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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Reuters reported that aluminum prices fell in December as demand worries weighed and while a handful of production cutback announcements have since lent the market a steadier tone, lackluster demand is seen likely to limit moves higher near term. In early January, Alcoa Inc announced it was cutting its global smelting capacity by 12%. Although the figure included permanent closure of a substantial amount of already idled capacity, it helped sentiment, which was underpinned further by Norsk Hydro's announcement of plans to curb output at a struggling smelter in Australia. Mr Will Adams analyst of Fastmarkets said that "The production cutbacks are supportive, but demand is not strong enough to warrant higher prices. I see the market trading sideways near term." Barclays Capital said that...
Reuters reported that aluminum prices fell in December as demand worries weighed and while a handful of production cutback announcements have since lent the market a steadier tone, lackluster demand is seen likely to limit moves higher near term. In early January, Alcoa Inc announced it was cutting its global smelting capacity by 12%. Although the figure included permanent closure of a substantial amount of already idled capacity, it helped sentiment, which was underpinned further by Norsk Hydro's announcement of plans to curb output at a struggling smelter in Australia. Mr Will Adams analyst of Fastmarkets said that "The production cutbacks are supportive, but demand is not strong enough to warrant higher prices. I see the market trading sideways near term." Barclays Capital said that...
Coal India's (CIL) new pricing mechanism is likely to raise operating costs of companies in the energy sensitive sector, rating agency Icra said today. "The operating costs of companies in energy-sensitive industries like primary aluminium are also likely to increase since many of them have coal-based captive power plants, the fuel cost of which would rise under the new system," Icra said in a statement.
Sterlite Industries has increased debt funding to Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) by Rs 674 crore, or by 8 per cent, in the third quarter on a sequential basis. With this, the total debt of Sterlite in VAL has reached close to Rs 10,000 crore. Sterlite said that the inter-corporate deposits (ICDs) to Vedanta Aluminium, in the third quarter, rose by Rs 674 crore and have now reached a total of Rs 9,612 crore. The number was at Rs 8,939 crore at the end of second quarter of the current fiscal. Apart from this, Sterlite has an equity investment of Rs 563 crore in VAL. Sterlite has 29.5 per cent stake in VAL and the rest 70.5 per cent is held by Vedanta Resources. Vedanta Resources has an equity investment of Rs 1,391 crore in VAL. Of the total loan of Rs 4,586 crore from Vedanta Resources, VAL...
Metal and mining firm Vedanta Resources has offered to buy out the government’s residual minority stake in its group firms Bharat Aluminium Co. Ltd (Balco) and Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL), according to an official familiar with the development. “They have written a letter. They have given us an offer,” the official examining the proposal said on condition of anonymity. “Various proposals have been put up which we have to analyze.” The official did not give further details and did not disclose the price Vedanta has offered for buying the government’s 49% stake in Balco and 29.5% stake in HZL. S. K. Roongta, managing director at Vedanta Aluminium Ltd, declined to comment.The government had sold a 51% stake in Balco for Rs.551 crore in 2001 and 64% in Hindustan Zinc (HZL) for over Rs.750 crore...
Glencore International Plc has confirmed its intention to assess the possible industrial and market prospects of Alcoa’s plant in Italy, the country's industry ministry said. Reuters reports Italy is looking for new investors to take over an the Portovesme aluminium smelter in Sardinia, which the US group plans to close, to soften the blow to the island's economy and save jobs. Alcoa said earlier this month it would close the smelter and cut output at two Spanish smelters as part of a broader effort to cut its global output by 12% and reduce costs. A meeting between Glencore and a series of institutional figures took place on Tuesday, the ministry said. Alcoa declined to comment on the matter as did commodities giant Glencore which has its own lead and zinc operations in Portovesme but...
High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. Nathaniel Rothschild, the billionaire investor, on Monday began a libel action against Associated Newspapers over an article which alleged that a trip he made with Lord Mandelson was “one of the games Rothschild played to impress [Oleg] Deripaska,” the Russian oligarch. The article, published in the Daily Mail in May 2010, said that Mr Rothschild had flown Lord Mandelson to Moscow in his private jet. It was here that Mr Mandelson – the then EU’s trade commissioner – attended a dinner which it said resulted in a £500m aluminium deal between...
The message came loud and clear from Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia that a power intensive industry like aluminium will do well to be sharply focussed on process improvements to economise on energy consumption per unit of metal smelted. This is because industry should not be hoping for any respite from high energy prices, the country being 80 per cent import dependent for crude oil. As for coal, there is no escape from rising imports and prices of the fuel will scale higher with Coal India Limited (CIL) to migrate to a price regime based on gross calorific value (GCV). The point Ahluwalia made at the annual Nalco lecture is that for the country to grow at nine per cent annually, the corresponding growth of the energy sector will have to be 6.5 per cent. The...
The marginal cost of production will be a key determinant for aluminium prices for the next three years, RBC Capital Markets said in a research note Tuesday. As part of its first-quarter outlook, the Canadian investment bank believed that due to high inventory levels and low capacity utilization rates, production costs would remain an important feature of the aluminum market. "We expect inventories to remain above critical levels throughout our forecast period, limiting upside price potential," the bank said. RBC Capital expects supply growth of 5.4% in 2012 and 7.1% in 2013. This will put forecast global production at 45,962 million mt in 2012 and 49,224 million mt in 2013.
Sterlite Industries’ stock, which had nearly halved over five months to Rs 85 in mid-December, has risen 24 per cent so far in 2012 on the back of a 9-12 per cent rise in metal prices. The decent December quarter numbers, which Sterlite announced on Monday, has only helped the stock stand out; it gained 3.1 per cent versus the Sensex’s 1.46 per cent. Going ahead, analysts believe scope for further gains in metal prices is limited and, hence, increase in volumes is imperative to drive growth. In this context, the progress of Sterlite’s expansion plans in the aluminium and power businesses are key monitorables. They are also concerned over the increase in funding to group companies. While these concerns prevail, a lot of it is also factored in and reflects in the stock’s low valuations. On...
Below are the three companies in the Aluminum industry with the highest debt to EBITDA ratios. This ratio indicates how many years of EBITDA would be necessary in order to pay back all the debt (assuming Debt and EBITDA are constant). Typically, this ratio is considered to be alarming when it is greater than 3.0 but this can vary and should be looked at within the context of the industry. Alcoa (NYSE:AA) is highest with a debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.6. Alcoa Inc. produces primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina, and participates in mining, refining, smelting, fabricating, and recycling. The Company serves customers worldwide primarily in the transportation, packaging, building, and industrial markets with both fabricated and finished products. Alcoa has traded 6.3 million shares...
About 780 workers at an aluminum smelter run by the mining giant Rio Tinto in Quebec are heading into the fourth week of a lockout, with many still braving the frigid weather to picket though an injunction—in place until April—that bars them from blocking the smelter entrance. Their contract had expired New Year’s Eve after weeks of fruitless negotiations. On New Year’s Day, the company locked them out. The union, a United Steelworkers local, voted to authorize a strike and warned one was imminent, with a major point of contention being Rio Tinto’s increasing reliance on nonunion subcontracters. A Montreal paper reported that the company planned to more than double subcontracter work hours from 140,000 in 2010 to 350,000 this coming year. Shortly after the lockout started, the Syndicat...
Students, researchers and others can compete for a $35,000 prize in the Hydro Green Metal Award for improving the climate footprint of aluminium production. We need to be smarter about how we use our resources, and aluminum is part of the solution. With its light weight, it contributes to more fuel-efficient modes of transportation and less energy demanding buildings. Also, it's remarkable recycling abilities gives it a long life - of all the aluminium produced since the birth of the industry more than 100 years ago, 75 percent is still in use. Still, Hydro recognizes that there is more potential for improving the climate footprint of aluminium production and has therefore established the Hydro Green Metal Award in cooperation with Technoport, a Norwegian organization that fosters dialog...
WORK at a major factory ground to a halt for several hours after an electrical cable fire early yesterday. Cables of high-voltage switchgears caught fire at Sitra-based Gulf Aluminium Rolling Company (Garmco), sources told the GDN. "The power went off at around midnight and was back only by 6am," said a worker, who asked to remain anonymous. "We were unable to work until the people from maintenance department arrived and fixed the problem." Chief executive officer Dr Adel Hamad confirmed the incident, but said the problem was only temporary. "The electricity was temporarily disconnected due to the fault in the electric power system," Dr Hamad told the GDN. "These kind of incidents take place from time to time due to the high pressure we put on the system, but it's not a serious matter and...
Global aluminum production rose by 62,000 metric tons to 2.188 million in December from a revised 2.126 million in November, reported the International Aluminum Institute. Last month’s output is also up from 2.124 million tons in December 2010. December production rose from November in seven of the eight regions listed by the IAI, with Western Europe the only exception.
Aluminum giant Alcoa (AA), a bellwether for manufacturing, is tied to a skittish commodity price: aluminum. The metal’s price plummeted over 27 percent last year, after peaking in April. Analysts’ opinions on Alcoa’s 2012 prospects now vary widely as the world economic picture dims. Alcoa operates in highly cyclical markets such as construction. Its aluminum also is used in airplanes, cars, commercial vehicles and pipes for the oil and gas industry. In 2010, Alcoa’s slice of the world’s aluminum market was 14.8 percent, and competition is intense. As a global company, Alcoa gets half its sales from the U.S. and another 27 percent from Europe. Fourth-quarter 2011 sales rose to $6 billion, up 6 percent from $5.7 billion in 2010. Net income declined to 18 cents per share, compared to a gain...
For its size and multi-country production facilities, frequent technology updates and a balance sheet making it a “confident company in a nervous world,” Alcoa of the US is seen as bellwether of the world aluminium industry. Therefore, when Alcoa reported a loss in the final quarter of 2011, the first since 2009 second quarter, due to wilting demand from packaging to construction to automobile sectors, our expectation of working of local aluminium makers during October-December period gets adequately moderated. The industry had to contend with a 12 per cent drop in aluminium prices in the December quarter and 27 per cent fall from the peak in April 2011. B L Bagra, chairman of the National Aluminium Company (Nalco), says, “Smelting cost rises particularly on energy account are proving...
Aluminium is the costliest of the standard base metals to produce, with final smelting requiring significant inputs of water and power. Power has proven the aluminium smelting industry's biggest problem, being the greatest contributor to a 30% increase in production cost over the past two years. The rising cost curve has lifted the price at which many global smelters turn margin-negative, such that recent price pressure has seen a much higher cut-off price than was experienced in the 2008-09 period of aluminium price weakness. Barclays Capital notes 1.6Mt/y of capacity has been cut back over the past month. We have entered 2012 with 45% of global (ex China) smelters experiencing negative margins based on London Metals Exchange pricing. Were costs back at 2008-09 levels, only 4% would be...
