Century Aluminum’s proposed USD 4 billion primary aluminum smelter in Inola, Oklahoma, is “moving forward on all fronts” as the company prepares for construction, despite local opposition and legal challenges, CEO Jesse Gary said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call. Developed jointly by Century Aluminum and Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the project is designed to produce 750,000 tonnes of primary aluminum annually, potentially doubling U.S. primary aluminum production. The facility is expected to create thousands of direct and indirect jobs and add USD 1.5 billion to Oklahoma’s gross domestic product, according to company estimates. The partners had targeted construction to begin by the end of 2026. However, local restrictions and permitting challenges have affected the...
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....
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Ukraine’s government won a court hearing as it seeks to regain control over the Zaporizhskyi aluminum smelter from Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s United Co. Rusal. The Kiev Commercial Court ruled to overturn a sale agreement and return a 68.01 percent stake in the plant, known as Zalk, to Ukraine’s state property fund, the Prosecutor General’s Office, also based in the country’s capital, said today in a statement on its website. The prosecutors filed the suit, saying Rusal refused to refinance the plant’s $75.5 million of debt, “violating the state’s property rights,” according to the statement. Rusal, the world’s biggest producer of the light metal, said it has fulfilled all of its obligations as investor. "The court’s decision has not taken effect yet, and the company will...
West Virginia state officials estimated a net zero effect on the general revenue fund for a $20 million tax incentive for Century Aluminum, leaving a difference of $14.1 million projected by a 2007 study. Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow said the difference is caused because his office went beyond the scope of the economic impact study from a West Virginia University professor and looked at "all state taxes and local taxes as well as any state fees." "If you add everything in the pot, it can get pretty close to that $20 million mark," Muchow said. Another difference, Muchow said, was that his calculations include the increased use of coal because of the tax incentive. The incentive actually goes to the coal suppliers of power plants providing electricity to plants such as Century in...
Accurate control over aluminium flow during casting is important in any casthouse - precise control is essential for today's quality demands. VHE's Metal Flow Controller can provide the accuracy demanded by modern casthouses for controlling aluminum flow from launders into casting moulds. Where an accuracy of ± 0,025mm is required then VHE's Metal Flow Controller is able to provide the solution. This excellent precision is achieved by the use of a step motors - not only providing high accuracy but also a simpler and more durable design. The ceramic plug, suspended from the actuator clamp, has a travel of 48mm. Spindle pitch is 5mm per turn and the gear motor to spindle ratio is 1: 1 VHE's Metal Flow Controller connects to a driver which can in turn be connected to any PLC already...
Dubai: State-owned aluminium smelter Dubai Aluminium Ltd (Dubal) said it achieved a 65 per cent jump in net profit to Dh3.51 billion last year, up from Dh2.12 billion in 2010, despite the slowdown in the global economy. Gross sales revenue grew 28.5 per cent year-on-year to Dh11.14 billion from Dh8.67 billion in 2010, the company said in a statement yesterday. Dubal began operating in 1979 with an initial production capacity of 135,000 metric tonnes per annum. The company has since undergone a series of major expansions, together increasing the production capacity of Dubal's Jebel Ali plant more than seven-fold to more than one million metric tonnes per annum. Dubal produced 1,014,795 metric tonnes of hot metal in 2011. The result shows that the company has turned 31.5 per cent of gross...
LME aluminum closed down at USD 2,175/mt last Friday, after paring losses with a weakening US dollar. Volatile aluminum inventories, however, had limited the metal’s ability to recover losses. Transacted contracts dropped 7,947 lots to 12,590 lots. SMM expects LME aluminum to open at USD 2,180/mt and move between USD 2,160-2,200/mt as it tests resistance at the 5-day moving average. The most active SHFE aluminum contract for June delivery is expected to hover between RMB 16,175-16,240/mt in the face of strong resistance at the 60-day moving average. Spot discounts over the SHFE current-month aluminum contract are expected to stay between RMB 10-50/mt as good holders stick to the RMB 16,000/mt mark. The wait-and-see attitude will predominate on both buyer and seller sides.
The UAE's aluminium producers are reporting soaring demand as the United States returns to stronger growth. The price of the metal, which fell for much of last year, has risen 11.1 per cent since the start of the year to US$2,245 per tonne. Emirates Aluminium is expecting strong growth from the US to drive sales in the year ahead as the world's largest economy shows strong signs of recovery. The aluminium smelter, known as Emal and based in Abu Dhabi, expects sales to the US to more than double from 100,000 tonnes last year to 250,000 tonnes this year, said Saeed Fadhel Al Mazrooei, the company's president and chief executive. "The orders on our metals have increased because one of our prime products is for automotives," he said, adding that the company hoped to capitalise on surging...
The government has given more time to 13 special economic zone developers, including Vedanta Aluminium and Posco India, to execute their projects. At a meeting on March 13, the Board of Approval (BoA) headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar also allowed four SEZ developers to surrender their projects. The BoA is a 19-member inter-ministerial body that deals with special economic zones (SEZs) and related issues. However, the developers surrendering their projects have to obtain a certificate from the respective Development Commissioners that "they have refunded all the tax/duty benefits availed under SEZ Act/Rules," a senior Commerce Ministry official said. Both Vedanta Aluminium and Posco India have sought more time from the Centre as they were unable to proceed with their projects due...
UC RusAl increased total investment in the modernization and technical reequipping of the Bogoslov Aluminum Smelter (BAZ, Sverdlov Region) by 67% to 400 million rubles in 2011, the company said in a statement. The statement said that the funds went to developing alumina and electrolytic production. For instance, these funds were used for alumina production in the reconstruction of the sintering and calcination furnaces, replacement of pumping and heat exchange equipment, bowman facilities, and steam piping. The funds also went to acquiring a Hitachi loader, which helped to ensure the timely and full unloading of gondola railcars with bauxite in the spring-winter period. In addition, the company acquired, set up and has already launch a Lampi 50 unit for cleaning aluminum from impurities,...
South Korea has bought a total of 2,000 tonnes of high-grade primary aluminium ingot registered on the London Metal Exchange(LME) via tenders that closed on Tuesday, the state-run Public Procurement Service said on its website (www.g2b.co.kr). Details of the purchases are as follows: TONNES SUPPLIER PREMIUM(CIF/T) 1,000 Sumitomo Corp Korea $152 1,000 LG International Corp $147 Note: The above premiums were made over the London Metal Exchange prices on a cost, insurance and freight (CIF) basis.
Aluminium yesterday traded with the positive node and settled 0.4% up at 112.6 tracking LME three-month aluminum closed at USD 2,281/mt, a recent high on Monday as progress in Greek debt strengthened the euro to boost investor confidence. Commodities have stepped in a downward track as the Greek debt crisis has temporarily settled down and US officials showed confidence in recovery of its economy. Greek bonds got initial value of 21.75% in swap auction Monday, in accordance with market expectations, and an indication Greek debt issues would not threaten the euro zone over the near term. In response, the euro moved higher, and caused the US dollar to fall further. Both Crude Oil and Gold prices posted a gain of 1%, while US equity markets closed up along with growing market sentiment. LME...
Bonneville Power Administration is having weekly discussions with Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. to negotiate an energy contract that would restart the shuttered plant, BPA Administrator Stephen Wright said last week. “We’re actively engaged,” Wright said. “It’s an important issue for us. We’re willing to enter into a contract but we want to make sure of the other party’s credit-worthiness.” Columbia Falls Aluminum shut down in October 2009 as high energy prices and sagging market conditions made operations unprofitable. Since then, lawmakers have been pushing Bonneville to seal a power sales agreement with Glencore, CFAC’s parent company. Last month U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., pressed Bonneville to finalize the energy contract. Wright acknowledged that Columbia Falls Aluminum is “in a...
Rio Tinto Alcan began talks with union representatives Monday to secure a new labor contract and end a lockout period that has lasted nearly three months. "A government-appointed mediator called parties to the table" on Monday and talks will continue Wednesday, company spokesman Bryan Tucker told Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday. He noted that this was the first time that the company had sat down with the union representatives since the end of last year, when the last labor contract expired. Rio Tinto Alcan, of Montreal, locked out 755 unionized workers at its 438,000-ton-a-year Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean aluminum smelter in northern Quebec on Jan 1. Both parties had started negotiations in October but failed to reach an agreement before the contract expired on Dec. 31, Tucker said. There were...
The global aluminium market is developing in new directions -- new products and production technologies are on their way. New growth opportunities are being empowered by recent technological advancements, output reformations, and vivid regional shifts. Aluminium is expected to retain its high-scale demand levels on the global industrial arena thanks to the metal unique properties. Moreover, due to the upscale of industrialization of China and India and the economical boom in both countries the aluminium capacities will increase largely here along with the future relaxation of the operating costs. Comprehensive aluminium industry analysis and overall information is presented in the new market report “Aluminium Market Review”. The report offers insights into the developments at the global,...
Dubai Aluminium's announcement of record growth in 2011 marks a positive step towards the diversification of the emirate's economy and the creation of jobs, analysts said yesterday. They told Gulf News that Dubal's record 65 per cent leap in profits, clocking in at Dh3.51 billion in 2011 — as well as its 28.5 per cent year-on-year leap in gross sales revenue, bodes well for job creation for young Emiratis. Niju V., Deputy Director, Automation and Electronics Practice, South Asia and Middle East, Frost & Sullivan, said the country has traditionally focused on financial services, tourism and trading, but Dubal's results showed that industrial manufacturing had an increasing role to play. "The overarching objective is to provide gainful employment to the local population. This is also a...
After a drawn-out bookbuilding that lasted almost 12 hours, aluminium producer China Hongqiao Group early yesterday morning priced its five-put-three convertible bond at the investor-friendly end, resulting in a 6.5% coupon and yield, and a 25% conversion premium. It wasn’t able to exercise the $50 million upsize option, which meant the deal size stayed at $150 million, but sources said the bookrunners were able to place the majority of that with investors on the night. It appears Barclays, which was the sole bookrunner for the deal, may have been left with some bonds, although not more than it was comfortable holding. As the CB was quoted as low as 98 in the grey market during the bookbuilding and fell even lower in the secondary market yesterday there was a lot of speculation that the...
Premiums for primary aluminum to be exported to Japan in the second quarter of 2012 have settled at $115-127/mt plus London Metal Exchange cash CIF Japan, up from $112/mt plus LME cash CIF Japan for Q1, according to Platts assessments. Platts has confirmed six settlements at $115/mt plus LME cash CIF Japan, 10 at $121/mt, three at $122/mt, one at $127/mt and one at $135/mt, for over 500 mt/month shipments of standard 99.7% ingot, sows or T-bars. The $135/mt deal was determined to fall outside the Platts specification, which reflects the repeatable, tradable premium level, where repeatable trade would occur between unrelated counterparties for volumes over 500 mt/month. Separately, there were over 10 deals reported at $117/mt, $120/mt and $127/mt plus LME cash CIF Japan. Platts has not...
Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberoesterreich has increased its voting stake in Austrian aluminium group AMAG to 16.4 percent by acquiring an extra 4.7 percent stake. The regional bank signed an agreement on March 19 to acquire the extra shares, AMAG said on Tuesday. The move had been expected as main owner CP Group 3, a joint venture between One Equity Partner and Constantia Packaging, divests its AMAG stake.
Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., the nation’s biggest producer of the metal, surged by its daily limit in Shanghai after reports the government will boost investments in the stock market and regulate rare-earth output. Aluminum Corp., known as Chalco, advanced 10 percent, the most since Jan. 17, to close at 7.59 yuan. The company’s shares in Hong Kong rose 1.1 percent to HK$3.83. As much as 40 percent of Guangdong province’s 100 billion yuan ($15.8 billion) of pension funds may be invested in stocks, the 21st Century Business Herald reported today. The government will increase punishment for excess production of rare earths and also encourage the formation of large producers, China Central Television reported yesterday, citing the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. “Cyclical...
