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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RUSAL, the world's top aluminum maker, posted a 92 percent drop in yearly net profit, hit by a write-down in the value of its stake in miner Norilsk Nickel as it grapples with a damaging row over its future between two Russian billionaires. Despite the profit plunge, RUSAL (0486.HK) (RUAL.PA) said its adjusted net profit, which it described as the major indicator of its core business, rose 25 percent to $987 million from $792 million in 2010 due to lower debt costs. It forecast near-term pressure on aluminum prices, which fell sharply in late 2011, due to global volatility and excessive stock, but added that growth in developing countries would keep demand robust through 2012. "The bottom line looks pretty low but its underlying performance is in line with market expectations," said Robin...
Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum Manufacturing (000612), together with Aluminum Corporation of China (Chalco) (601600,2600.HK), will jointly inject 2.85 billion yuan into Chalco Xinjiang for the latter's coal-fired electricity aluminum integrated project, reports Oriental Morning Post, citing a company filing. Based on its 35 percent stake in Chalco Xinjiang, Wanfang Aluminum will contribute 1.01 billion yuan, with the remainder to be invested by Chalco. Chalco Xinjiang, founded in 2011 with a registered capital of 50 million yuan, is engaged in the production of bauxite, other minerals, metallurgical products, carbon products, and is involved in the power generation businesses. The capital injection will boost Chalco Xinjiang's registered capital to about 2.9 billion yuan. Chalco Xinjiang...
VHE has launched a new range of recording anode and cathode ammeters. The meters are designed to measure the d.c. current in cathode riser bars and anode rod stems and have been redesigned, including an updated display panel incorporating Bluetooth technology. In use, visual and aural prompts cue the operator to press a data button, when the reading is transmitted to a handheld computer running customised software. Recorded data may be downloaded with a USB cable to a PC running Microsoft Excel. Ammeters for direct reading, without the datalogger, continue to be available. VHE's recording anode ammeters are standard products, but handle lengths and sensor head geometry of cathode ammeters are customised. Measuring heads are pluggable for quick change, and the meter unit will identify each...
United Co. Rusal PLC (0486.HK) swung to a fourth-quarter net loss in 2011, the Russian aluminum giant said Monday, because of lower aluminum prices and high debt-sevicing costs. The company posted a net loss of US$974 million for the October-December period in 2011 compared with a net profit of US$1.45 billion the previous year. The world's largest aluminum producer by output, which listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in January last year, said its net profit for the 12 months ended Dec. 31 was US$237 million, down 92% from a net profit of US$2.87 billion the year before, partly due to a reduction in the carrying value of its investment in OAO Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.RS). The full-year net profit was much lower than the average US$2.04 billion forecast of 12 analysts polled by Thomson...
Indian state-run National Aluminum Co Ltd (NALCO) sold 2,100 tonnes of aluminum billets at close to $165 per tonne premium over the average LME cash price on a cost, insurance and freight basis, a senior company official said. The metal will be shipped in six batches of 350 tonnes each from April to September to a Hong Kong based trader, commercial director Ansuman Das told Reuters on Saturday. NALCO, whose tenders serve as a global benchmark, last sold 12,000 tonnes of aluminum ingots at close to $113 per tonne premium over the average LME cash price on a cost, insurance and freight basis to a European trader on March 13.
Ma'aden is a Saudi mining company that is 50% owned by the Saudi government. It was originally formed to facilitate and develop minerals in Saudi Arabia. Back in 2009 Alcoa (AA) and Ma'aden signed an agreement to build a $10 billion aluminum complex. This joint venture was situated to have the smelter up and running by 2013 and the refinery by 2014. The product mix for the plant has already begun. Three different product lines will be developed here: Automotive heat-treated and non-heat-treated sheets; building and construction sheets; and foil stock sheets. As we get closer to the opening of both these operations, there are a number of benefits for Alcoa. It takes three times the energy to produce aluminum as it does steel. This complex in Saudi Arabia is designed to lower energy costs...
Aluminum Corp. of China 2011 net falls 69.4% to CNY237.97 million --Revenue up 20.6% at CNY145.87 billion --Company says profit fell due to higher financing costs, debt burden, and higher fuel and raw-material costs (Adds background beginning in the fifth paragraph.) SHANGHAI (Dow Jones)--Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. (ACH, 2600.HK, 601600.SH), known as Chalco, said Saturday earnings fell 69.4% in 2011 because of higher financing costs in a tight domestic policy environment, a heavier debt burden, and higher fuel and raw-material costs. The country's biggest alumina and aluminum producer by output reported a profit of CNY237.97 million (US$37.6 million) for 2011, compared with a profit of CNY778 million in 2010. Revenue rose 20.6% to CNY145.87 billion from CNY120.99 billion in 2010, Chalco...
A West Virginia bill touted for saving an aluminum plant and the jobs that come with it attempts to do so by providing tax credits for suppliers of coal that eventually powers the plant. The Energy Intensive Industrial Consumers Revitalization Tax Credit Act allows a credit of up to $20 million against severance tax liability. The credit would go to a supplier that provides coal for an electrical generator supplying power to an energy-intensive facility that employs more than 300 people. The bill passed 82-1 in the House of Delegates and 32-0 in the Senate. Before it shut down, Century Aluminum was the largest customer of Appalachian Power. Last year, the power company said it was negotiating discounted electricity rates with Century Aluminum, utilizing a West Virginia law that allows...
As a group of Century Aluminum retirees looked on Friday at the State Capitol, members of the state Legislature approved a bill that is expected to be a key part of efforts to reopen the company's Jackson County facility. However, Charleston Attorney Tom Heywood, who represents Century Aluminum, says it is only one piece of a larger, more complex puzzle when it comes to finding a way to get more than 400 people back to work in Ravenswood. "This is a necessary but, perhaps, not sufficient step in the restart of Century Aluminum," Heywood told lawmakers on Friday evening before both the Senate and House of Delegates approved the tax credit plan during a brief Special Session. As part of the Energy Intensive Industrial Consumers Revitalization Tax Credit, a tax credit of up to $20 million a...
Business for Aluminum Castings Corp., a casting foundry in Galesburg, is likely to benefit from a U.S. Navy contract awarded to a regional power tool company, a month after the Galesburg company disclosed plans for expansion. Honsa Ergonomic Technologies Inc., located in Milan, will announce on Friday a large-scale naval contract to build more of its revolutionary industrial tools that will mean more business for Aluminum Castings, which has produced sand-mold aluminum castings since 1964, according to a news release from U.S. Rep. Bobby Schilling, R-Colona. The announcement comes after Aluminum Castings revealed in February a $2 million expansion plan that would add 10 new jobs during the next two years, as well as 11,500 square feet to its facility off South Street. Since 1985, Honsa...
LME three-month aluminum closed down USD 6/mt at USD 2,260/mt last Friday, with positions decreasing 1,212 lots to 725,448 lots, as the US failed to continue delivery of positive economic data and due to the staying weak Chinese consumer market. While resistance was strong at the 20-day moving average above, support at the USD 2,250/mt mark had limited losses. SMM expects LME aluminum to struggle near the 30-day moving average today and move between USD 2,230-2,270/mt in the face of investor cautiousness. The most active SHFE aluminum contract for May delivery is expected to move between RMB 16,150-16,200/mt. Spot discounts over the SHFE current-month aluminum price are expected to stay between RMB 50-90/mt due to weak demand. Trading will be limited despite sufficient supply.
Considering Alcoa Inc. is one of the first companies in Canada to report its earnings in any given quarter, there’s a certain elegant symmetry to making the aluminum producer subject of the first preview of the coming first quarter reports. Brian MacArthur, analyst with UBS Securities, unfortunately does not expect a great quarter out of Alcoa, which reports April 10, due to issues at both ends of its production cycle. “Upstream, we expect higher production in both alumina and primary aluminum from continuing productivity improvements, but note that results will be negatively impacted by raw material inflation, scheduled maintenance and falling regional premiums,” he said in a note to clients. “In downstream, we expect continued productivity to be offset by weakness in European commercial...
Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (Chalco) reported a bigger than expected fourth-quarter net loss of 729.6 million yuan ($115.3 million) on Friday, showing the impact of lower metal prices and higher costs, and warned of losses in the first quarter of 2012. Chalco, the country's top aluminium maker, had said in January that 2011 net profit would fall more than 50 percent, implying a fourth-quarter loss of more than 600 million yuan. "In 2012, the recovery of the global economy will still be subject to certain uncertainties and risks of economic downturns arising from the euro debt crisis," Chalco said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company also said it expected to post a loss in the first quarter. China is still in the process of urbanisation and industrialisation, which...
Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited ( NPCIL ) has formed a new company in joint venture with National Aluminium Company Limited ( NALCO). The new JV company , namely N PCIL-NALCO Power Company Limited was incorporated on March 2, 2012. The first meeting of the board of directors of the JV company was held in Bhubaneswar on Friday. NPCIL and NALCO signed a joint venture agreement in November last to form a Joint V enture c ompany for the establishment of Nuclear Power Plants in India. As per the JV agreement, NALCO has 26% stake in the newly formed company, which is proposed to be enhanced to 49% subsequently. The balance stake will be controlled by NPCIL , the sole producer of nuclear power in India . Both the companies have already selected Kakrapar U nits 3 & 4 of 700 MW each in...
Jean de Maurienne, France, Les Echos reported, citing an announcement the company made to workers at the plant. The plant, which employs 600 people, received a very competitive offer of electricity supplies from Electricite de France SA, the newspaper reported. Still, the site’s production costs are too high because of logistical expenses, Les Echos said. Rio Tinto is seeking to sell the site or find a partner, the newspaper said. Arnaud Montebourg, a Socialist deputy, threatened the company with “expropriation” of the plant if it’s closed, Les Echos said.
A Galesburg company that last month announced a $2 million expansion, with the addition of 16-26 jobs over the next two years, is among the firms benefitting from a $300,000 contract Honsa Ergonomic Technologies Inc. of the Quad Cities received from the U.S. Navy. A news conference officially announcing the contract was at 10 a.m. Friday in Milan. In a phone interview with The Register-Mail on Friday before the news conference, Honsa president and CEO Thomas Honsa said Aluminum Castings of Galesburg has been Honsa’s contract foundry “for a few years.” He said when he moved the work back to the area, he looked first in the Quad Cities, but Aluminum Castings was able to provide a better quality product. An attempt to reach officials of Aluminum Castings for comment was not successful. Honsa...
Emerging market investors should always keep an eye on the direction of securities in the aluminum sector. Equities such as Alcoa ( AA, quote ) and exchange-traded funds such as iPath DJ-UBS Aluminum TR Sub-Idx ETN ( JJU , quote ) may be well off their year highs - but they're on the rebound. Like the exchange-traded note for copper, iPath DJ-UBS Copper TR Sub-Idx ( JJC , quote ), Alcoa and iPath DJ-UBS Aluminum TR Sub-Idx ETN offer insight into the strength of the global economy. While no longer the world's biggest aluminum producer, Alcoa is a play on worldwide demand. As detailed in previous Emerging Money articles , the company has operations in many emerging market nations. Unlike gold ( GLD , quote ), aluminum and copper are critical industrial materials. That is why the trajectory...
LME three-month aluminum returned above the 30-day moving average closing up USD 27/mt or 1.21% at USD 2,254/mt on Thursday, as latest and better-than-expected US unemployment claims and manufacturing data beat estimates to boost confidence for the US economy. SMM expects LME three-month aluminum futures to struggle near the 10-day moving average and move between USD 2,215-2,265/mt as US economic growth eases European debt worries. The most active SHFE aluminum contract for May delivery is expected to test support at the 5-day moving average and hover between RMB 16,170-16,230/mt. Spot discounts over the SHFE current-month aluminum contract are expected to widen to RMB 70-120/mt with a shift in the latter. Trading will be light as demand stays weak and due to excessive supply.
