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...
Grow with
AL Circle
Alcoa AA +0.12% celebrated the launch of construction of its greenfield state-of-the-art aluminum lithium facility at a groundbreaking event attended by Lafayette employees, and community and state partners. Adjacent to its existing plant, the $90 million, 115,000 square-foot expansion will produce more than 20,000 metric tons of aluminum lithium and be capable of casting round and rectangular ingot for rolled, extruded and forged applications. Introduced last year by Alcoa, newly patented aluminum lithium alloys will allow airframers to build dramatically lighter and lower-cost airplanes vs. composite alternatives. They also provide the best strength-to-weight performance in Alcoa's aerospace alloy portfolio combined with better stiffness and corrosion resistance. The alloys are used in...
UC Rusal boosted aluminum output 3.5% YoY to 1.049 million tonnes in the Q1 of 2012. However in response to continued uncertainty in the global economy, Rusal is currently considering the curtailment of 300,000 tonnes to 600,000 tonnes of high cost smelting capacity starting from the H2 of 2012 with corresponding alumina production to be possibly idled in order to achieve the production capacity balance. A company presentation for investors said that the drop in output over eighteen months could lead to the shutting down of capacity which will not be revived. Earlier company management said that a contraction would likely affect the company's plants located in the European part of Russia that has high production costs. Mr Vladislav Solovyev first deputy DG of Rusal said that the most loss...
The most active SHFE aluminum contract opened at RMB 16,020/mt and settled up RMB 20/mt or 0.13% at RMB 16,020/mt. Its moving band was RMB 16,000-16,065/mt. Strong support was found at RMB 16,000/mt. Resistance at the 10-day moving average also remained strong though. Total transacted contracts of the day were only 8,332 lots. Spot aluminum traded at RMB 15,990-16,020/mt in Shanghai, at discounts of RMB 10-40/mt over the current-month SHFE aluminum price. The trading band in Wuxi is RMB 16,010-16,030/mt and is RMB 16,000-16,020/mt in Hangzhou. The current-month SHFE aluminum contract stabilized above the 5-day moving average and trading activities were little changed. The mainstream traded price struggled at RMB 16,000/mt. Some quality ingots were traded at higher prices but also saw...
LME aluminium shook off a disappointing Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index to close higher and outperform the other base metals and energy complex, said the global leader in aluminium industry analysis and outlook, Harbor Intelligence. Analyst with Harbor Intelligence stated that, “Physical demand for primary aluminium continued to improve in China and also in North America. Aluminium prices in China have entered backwardation mode (spot price is higher than immediate futures contract), which is consistent with declining domestic inventories and increasing metal tightness.” “Chinese net imports of primary aluminum in the first quarter were bigger than in all 2011. The arbitrage to import metal from abroad has widened to $180 per mton after VAT considerations. Demand for automotive...
Aluminium is one of the most consumed base metals and, hence, holds a significant place in the metals space. Rapid urbanisation and industrialisation in the emerging and developing economies are set to boost the demand for the metal. Aluminium finds application in almost everything, from transportation and packaging to construction. On the domestic front, the power sector is the largest consumer, with a 42% share in aluminium consumption, followed by construction (17%), transport (14%), packaging (10%) and consumer durables (8%). Globally, transportation accounts for a 35% consumption share, followed by packaging (23%), construction (18%) and energy (7%). While the global demand rose by around 5% a year during 2001-2010, in India, the annual demand jumped by a whopping 12% in the same...
Commodities have borne the brunt of the Chinese slowdown and European politico-economic crisis. Prices of manganese, iron ore, zinc and aluminium have dropped 10-25% over the last one year, impacting companies that process or mine these metals. But Indian metals and mining companies may weather this phase better, with their low-cost structure. Here`s an assessment of their prospects. Iron Ore The prices of high-grade iron ore imported by China from Australia are down by 20% over the last one year. This dip is attributed to the slowdown in steel production growth in China and drop in European consumption. For India, global iron ore prices serve only as a directional cue. India`s largest iron ore miner, NMDC, sells ore at a discount of 35-45% to international ore of similar grade. Despite...
London-listed Vedanta Resources, which controls stake in India’s copper to aluminium-maker Sterlite Industries, on Thursday said its consolidated net profit fell 46% to $387 million for the fiscal year 2011-12 as it took a $400-million mark-to-market hit on the volatile rupee, paid highest interest on loan taken to purchase oil refiner Cairn India and had to cut down aluminium production at its Orissa plant due to power shortages. “The outlook for natural resources remains robust,” chairman Anil Agarwal told analysts after announcing the results in London. “Vedanta, with a low-cost structure and an Indian asset base, is well-positioned to serve the country.” Operating profit or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose 13% to $4 billion with oil and gas...
State-owned NALCO (National Aluminium Company) is expected to report a profit after tax of Rs 120 crore for the fourth quarter of FY12, down 61% as compared to Rs 305.3 crore in a year ago period, according to CNBC-TV18 poll. Net sales are seen going down 6% at Rs 1,674.5 crore from Rs 1,787.5 crore year-on-year. EBITDA too is seen falling 59% year-on-year to Rs 172.1 crore for the January-March quarter of 2012. EBITDA margin is expected to fall at 10.3% versus 23.3% during the same period. On quarter-on-quarter basis, profit after tax of the company is likely to jump 2.3 times and EBITDA 3.8 times for the quarter ended March 2012. Net sales are seen going up by 17%. In Q3FY12, NALCO delivered a poor set of results: EBIT was negative as 120 pots out of 960 remained closed during 3QFY12...
Aluminum buyers in Japan, Asia’s biggest importer, were asked to accept a 57 percent increase in fees starting in July, as supply decreased after smelters cut output and China boosted purchases. A producer offered to sell aluminum at $200 a metric ton over the London Metal Exchange cash price for the three months through September, an increase from the $127 surcharge this quarter, said three executives involved in the negotiations. They declined to be identified because the talks were private. Other producers have yet to make offers, they said. Premiums are poised to surge as demand from the auto and construction industries grows amid rebuilding in Japan after last year’s earthquake and tsunami. The nation’s gross domestic product rose an annualized 4.1 percent last quarter from the final...
Bosnia's sole aluminium smelter Aluminij Mostar will cut jobs and kick-start additional cost savings after reporting a first-quarter loss of 20 million Bosnian marka ($13 million), double what it had expected for the whole year. The country's top exporter, located in the southern town of Mostar, blamed the loss on higher electricity prices and volatile raw materials costs. It had expected a loss of 10 million marka for 2012. Aluminij did not specify the number of job cuts but did say it would delay new borrowing, abolish overtime and start an early-retirement programme. "The alarm has set off, and unless these measures bring results by July 1, we will launch further cuts," it said on its website. In March, Bosnian utility EPHZHB, which supplies Aluminij with 125 megawatt-hours of...
Bucking off the trend, Aluminium was the only metal surged for the second consecutive day by 0.6% or Rs 0.7 at Rs 109.85 per kg on Thursday, 17th May and tested an intraday high of Rs 109.95 per kg and Rs 108.8 per kg. Short covering with 7% dip in its open interest to 3258 lots favored the metal to trade higher snapping the earlier 3-week lows. The contract was trading below 50-day EMA and RSI stood at 57.88. Also, at LME, Aluminium ended flat at $2033 per tonne on Thursday favored by the short term supply tightening situation in the market with the some sequential fall in aluminum inventories from the early May 2012. However, the global economic woes pertaining to Greece, Spain and US weighed down the sentiment and led the metal to end on a flat note. Aluminium at MCX is likely to find...
Notwithstanding the unfavourable conditions around, Vedanta still manages to project a positive picture in the market. India-focused miner Vedanta gave a sturdy outlook for commodity markets, bucking the trend among peers, even as aluminium losses, a weak rupee and higher interest payments hit profit. Core profit for the year to March, however, rose 13 percent to meet forecasts, thanks to higher profits from zinc and oil producer Cairn India, acquired last year. "The outlook for natural resources remains robust," chairman Anil Agarwal said on Thursday, adding Vedanta, with a low-cost structure and an Indian asset base, was well-positioned to serve Asia's third-largest economy. Vedanta, the largest aluminium producer in India, expects double-digit growth in aluminium demand there. Other...
India's state-run National Aluminium Co on Thursday said it has sold 12,000 tonnes of aluminium ingots at nearly $162 per tonne premium over the average LME cash price on a cost, insurance and freight (CIF) basis to a European trader. The metal would be shipped to the buyer in eight batches of 1,500 tonnes each from May to December, NALCO's commercial director Ansuman Das told Reuters. NALCO, whose tenders serve as a global benchmark, last sold the same quantity of aluminium ingots at $160 per tonne premium over the average LME cash price on a CIF basis to a London-based buyer this month.
Chinalco Mining Corp., a unit of Aluminum Corp. of China, ACH -1.46% on Thursday received Hong Kong regulatory approval for its plan to raise up to US$1 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering, a person familiar with the situation said Friday. The company plans to start gauging investor interest via a pre-marketing process that begins Monday, the person added. Chinalco Mining, which controls the Toromocho copper project in Peru, is pressing ahead with the planned offering despite recent declines in both the stock market and copper prices. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index has fallen 11% so far this month amid concerns about Europe's economic troubles, while copper prices on the London Metal Exchange are trading around $7,690 a metric ton, down 12% from a peak of $8,740 hit in...
Salvors have made good progress recovering bundles of aluminium ingots from the wreck of the Rena despite bad weather earlier in the week. Twenty-five bundles were removed from the hold of the stricken container ship stranded on the Astrolabe Reef off the coast of the Western Bay of Plenty yesterday, the most removed in one day since the recovery work began. Maritime New Zealand spokesman James Sygrove said the operation was getting harder, describing the contents of the hold as "debris soup". Further deterioration of the bow leaves the wreck in a fragile state, but it is still fixed firmly to the reef. Winds are expected to drop over the weekend, with calm weather lasting into next week.
Fitch Ratings downgraded Greek sovereign debt on Thursday, inducing losses in European and US stock markets and helping the US dollar index consolidating at 81. Base metals stayed at the bottom. LME aluminum started at USD 2,034.3/mt and settled up USD 20/mt or 0.98% backed by a technical rebound at USD 2,055/mt, its intraday high, after finding its low of USD 2,026/mt. Transacted contracts dropped 2,465 lots to 9,484 lots and positions added 3,647 lots to 696,713 lots. Aluminum stocks in LME-bonded warehouses climbed 6,400 mt to 4,982,900 mt during the day. European and US stocks will see more losses due to the downgrade on Greek debt and uncertainty in the euro zone economy. The US dollar index climbed for a 13th successive trading day despite mixed data from the nation. Metals, being...
Billionaire Viktor Vekselberg’s IES Holding ended talks on selling Russian power generating assets to aluminum producer United Co. Rusal as its terms weren’t met. The government last year supported Rusal’s purchase of IES’s Bogoslovskaya power plant and Novobogoslovskaya project to supply electricity to one of the aluminum company’s smelters in the Urals region, IES said today in an e-mailed statement. Rusal is “perplexed” by the statement, Arseniy Palagin, a spokesman for the company controlled by Oleg Deripaska, said by e-mail. The sale decision “was made with the participation of the prime minister and can’t be overturned unilaterally.” Vekselberg, a Rusal shareholder, quit as chairman of the company in March over a dispute with Deripaska about strategy.
One of today's stocks on the move is Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX), up 3.0% to $7.55. The Dow is up 0.5% to 12,701 and the S&P is currently up 0.7% to 1,340. In the past 52 weeks, shares of Century Aluminum have traded between a low of $7.25 and a high of $16.55 and are now at $7.55, which is 4% above that low price. In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day moving average (MA) has fallen 1.5% while the 200-day MA has slid 0.8%. Century Aluminum Company produces primary aluminum, in both molten and ingot form, through facilities located in the United States. The Company owns and operates a reduction facility in Ravenswood, West Virginia, and owns a partial interest in a reduction facility in Mt. Holly, South Carolina. Century is also the operating partner of a reduction facility in...
