From black shale to smelter feed: CEM advances North American alumina supply chain
Canadian Energy Metals has demonstrated a process for producing smelter-grade alumina from Saskatchewan black shale and has started a prefeasibility study for its Thor Project. Canadian Energy Metals Corp. (CEM) has taken a step towards developing an alternative North American source of alumina...
LME aluminium price chart rises further to $3,325/t; stocks remain stable
The London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium price chart continues to record an upward trend across the pricing and contract segments on the September 8 trading session, reporting gains over the September 7 close . Opening stocks remained stable, not reporting any further decline. The LME aluminium...
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China alumina output to grow further in May, SMM expects
China’s alumina output will continue growing in May due to release of restarted and new capacity, SMM predicts based our survey. Alumina price rally, which began in February, has allowed most alumina producers to enter profit territory in terms of cash costs. This triggered massive capacity...
China alumina supply deficit to turn into surplus, SMM predicts
Alumina supply in China will gradually shift into a small surplus with release of new and restarted alumina capacity in May, SMM foresees. SMM estimates about 200,000 tonne supply deficit in domestic alumina market, excluding imported alumina. There is still room for alumina prices to rise in the...
Growing supply to limit alumina price gains, SMM expects
While the latest round of alumina price rise in China is nowhere near end, future upside room will be curbed by growing supply from production recovery, SMM predicts. Alumina capacity restarts are still on the rise, while aluminium capacity restarts cannot keep up pace. This means alumina supply...
Aluminium demand to remain strong; Alumina Ltd
Alcoa's Australian partner Alumina Ltd says demand for aluminium is expected to remain strong and the company is well positioned as it looks to secure higher prices. Chief executive Peter Wasow said strong growth in demand for aluminium was expected to continue, and Alumina's Alcoa World Alumina...
What deters many Chinese aluminium smelters from restarting capacity? - SMM explains
Profit at Chinese aluminium smelters has been expanding steadily thanks to sustainable aluminium price rise. However, many smelters have not shown strong interest in bringing idled capacity back online. Why? The main reason is negotiations with power plants over preferential power tariffs are still...
China turns to Guinean bauxite against Malaysia ban
Chinese buyers have turned to Guinea for bauxite after Malaysia extended ban on bauxite mining by another three months. Imports from Guinea soared 189 per cent month-on-month to 937,000 tonnes in March, of which 93.7 per cent were imported by China Hongqiao Group alone, customs data showed. Some...
Chinese alumina holds steady with no refining capacity restarts happening yet
Chinese domestic alumina prices continued their positive run in 2016, up 1.3 per cent (RMB25/t) to RMB1,989/t (US$306/t including VAT) in the north and up marginally, by 0.8 per cent (RMB15/t), to RMB1,880/t (US$290/t including VAT) in the south, revealed data released by Bauxite Index for the week...
CBIX fell 1% to finish at US$43.5/dmt previous week
CBIX fell 1.0 per cent (US$0.4/dmt) to finish the week at US$43.5/dmt on April 29. Prices for imported bauxite are keeping low, despite Chinese alumina prices rebounding some 25 per cent from the market lows in January, Bauxite Index reported. Malaysian bauxite prices were unchanged, quoted in the...
Norsk Hydro puts up a 'stronger' performance in primary aluminium JVs for Q1 2016
Norsk Hydro has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended on March 31, 2016. The underlying earnings before financial items and tax of the Norway based energy and aluminium producer declined to NOK 1,501 million in the first quarter, down from NOK 1,566 million in the fourth...
Yarwun, QAL's relief as alumina prices rise
Aluminium prices have risen slightly and demand is expected to stay strong. With Queensland Alumina Limited, Rio Tinto Yarwun and Boyne Smelters Limited relying on the price of aluminium to ensure their profitability, it is good news. The London Medal Exchange had the aluminium cash settlement...
Chinese aluminium smelters to face higher power costs
Profit at Chinese aluminium smelters kept expanding, but now is not the time to cheer up yet, SMM noted. Power tariff subsidies to smelters in Qinghai have been cut following aluminium price gains. This, together with rising alumina prices, will deter smelters in Qinghai from bringing idled...
China alumina bullish as SHFE aluminium price hits new highs
China’s spot alumina prices were bullish this week as domestic aluminium prices reached a 10-month high last Friday and firmed further on Monday, market participants said. The front-month aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at Yuan 12,830/mt ($1,970/mt) on Monday. The last...
China alumina output grows in March on price recovery
China’s alumina output grew in March as rising prices gave many producers incentive to resume production. Production totaled 4.6 million tonnes in March, up 8.19 per cent from February, but down 2.32 per cent from a year ago, according to SMM statistics. Weighted average alumina price in China’s...
China's restarted and new aluminium capacity unlikely to contribute much to H1 output
Continuous price recovery has triggered restart of idled capacity and commissioning of new capacity in Chinese aluminium market. How much output will those capacities contribute in the first half of this year?- SMM doubts. SMM expects restarted capacity unlikely to exceed 300,000-tpy in the first...
Alumina upbeat as Alcoa cuts jobs
Australia’s Alumina is confident recent moves to restructure its business will pay off in the near term, after the price of its alumina rallied in the wake of its cost-cutting program. But the group’s joint venture partner, US aluminium giant Alcoa, isn’t as upbeat about the state of the industry...
Chinese aluminium smelters hit by rising costs from alumina
Majority aluminium smelters in China have been reported to be hit by higher costs in March, especially from alumina, SMM survey found. Average cost at smelters surveyed by SMM rose 3.3 per cent month-on-month in March, driven mainly by 9.6 per cent increase in alumina costs, according to SMM...
More Chinese alumina producers to resume production
More alumina producers in China will join recent capacity restart wave on improved profitability, Shanghai Metals Market experts expect. Alumina capacity restarts in China have amounted to 2.8 million tonnes per year over the past more than one month, SMM statistics showed. Besides, China will see...
Rebound in alumina prices YTD outpacing aluminium price in China
Strong rise in alumina prices have been supporting China’s domestic aluminium price. According to the latest data, alumina prices increased 18.2 per cent from the start of the year, which greatly outpaced the aluminium price rise and lifted the price ratio between alumina and aluminium from 0.28 in...
