查看更多>>摘要：Follow through technical buying after a confident close on Thursday helped push nickel at the London Metal Exchange to a two-week high at 6,935 dollars a metric ton on Friday while the rest of the complex warmed to another relatively positive performance for the equity markets Nickel's break of 6,800 dollars/ton resistance in sympathy with gains in copper and aluminium on Thursday was the initial impetus for the upward move as buy-stops were triggered and steady fund and bank buying throughout the day helped drive the market to the high.Psychological resistance at 7,000 dollars/ton was in little danger of being tested, but this level will be the next target for the market if further gains are to be posted, dealers said.
查看更多>>摘要：As expected the base metals started last week on the back-foot, but as the week progressed, the complex valiantly fended off further selling pressure and managed to hold well above the weekly lows. There is market talk about further cuts in US interest rates and that is why we have witnessed steadier equity markets in the US. However, Greenspan might have pushed himself in a corner, as an interest rate cut at this point of time may be viewed as damage control rather than slick monetary policy, which implies that smart money will continue to flow out of equities at rallies.
查看更多>>摘要：Australian minerals and metals giant BHP Billiton has appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital (KMCC) as its investment banker for the Nalco privatisation process, according to reports. Goldman Sachs has a 26 percent stake in KMCC, the investment banking arm of the Kotak Mahindra Group. KMCC officials declined to comment.BHP-Billiton is the third international metals major to appoint an investment banker in preparation for a possible bid for Nalco.
查看更多>>摘要：Asian physical aluminium premiums over the London Metal Exchange cash price were mostly flat, with supply tightness of Good Western metal in Japan failing to boost premiums. Uncertainties about economic conditions in Japan, indeed in the world, have reduced Japan's appetite for aluminium. Consumers have limited their purchases to avoid building high inventories, while trading companies have reduced imports to avoid funding unsold metal for long periods. Although Japan's spot premiums of Good Western brands have been stuck in a range of 55 dollars-60 dollars a metric ton, CIF to main Japanese ports, over the past few weeks, they are still much higher than the third-quarter benchmark premiums of 45 dollars-48 dollars/ton, CIF.At the beginning of the third quarter, spot premiums in Japan were on a par with quarterly levels. The rise in premiums stems more from limited supply than higher demand, a Japanese trader said. "Spot premiums in the fourth quarter will stay much uglier than the quarterly premiums" if consumers continue to refrain from building inventories, he added.
查看更多>>摘要：Aluminium Bahrain, or Alba, has put the key elements in place for expansion to 750,000 metric tons annually at its aluminium smelter, company sources said, and a tender for financial investment is expected before year's end. The 1.7 billion dollars project is on schedule for the first metal to be poured in early 2005, and an agreement has been signed with French aluminium and packaging company Pechiney SA for Alba to utilize Pechiney AP30 technology. Alba plans to build a new potline with a 307,000-metrictons-a-year capacity. Taylor de Jongh and Islamic Financial Consultants have been appointed financial advisors for the project, company sources said.
查看更多>>摘要：The former chairman of Russia's Krasnoyarsk aluminium smelter Anatoly Bykov said he was ready to sell his in the smelter. He said he would sell it to Russia's aluminium giant Russian Aluminium, or RusAl, which owns about 96 percent of the smelter. Bykov has recently been released from prison, where he spent several years prior to court hearings.Bykov, who owned 28 percent of the smelter, reportedly offered to sell his stake while he was in prison, sources close to the situation said. RusAl managed to carry out an additional share issue in the smelter, resulting in the downsizing of Bykov's stake to about 4 percent.
查看更多>>摘要：The refined copper market was in a 18,000 metric tons deficit in May 2002, close to the 13,000 tons deficit reported in April, preliminary data released by the International Copper Study Group, or ICSG, said.According to ICSG data, the refined copper surplus for the first five months of 2002 fell to 167,000 tons from a surplus of 50,000 tons in the January to May period of 2001. Average daily usage and output remained at the same levels as those from the previous month, ICSG said, with the accumulated usage for January to May 2002 seen as just 0.7 percent below the level for the same period last year. Total refined copper production in the first five months of 2002 increased by 1.1 percent compared with that of a year ago: primary refined production went up by 2.7 percent, while secondary refined production fell by 10.6 percent, ICSG said. "Of the major producers, only the U.S. reduced refined copper output significantly," ICSG added.
查看更多>>摘要：Refined copper output by China's Tongling Nonferrous Metals (Group) Inc. and its two joint ventures will be increased this year by 15 percent on year to a combined total of 280,000-285,000 metric tons due to rising domestic demand, company officials said. Combined output at the three production facilities rose 34 percent oil year in the first half of this year to 148,200 tons, according to a senior official from Tongling. The two joint-venture plants are able to increase output as their capacities have been expanded. The Jinlong plant, a joint venture with Japanese companies, is slated to produce 130,000 toils of refilled copper this year, said Wu Zonggen, a director of Zhangjiagang Association Copper Co. Jinlong's capacity was raised to 150,000 tolls/year in April, from 100,000 tons/year.
查看更多>>摘要：Australian-headquartered BHP Billiton Chief Executive Officer Brian Gilbertson said the company will consider extending the cutbacks at its copper operations for a longer period and may also increase the size of the reductions. "The situation depends very much on the demand side; if you take the view that the global economy is going to remain weak for some time then we may see BHP Billiton extending the length of time of the copper production cutbacks as well as the quantity," Gilbertson said.
查看更多>>摘要：The promoters of Amara Raja Batteries, the Galla family and the US-based Johnson Controls, may increase their holdings in the company to 60 per cent from 52 per cent at present. Jay Galla, executive director, said, "The two promoters have 26 per cent stake each in the company, with a provision to increase it to 30 per cent." Galla said the promoters will eventually look at increasing their stake, but said the plan is not immediate. He also declined to specify whether the stake will be raised through creeping acquisition or by issuing fresh shares. Meanwhile, Amara Raja Batteries is in talks with Johnson Controls to export batteries to the US under the label of Bosch, among others. Company executives said exports could commence as early as the current fiscal. The company is also close to commencing exports to Sri Lanka and Dubai, where its batteries will be sold under the Amaron brand. It has already tied up with distributors in these countries, they said.
NSTL