LME aluminium stocks declined by more than half during the first nine months of 2026, falling by 267,875 tonnes from 509,250 tonnes on January 2 to 241,375 tonnes on September 30 (52.6 per cent). The decline continued throughout the period, with average warehouse inventories falling each month. Compared with the same period in 2025, monthly average stocks were lower across all nine months, with the gap widening in the third quarter. Q1 LME aluminium stocks fall 18.2 per cent LME aluminium inventories continued to decline during Q1 2026. Month-end stocks fell from 495,725 tonnes in January to 465,550 tonnes in February, before dropping further to 416,775 tonnes in March. Monthly average inventories stood at 498,670 tonnes in January, 481,801 tonnes in February and 440,710 tonnes in March....
The London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium price chart reported declines on the November 10 trading session after a temporary surge at the November 9 close. Both near-term and longer-dated contracts posted over 1 per cent dip over the previous session. The LME aluminium cash bid as well as offer prices contracted 0.32 per cent day-on-day on November 10. The bid shifted from USD 3,145 per tonne to USD 3,135 per tonne. The offer price dipped from USD 3,147 per tonne to USD 3,137 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 1.11 per cent decline from USD 3,059 per tonne on November 9 to USD 3,025 per tonne on...
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Hoping to restore hundreds of manufacturing jobs, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed tax legislation Monday meant to help Century Aluminum reopen its Jackson County plant. But several hurdles await as the California-based metal producer considers restarting the Ravenswood smelter that it idled in 2009, throwing more than 650 people out of work. Tomblin noted that when he marked the special session measure's approval, during a brief ceremony in a cavernous warehouse at the sprawling facility along the Ohio River. "It's taken, basically, everyone in this room, and many others, to get us where we are today," Tomblin said. He added, "We all know how important this plant is to the community of Ravenswood and the people of Jackson County." The measure aims to aid Century as it negotiates a long-term...
UC Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer, said it expects China’s aluminium industry to move into a deficit in the next couple of years as the country begins to transfer industry to the western provinces. China would try to solve one of its key problems, high power costs, not by cutting gross domestic product but by moving industry towards cheaper sources of power, deputy chief executive Oleg Mukhamedshin told Mining Journal. He expected the country to spend the next 10 years developing the western provinces, which will require a lot of investment in infrastructure and new construction, and to shut down a lot of capacity in the leading aluminium provinces where power tariffs are high. “There will be a deficit during this transition so our expectation is that by 2015 China will...
Aluminum should continue to outpace other base metals in 2012-13, despite softer demand for the past two quarters, says BNP Paribas. The metal will also be affected by probable slower Chinese growth in 2012-13, not least due to the depressed housing market, the research report says. “Nevertheless, we have shaved our forecast of world aluminum demand growth in 2012 by only 0.5% to about 6.5% and we still expect a rate of at least 8% in 2013, BNP says. The report says that in any other base metal market, it might have been hard for producers to keep pace with such strong demand growth. “But such has been the rate of growth of global aluminum smelter capacity in the last decade that the industry needed to operate at barely 85% in 2011 in order to balance the market,” BNP says. Required...
China's aluminum producer Chalco has agreed to buy Ivanhoe Mining Ltd's controlling stake in Mongolian-focused coal miner SouthGobi Resources for $926 million, as the Chinese state company diversifies into other resources in the face of tough aluminium market. Aluminium Corp of China Ltd (Chalco) said in a statement on Monday that it will acquire the 57.6 percent stake for C$8.48 per share, a 28.1 percent premium to South Gobi's Friday closing stock price. The Hong Kong price of the offer is HK$65.97, the company said. Chinese miners are scanning the globe for natural resources to feed the country's fast growing energy needs and Chalco's move to buy control of a Mongolian coal company is part of that strategy. Chalco, China's biggest aluminium maker, has been battling lower metal prices...
VHE of Iceland has considerable experience in upgrading smelter installations to comply with the latest national and international safety standards. Many older aluminium smelters have little of no access control to prevent ingress to areas where dangerous machinery may be operating. Machines subsequently added to such installations may include safety fencing and access gate interlocks, but this is often specific to the machine itself and is not integrated with any external systems such as conveyors. In 2004-5 VHE was awarded a contract by ISAL, then Alcan Iceland, for the Rodding Plant Access Control project. The contract included the design, fabrication and installation of the mechanical and electrical components of a major upgrade of safety and guarding procedures as part of ISAL's...
Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., known as Chalco, said Monday it has proposed to acquire up to 60% of coal miner SouthGobi Resources Ltd. in a deal valued at up to 7.2 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$927 million). Chalco, the world's second-largest alumina producer after Alcoa Inc., said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange that it would like to acquire a controlling stake in SouthGobi as part of its strategy to diversify into the coal business. The cash offer of approximately HK$65.97 a share represents about a 29% premium over the HK$51.20 closing price of SouthGobi's shares on Friday, the company said. Chalco also said it had entered into a cooperation agreement on Tuesday with SouthGobi that provides for an arrangement for the company to purchase up to 100% of SouthGobi's coal...
Chinese production of aluminium surged in February, potentially adding to the existing global glut, as per the latest data. China is one of the largest producer and consumer of aluminium in the world. A recent report by the International Aluminium Institute stated that China's average daily primary aluminium output rose by 9.20% to 53,400 Mt in February as compared to 48,900Mt in January. This jump in Chinese aluminium output may counteract the effects of global production cuts. North American and European production has been decreasing in contrast due to planned cutbacks by aluminium producers. RBS echoed the same sentiment in a recent research note. "Once again Chinese aluminium producers have in one fell swoop managed to eradicate all the work done by other producers in cutting...
Fitch Ratings says that Vedanta Resources Plc`s proposed USD 3.4 billion purchase of the Government of India`s (GoI) shares in Hindustan Zinc (HZL, 29.5%) and Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco, 49%) could reduce refinancing risks. Fitch notes that additional funding for the GoI stake acquisition will increase consolidated net financial leverage but expects it to remain within the negative rating guideline of 2.75x, thus limiting any impact on Vedanta`s Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating (LTFC IDR) of `BB+.` The stake purchase will consolidate the holding structure (Vedanta currently through its 58.2% holding in Sterlite Industries has a 64.9% stake in HZL and 51% stake in Balco) and enhance Vedanta`s liquidity, in particular, by enabling full access to HZL`s large cash balance...
Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, whose family owns Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS), is unperturbed by global mining giant Rio Tinto PLC’s RM7 billion ‘pullout’ because another investor, Press Metal Sarawak, is believed to be “ready and waiting” to start an aluminium smelter plant. Press Metal, which has been operating in Mukah since September 2009, is already producing some 300,000 metric tonnes of various aluminium products. It is apparently one of the two investors which Taib had alluded to in his response to Rio Tinto’s decision to scrap plans to invest RM7 billion in an aluminium smelting plant here. Press Metal is a Malaysian-based aluminium company with extensive global presence. The existence of the Mukah plant however only came to light last year after longhouse residents at Rumah Bansan, and...
Smelter Asia Sdn Bhd is still in negotiation with Sarawak Energy Bhd (SEB) for the supply of more than 600MW to power its proposed aluminium smelter in Samalaju Industrial Park, Bintulu. “Negotiations are on going,” SEB vice-president (strategic communication and corporate social responsibility) Nick Wright told StarBiz. He could not say how much longer it would take for the two parties to wrap up talks on the price of electricity. Smelter Asia, a joint venture between Gulf International Investment Group Holdings Sdn Bhd (GIIGH) and Aluminium Corp of China, sealed an agreement in April last year to jointly develop the US$1.6bil (RM4.95bil) aluminium smelting plant with an annual capacity of 370,000 tonnes. The company subsequently executed principal terms of power purchase agreement with...
A reported increase in China's primary aluminum production for February has divided analysts, with some saying it undermined cutbacks made elsewhere in the industry, while others describe it as a statistical "catch-up" and not actually representative of a physical increase in production. Three-month aluminum on the London Metal Exchange traded below $2,000/mt in the fourth quarter of 2011, a level at which a large proportion of global capacity is estimated to be cash negative. According to data from the International Aluminium Institute, China's primary aluminum production averaged 53,400 mt/day in February, up from 48,900 mt/day in January and from 46,600 mt/day in February 2011. China's February production totaled 1.548 million mt, up from 1.517 million mt in January and from 1.304...
Klaus Kleinfeld, chairman and CEO of Pittsburgh, Pa.-based aluminum company Alcoa, spoke about global developments in business at a Wednesday master’s tea. Kleinfeld spoke to roughly 50 people in the Morse College master’s house about the ways in which business has shifted in response to several global trends of recent decades, in addition to identifying areas where it has remained unchanged. He argued that there are “mega-trends” shaping the world today, such as technological development and environmental damage, and then analyzed how these trends are shaping today’s businesses. A current board member of the Brookings Institution and the World Economic Forum USA, Kleinfeld said the massive population growth seen across the world in recent decades — combined with increasing urbanization —...
The most surprising aspect of the all-in wrestling match between Russia’s Vladimir Potanin and Oleg Deripaska for control of the world’s biggest nickel producer is that the Kremlin has not stepped in to sort it out. With its tangle of lawsuits, disputed share buybacks and opaque sales of shares to third parties, the fight for Norilsk Nickel is hardly the advertisement for Russian corporate governance that Moscow needs. This is, moreover, not just two oligarchs slugging it out. A related feud between Mr Deripaska and a third tycoon, Viktor Vekselberg, burst into the open this month. Mr Vekselberg resigned as chairman of Rusal, the aluminium group of which Mr Deripaska is chief executive and 47 per cent owner, accusing management of running the company into a “deep crisis”. The usually...
An explosion and fire at an Alcoa Inc. plant in northern New York has damaged an aluminum melting furnace but caused no injuries A spokeswoman for Pittsburgh-based Alcoa tells the Watertown Daily Times (http://bit.ly/GWmo2y ) that about 60 people were evacuated after the melter malfunctioned at about 3 p.m. Thursday in the village of Massena. The fire was declared under control several hours later. A witness tells the newspaper she heard loud boom and her house shook before her volunteer firefighter husband headed to the scene. Clouds of dark smoke rose from the structure in the middle of the large ingot casting plant. Alcoa is a major employer in the community on the St. Lawrence River 160 miles northwest of Albany.
LME aluminum closed down USD 25.8/mt or 1.19% at USD 2,143/mt on Thursday, after hitting USD 2,130/mt, a new low since January 13, with weaker-than-expected economic data from the US and slowing Chinese demand. Transactions almost doubled to 15,620 lots as short capital poured into the market. The light metal, in contrast to its previous stability, was the worst performer among base metals during the day. SMM expects LME aluminum to struggle at the USD 2,150/mt mark and move between USD 2,130-2,170/mt during today’s trading. The most active SHFE aluminum contract for June delivery is expected to hover between RMB 16,100-16,180/mt as most investors clear their positions ahead of the Qingming Festival. Despite low stock replenishing interest, spot discounts over the SHFE current-month...
The $20 million tax credit package meant to help restart Century Aluminum's Ravenswood plant had some lawmakers scratching their head at the complexities, but architects of the plan said it was the only way to get it to work. For starters, Century Aluminum doesn't get a dime of the credit - even though the bill was nicknamed the "Century Aluminum tax credit" by some legislators. Officially dubbed the "Energy Intensive Industrial Consumers Revitalization Tax Credit," the credits actually will go to coal companies. Why didn't the state just give the money directly to Century? That wasn't the kind of relief the company was looking for. "The credit was never conceived of or envisioned as a tax credit for Century Aluminum, but rather represents an effort by the state to help bring down the...
The government is actively considering divestment of 10 per cent equity in National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) and has circulated a draft proposal to various ministries, including the ministry of mines, for their comments, minister of state for finance SS Palanimanickam said on Tuesday. NALCO, a Navratna PSU under the ministry of mines, has a paid-up equity capital of Rs1,288.62 crore and declared an interim dividend of 18 per cent (Rs0.90 per share of Rs5 each), amounting to Rs231.95 crore for the financial year 2011-12. Out of this, the government received Rs202.14 as its share of profit. The government's share of the dividend was presented through the National Electronic Clearing Service (NECS). The government holds 87.15 per cent of NALCO's pid-up equity capital and a...
Chinese aluminium production has surged to a record level early in 2012 as low-cost capacity is ramped up, said Barclays Capital in a daily commodity research note. According to Barclays, the supply-side of the aluminium market has experienced a sharply divergent trend so far in 2012 between China and the rest of the world. Following the announcement of several cutbacks to capacity in North America and Europe at the turn of the year, the IAI data for February essentially confirmed this with global output ex-China falling to68.9Kt, the lowest level since December 2010 and the first y/y decline since the beginning of that year. China, however, has seen the opposite trend, with the CNIA data showing output in February at 53.4Ktd, up by 19% y/y and a new record level. How can China achieve...
