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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Alcoa Inc. said Thursday that it plans to close an aluminum smelter in Tennessee and some operations at a Texas facility to cut costs in the face of weak prices. The moves, plus others to come, will reduce Alcoa’s global smelting capacity by about 12 percent. Aluminum prices have fallen by about one-fourth since April because of factors such as weak demand in construction, slower growth in China and uncertainty about the direction of Europe’s economy. Meanwhile, Alcoa has faced higher energy and raw-material costs. New York-based Alcoa said it will take restructuring charges of $155 million to $165 million in the fourth quarter, mostly related to the cutbacks. It is scheduled to release financial results Monday. The company said that it would permanently close a smelter in Alcoa, Tenn.,...
Alcoa Inc , the largest U.S. aluminum producer, could end up posting a fourth-quarter loss due to a dizzying drop in the metal's price in the last six months as the euro zone debt crisis and an economic slowdown in China hurt demand growth. At least five Wall Street analysts cut earnings estimates in the last week and 18 slashed their full-year 2011 estimates since September for Alcoa, which will announce results on Monday after the market closes. Analyst Bridget Freas of Morningstar in Chicago noted that Alcoa's fortunes are tied very closely to the price of aluminum, which fell 6 percent in the fourth quarter. "We have seen a weakening trend in the last few months and it will show in the results," she said. "Most analysts are blaming what has happened with the LME (London Metals...
Falling global prices of aluminum through last year have led analysts to severely cut estimates of Alcoa Inc.’s (NYSE:AA) profit for the fourth quarter, due to be announced on January 9. According to an average of 18 analysts’ opinions by Bloomberg, the company’s net income will fall 96% to 1 cent compared to 21 cents in the same period last year. If one were to look at declining fourth quarter average estimates, this quarter would mark the largest fall after the 2009 fourth quarter, when Alcoa reported a 22 cent loss. Prices of aluminum during the quarter were down 11% compared to a year ago due primarily to a global slowdown amid the European debt crisis and also action by the Chinese government to cool inflation in the country. According to Kuni Chen, analyst, CRT Capital Markets, “You...
Guangxi Nanning realized fiscal revenue of 36.352 billion yuan in 2011 which increased by 20.82% YoY. Nanning has always adhered to the policy of “development through industrialization” and has encouraged development of enterprises. From January to November, the city achieved tax revenue of 27.473 billion yuan, up by 21.34% YoY. Nanning plans to increase financial support to the Foxconn aluminium project and other big industrial projects next year to further improve the city’s industrial development.
Traded prices of spot aluminum in Shanghai were between RMB 15,990-16,020/mt on Thursday, with discounts of RMB 0-30/mt over the SHFE current-month aluminum price. Low-iron aluminum was traded between RMB 16,060-16,080/mt in Shanghai. Traded prices of spot aluminum in Wuxi were between RMB 15,960-16,000/mt. With more spot goods arriving after the New Year’s holiday and since market confidence was depressed by dropping SHFE aluminum prices, goods holders were actively selling goods. Although sellers were intended to hold prices at RMB 16,000/mt, prices tend to further decline due to the weak consumption, leaving limited deals done in the market.
Rio Tinto Alcan said on Wednesday that it has declared force majeure on aluminum output from two of its smelters in Canada due to separate operational and labour issues that have curtailed production at the sites. The company, a unit of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Group (RIO-N52.29-0.04-0.08%), started slashing production at its Alma smelter in Quebec on Jan. 1, when it locked out more than 750 unionized workers after contract talks broke down. A spokesman also confirmed that the company has been forced to reduce output from its Shawinigan, Que., smelter due to a circuitry failure. The facility, which can produce 100,000 tonnes of aluminum a year, is now operating at 50 per cent capacity after two of its four smelting cells were halted. The company, which has already decided...
According to China Customs, China exported 8,194 mt of anhydrous aluminum fluoride during November, up 16% YoY. YTD exports through November were 95,650 mt, up 11% YoY. According to the SMM survey, exports of anhydrous aluminum fluoride, one of major supplementary materials for aluminum production, kept growing in 2011 due mainly robust demand from overseas aluminum producers. As domestic fluoride salt processing capacity improves, exports grow as well, and the destination of China’s exports of anhydrous aluminum fluoride in 2011 mainly includes India, Australia, Bahrain, US and Venezuela. One fluoride salt producer in Henan said total exports of anhydrous aluminum fluoride in 2011 improved from 2010, and orders for 2012 will be flat with 2011 level.
China’s largest aluminium producer Chinalco earned RMB3bn ($476.4M) in profit in the first 11 months of 2011. In 2010, the company had earned a profit of RMB2.7bn. Xiong Weiping, Chinalco general manager said the improved profits were due to the company’s efforts to diversity its business structure, which helped the company cushion the negative impact of falling metals prices. He admitted profit had fallen since October as a result of the European debt crisis. Mr Xiong said Chinalco faced many challenges in 2012 including the slowdown of global economic growth triggered by the debt crisis in Europe and shrinking demand for commodities. To deal with the challenges, he said, this company will spare no efforts to continue to promote business transformation. The company is focusing on five...
The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) will install aluminum researcher, industrialist, and professor Wolfgang Schneider as the 56th president during the TMS 2012 Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Orlando, Florida March 11-15, 2012. He is currently serving as vice president of TMS and has been a member of the Society for 18 years. Schneider is the head of the research and development center of Hydro Aluminum Rolled Products Business in Bonn, Germany and is also a professor of metallurgy at the Technical University of Berlin. He said he looks forward to increasing the society’s focus on innovation and continuing education as the 2012 TMS president. “I am proud to serve the society in this position as an international member,” he said. Schneider received his Dipl.-Ing. degree in...
Alcoa Inc. earnings estimates have plunged the most in three years as analysts’ expectations mount that the biggest U.S. aluminum producer may even record a fourth-quarter loss. Net income will tumble 94 percent to 1 cent a share from 21 cents a year earlier, according to the average of 18 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. That’s 82 percent less than the average projection from a month ago. Eight of the 11 estimates compiled within the last 28 days are for New York-based Alcoa to post a loss in the fourth quarter. The average price of aluminum, which is used in beverage cans, aircraft and window frames, was 11 percent lower in the quarter from a year earlier after global growth decelerated amid a sovereign-debt crisis in Europe and government action to control inflation in China....
Aditya Birla group is considering a bid for a 10 to 15 percent stake in Indonesian coal miner Bumi Resources Tbk PT (BUMI.JK) to secure coal supplies for its expanding cement and aluminium operations, the Economic Times reported on Thursday. The transaction, along with an offtake agreement, could be worth over 10 billion rupees, the paper said. "I wouldn't say we have made up our mind, but to have a share in one of the largest coal companies would be an attractive option," the paper quoted an unnamed group official as saying. The telecoms-to-cement conglomerate requires thermal coal for group companies Hindalco Industries, India's top aluminium producer, and UltraTech Cement, the country's largest cement producer. The group has said to have shown interest in bidding for several overseas...
Bankrupt primary aluminum producer ZALCO is in talks with eight potential buyers for a takeover of part or all of its plant in Zeeland, the Netherlands, the company's receiver said on Wednesday. ZALCO, which has a production capacity of 275,000 tonnes per year of aluminum, filed for bankruptcy in mid-December. The plant, which had employed 500 people, was shut down a few days later due to lack of funding to pay energy suppliers. "We have now started the bidding process, and there are eight parties interested so far," Ernst Butterman, one of the two official receivers, told Reuters in a phone interview. "They got all the information from us, and we are now waiting for their offers." The interested parties, which include local and international companies and financial and physical players,...
SINGAPORE: LME aluminum is expected to revisit Tuesday's high of $2,078 per tonne and form a top around this level. The rebound that started at the Dec. 14 low of $1,955.75 has almost completed, as wave (c) briefly pierced above $2,059, the 100 percent Fibonacci projection level. Chances are low for wave (c) to develop a length 1.618 times that of wave (a), as the final wave of wave (c), labelled wave "5", may only be able to push the price to the presumed wave "3" peak at $2,078. A rise to $2,090 will be extended to $2,107, the 161.8 percent projection level. No information in this analysis should be considered as being business, financial or legal advice. Each reader should consult his or her own professional or other advisers for business, financial or legal advice regarding the...
One of today's stocks on the move is Noranda Aluminum (NYSE:NOR), up 8.3% to $8.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is now trading 1.4% higher to 12,393 and the S&P is trading 1.4% higher to 1,276. Potential upside of 31.1% exists for Noranda Aluminum, based on a current level of $8.96 and analysts' average consensus price target of $11.75. The stock should find resistance at its 200-day moving average (MA) of $11.83, as well as support at its 50-day MA of $8.46. In the past 52 weeks, shares of Noranda Aluminum have traded between a low of $6.67 and a high of $17.82 and are now at $8.96, which is 34% above that low price. In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day moving average (MA) has fallen 0.3% while the 200-day MA has slid 1%. Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp is an integrated...
Noranda Aluminum (NYSE:NOR) is one of today's notable stocks on the rise, up 4.5% to $8.64. The Dow is trading fractionally higher to 12,221 and the S&P is currently trading fractionally higher to 1,259. Noranda Aluminum share prices have moved between a 52-week high of $17.82 and a 52-week low of $6.67 and are now trading 30% above that low price at $8.64 per share. In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day moving average (MA) has fallen 0.3% while the 200-day MA has slid 1%. Potential upside of 36.0% exists for Noranda Aluminum, based on a current level of $8.64 and analysts' average consensus price target of $11.75. Noranda Aluminum shares should encounter resistance at the 200-day moving average (MA) of $11.83 and support at the 50-day MA of $8.46. Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp is...
One of today's notable stocks on the rise is Century Aluminum (NASDAQ:CENX), up 5.5% to $8.98. The S&P is currently trading 1.4% higher to 1,276 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading 1.4% higher to 12,393. Century Aluminum share prices have moved between a 52-week high of $20.76 and a 52-week low of $7.25 and are now trading 24% above that low price at $8.98 per share. In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day moving average (MA) has fallen 0.9% while the 200-day MA has slid 1.3%. 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....
The London Metal Exchange Tuesday said it has suspended the brand Zalco under its high-grade aluminum contract. Until further notice, no more deliveries of the brand will be accepted for LME warranting, the LME said. The brand has been suspended with immediate effect.
LME aluminum for three-month delivery hit an intraday high of USD 2,087/mt at the tail of trading on Wednesday backed by a rebound in New York crude. The metal failed to consolidate, however, after the US dollar index returned above 80 and closed USD 4.5/mt or 0.22% lower at USD 2,059.3/mt. Its performance was more stable nevertheless comparing with other base metals. Sluggish world economies are expected to continue putting pressure on base metals. As such, during today’s trading, SMM expects LME aluminum for three-month delivery to move above the 30-day moving average and between USD 2,035-2,085/mt. Three-month SHFE aluminum is expected to move between RMB 15,850-15,950/mt as it tests support at the 5-day moving average. Spot aluminum will struggle near RMB 16,000/mt and trade at...
