bank to help solve the region’s debt crisis. This pushed the euro to the 5-day moving average and LME aluminum to a high of USD 1,893/mt. The disappointing and unexpected 8.4% drop in new home sales in June in the United States, however, caused the light metal to shed some gains before closing at USD 1,882/mt, up USD 15.5/mt or 0.83%. Latest LME aluminum stocks were down 4,725 mt at 4,840,675 mt. The EU approval of Spain’s recapitalizing plan for its banks has helped ease worries toward European debt. Aluminum’s upside space is still limited, however. LME aluminum is expected to move narrowly within USD 1,860-1,890/mt as it struggles at the 5-day moving...
SmarTrend recommended three companies in the Aluminum industry with the lowest forward price to earnings (P/E) ratios. Forward P/E uses estimated earnings to compare relative value among companies in the same industry. Generally, the lower the forward P/E, the more undervalued a company is believed to be. Noranda Aluminum ranks lowest with a forward P/E ratio of 7.31. Following is Alcoa with a a forward P/E ratio of 10.51. Alumina ranks third lowest with a a forward P/E ratio of 12.56. Century Aluminum follows with a a forward P/E ratio of 12.62, and Kaiser Aluminum rounds out the bottom five with a a forward P/E ratio of 12.62.
Aluminium prices may have further to fall as sentiment continues to become more bearish on the eurozone debt crisis and slower economic growth in the US, Sucden said in its quarterly metals report Wednesday. The brokerage said that there were a lot of "cross currents" affecting the aluminium market in the second quarter that looked likely to remain in place over the third quarter. A combination of weak macro data, high production levels, oversupply, potential raw material tightness, lower consumption and high LME stocks have all contributed toward a contradictory market. However, Sucden said that looking further forward the market could come back into balance. "With benchmark LME aluminium prices falling, it may be that more production cuts follow, which could start to reduce some of the...
Dubai Aluminium (Dubal), the state-owned aluminium producer, is forging ahead with the implementation of energy-saving initiatives in line with Dubai's Integrated Energy Strategy 2030. Between April and December 2011, Dubal saved 6.9M kWh and a further 4.4M kWh from January to June 2012. Over a 15-month period, the company reduced its carbon emissions by 5,701 metric tonnes., saving a total of 11.4M kWh. In 2011, potline energy consumption was 14.71MWh/tonne aluminium, a saving of 110,000MWh when compared to 2010's 14.82MWh/tonne aluminium. The energy-conscious culture of the company has lowered power consumption and reduced levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Tayeb Al Awadhi, vice president of power and desalination, said that reducing Dubal's power consumption was crucial to remaining...
Live testimony in the evidentiary hearing that begins on Mon., July 30, in the Century Aluminum electricity rate case before the Public Service Commission of West Virginia may be less restrained than the written direct testimony that has been filed so far. "Prefiled testimony is generally gone over very carefully by lawyers and sanitized," said Jackson Kelly lawyer Christopher Callas, who is not involved in the Century case but has long experience with utility filings before the commission. "Once you get a witness on the stand, if there's some pressing examination by one of the lawyers or the commissioners you'll get some perhaps more frank views expressed," Callas said. Century has proposed that, before it commits to re-opening its Ravenswood aluminum smelter, other Appalachian Power...
National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) has stumbled on a coal linkage hurdle for its proposed 0.5-mpta aluminium smelter project in Indonesia. Nalco, which is banking on local coal supply to run a planned 1,250-MW captive plant to power its smelter, has not been able to wrap up the deal in the past year. “Even after completing an elaborate due diligence exercise and selection from among the expressions of interest, things could not move as the chosen supplier developed problems of its own”, a Mines Ministry source told Business Line. Mr B.L. Bagra, Nalco CMD, admitted the delay in clinching the agreement, but declined to elaborate. Sources said the selected Middle East Coal (MEC), which holds the concession containing the JORC-compliant 1.5 billion tonnes of resources, could not achieve...
South Korea purchased 6,000 tonnes of aluminium for arrivals by Sept. 30 via tenders on July 24, the state-run Public Procurement Service said on its website (www.g2b.go.kr). Details of the purchases are as follows: TONNE SUPPLIER PREMIUM(CIF/T) ORIGIN 3,000 Gerald Metals Inc $238 Western 3,000 Glencore International AG $230 Non-Western **Note: The above premiums were made over London Metal Exchange (LME) prices.
Dropping two percent, the Indian aluminum cash price was the biggest mover on July 23, 2012, on MetalMiner’s daily aluminum price index. The 3-month price of aluminum weakened by 1.1 percent on the LME, settling at $1,913 per metric ton. On the LME, the primary aluminum cash price declined 0.8 percent to $1,894 per metric ton. Chinese aluminum closed mixed yesterday. The Chinese aluminum cash price saw a 0.8 percent decline. Monday saw the price of Chinese aluminum scrap drift down 0.8 percent after three quiet days. Chinese aluminum billet stayed flat below $2,500 per metric ton. The price of Chinese aluminum bar saw little movement, holding just above $2,200 per metric ton.
Century Aluminum Co swung to a second-quarter loss as lower aluminum prices offset rise in shipments. Net loss was $12.3 million, or 14 cents a share, compared with a net profit of $24 million, or 24 cents a share, the company said. Revenue fell 12 percent to $323.6 million. Shipments of primary aluminum totaled 93,831 tonnes, compared with 84,509 tonnes a year ago. On July 9, aluminum giant Alcoa Inc reported quarterly revenue and profit that beat Wall Street's expectations, and it forecast growing demand in the aerospace and auto sectors. Shares of Monterey, California-based Century Aluminum closed at $5.93 on Tuesday on Nasdaq. They have fallen close to 60 percent in the past 52-weeks.
Spain’s continually climbing borrowing costs, which has stirred worries that the nation may need all-round aid, and reports of manufacturing contractions in both the U.S. and Europe overshadowed the rebound of HSBC China Manufacturing PMI. LME aluminum closed down USD 8.5/mt or 0.45% at USD 1,866.5/mt, after finding its low at USD 1,864/mt. Latest aluminum stocks were down 5,100 mt at 4,845,400 mt. As the European debt crisis keeps global economies sluggish, aluminum may stay on the downward track. LME aluminum is expected to be pressured at USD 1,880/mt and move between USD 1,850-1,880/mt. The most active SHFE aluminum contract for October delivery is expected to open near RMB 15,350/mt and test resistance at RMB 15,400/mt. Its trading range is expected to be RMB 15,300-15,450/mt....
Hydro's underlying earnings before financial items and tax amounted to NOK 549 million in the second quarter, compared with NOK 557 million in the previous quarter. As Hydro reported, the weak quarterly results reflect low aluminium prices and a challenging macro-economic environment, while ambitious improvement programs helped reducing operating costs, contributing positively in the quarter."The weak macro-economic environment continues to be a challenge in our main markets, leading to low aluminium prices and a weak second quarter for Hydro," Hydro's President and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg said. Bauxite & Alumina continued to deliver a weak underlying result for the quarter due to low LME prices, pricing of long-term contracts and increasing energy costs. Underlying EBIT for Primary...
Continued from Part One. ( http://www.alcircle.com/NewsDetails.aspx?center=NC&recId=12282) For Nalco, one of India’s largest state-run aluminum producers, the recent slide in metal prices pinched its profit margins to the smallest in 12 years. In a PTI interview, its chairman had admitted that all their calculations with aluminum “had gone wrong.” So much so, that to shore up its bottom line, Nalco, also a producer of energy, was actively planning to invest US $2 billion to generate and sell electricity. Primary aluminum production is concentrated in countries like China, which alone produces around 26 percent of the world total. The top producers besides China are Russia, Canada, The United States, Australia and India. Almost 20% of the metal produced in China and about 30% in the rest...
Aluminum demand in the U.S. and Canada rose 7.1 percent in the first five months of 2012 from a year earlier to an estimated 9.668 billion pounds (4.39 million metric tons), according to the Aluminum Association. North American production declined 3.1 percent in June to an annual rate of 4.845 million tons, compared with a year earlier, the industry group said today in an e-mailed report.
Alba will be one of the leading sponsors of the Arab International Aluminium Conference (ARABAL 2012), which will be held in Doha from November 20 to 22. Alba will also be taking an exhibition stand to the event, which is being organised by Qatalum, the equal joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and Hydro Aluminium of Norway. The conference will include topics that discuss environmental issues and their correlation with the aluminium industry, in a time of increasing movement to reduce the impacts of industry and environmental emissions. Aluminium Qatar said the aluminium smelting industry focuses on environment-friendly concepts and values, as well as on environment, health and safety standards, from construction to operation. Aluminium plants in the region are striving to develop...
Rio Tinto Alcan and the union representing workers at the Kitimat aluminium smelter and powerhouse operations in Kemano in northwest British Columbia have reached a tentative labour agreement. "We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with the union representatives at our Kitimat aluminium smelter and powerhouse operations in Kemano - one that is in the best interests of our workforce and reflects Rio Tinto Alcan's long-term strategy and commitment to British Columbia," said Etienne Jacques, chief operating officer, Rio Tinto Alcan Primary Metal, North America. "This agreement will enable us to complete an efficient transition from the actual smelter to the new one and ensure our long term competitiveness. This is an important achievement, as we gear up for the...
Spanish 10-year debt yields surged to 7.45%, a euro-era high, on Monday, adding to worries that the nation may need all-round aid. Rumors flew that IMF may suspend Greek aid and that Germany will also abandon the nation, increasing Grexit risks and exacerbating the European debt crisis at large. The US dollar index was pushed near 84 as a consequence, weighing down commodities. LME aluminum prices lost as much as 1.9% to USD 1,857.3/mt a new low in July, before recovering with IMF’s denial of earlier Greek aid rumors to settle down USD 19.8/mt or 1.04% at USD 1,875/mt. LME aluminum stocks added 18,075 mt to 4,850,500 mt. Staying strong European debt worries and cautiousness towards the preliminary HSBC PMI will keep aluminum prices weak. LME aluminum is expected to test support at USD...
