查看更多>>摘要：The week just gone by was a bear delight as the base metals took a ride down in an express elevator. To large extent the funds are responsible for the present state of the market, as there was massive long liquidation especially in copper. However, the sentiment is not outright bearish as there was consumer buying and physical off-take at current price levels in spite of approaching seasonal slow down. In our last report, we did suggest possible test of supports in copper, aluminium and zinc, but quite frankly speaking on the back of slightly better performance by US equities the base metals complex was broadly expected to hold above the recent lows. In my personal opinion the investors and speculators were disappointed not only by the unimpressive fundamentals but also by three other things or rather lack of them1. Volatility.2. Liquidity3. Closures of any more operations
查看更多>>摘要：As suggested by our report last week gold did de-link from direct inverse relationship with stock markets and now seems to be following its own fundamentals. A weekly close below 305 dollars/oz is a bit of a mini-disaster and has shaken the faith of investors in the gold market. Readers will remember that in one of our earlier reports we had very clearly mentioned that gold will continue to rise as long as it appears that there are no invisible hands at work. It appears now that most of the rise in gold price in the past couple of months was on the back of speculative derivative strategies involving equities, currencies and gold and the players in question have played the market to the hilt.
查看更多>>摘要：Hindalco Industries, is likely to complete its ongoing expansion of the smelting capacity of its smelter in Renukoot in Uttar Pradesh by September 2004. India's largest aluminium producer is expanding its smelter capacity to 342,000 tons a year from the current 242,000 tons. It will complete commissioning all three potlines by this time, according to a senior official. The expansion entails setting up three lines of electrolytic pots, which are used to smelt alumina to produce aluminium metal. Each potline, which contains 180 pots, produces about 33,000 tons of aluminium. The Aditya Biral Group company has already set up one line, plans to add another by end-2002, and the third one by September 2004, the official said. The expanded plant will take about two months more to stabilise at the optimum capacity he added.
查看更多>>摘要：Hindalco has made an open offer for acquiring the balance 25.5 per cent shareholding in Indal in an effort directed towards consolidating the Aditya Birla Group's aluminium operations. The offer made is at Rs 120 per share, a 36 per cent premium to the 26 week average price and a 24 per cent premium to the average price during the last one month. The offer is aimed at making Indal a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hindalco and is widely believed to be the first step towards Indal's meger with Hindalco. The Hindalco board has also approved a decision to stop an ongoing buyback programme to facilitate the open offer plan. Hindalco had proposed a buyback of up to 10 per cent of the equity capital at a price not exceeding Rs 850 per share. The buyback programme was consequent to the group's proposed restructuring and amalgamation plans with group companies Indo Gulf Corporation and Indal. The programme was open for only 4 months, during which Hindalco bought back only about one per cent of its equity for which it spent around Rs 550 million. "As we have to issue fresh shares, the Buyback Act prohibits us from going ahead with the plan any more," according to a statement released by the Group.
查看更多>>摘要：The disinvestment plan of the giant aluminium PSU Nalco received a major blow with Naveen Patnaik, chief minister of Orissa, raising strong objections to it. Patnaik has reportedly written a strongly-worded letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee threatening "serious repercussions" if the Centre goes ahead with its plan to sell the Orissa-based aluminium major Nalco. The Orissa chief minister in his letter has stated that "there is serious resentment in the state cutting across party lines. If the central government proceeds further with the implementation of the recent CCD decision on privatising Nalco, I apprehend that any unilateral action by the central government in this very sensitive matter, without taking us on board, would have serious repercussions."
查看更多>>摘要：The Nalco (Unions) Co-ordination Committee has opposed privatisation the company stating that it was a betrayal of the expectations of people of Orissa. Reacting to the decision to disinvest the PSU, the committee said it was surprised as to how the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment had valued the company at Rs 29.28 billion while the company was set up at an estimated cost of Rs 24.08 billion. It said that with the completion of current expansion programme, the company would be worth not less then Rs 150 billion.
查看更多>>摘要：The first phase of disinvestment process at Nalco is likely to be delayed slightly. According to reports, the earlier deadline of September for the domestic public offer could probably be put back by a month. The reported delay is because the government has still not decided in what way it will offload the shares in the domestic market. As it is it took nearly a year to spell out the details of disinvestments. Planned last year, the disinvestment idea had been stalled after the aluminium market crashed in the wake of terrorist attacks in the US in September '01.
查看更多>>摘要：South Korea's Public Procurement Service last week bought 10,000 metric tons of aluminium ingots from Glencore International AG in a tender, an official from the state-owned agency said. The agency is the biggest aluminium spot buyer in South Korea. Its purchase last week brought some activity back to the spot market in South Korea, which had been dull since the agency's previous purchase of 7,000 tons in April. Of the total 10,000 tons it bought, 7,000 tons were for Good Western brands, while the remaining 3,000 tons were of Chinese origin which isn't registered with the LME, the official said. Deliveries will be made within three or fur months after the letters of credit are issued, she said. However, she didn't reveal the price paid for the purchase. Trade sources in Seoul said the premiums paid for the Good Western brands were around 55 US dollars-59 US dollars/ton, cost, insurance and freight to major South Korean ports, while the premium for the Chinese origin aluminium was below 30 dollars/ton, CIF.
查看更多>>摘要：The U.S. Midwest aluminium premium over LME cash prices eased slightly again on the week to the 4.30-4.50 cents per-pound region from around 4.50-4.75 cents last week as the topple in global equity markets and LME aluminium prices muted demand and forced traders to more aggressively eek out business. Sources said concerns that the recent hammering of the global equity markets will in time seep into industrial demand served to further dampen activity during the week over and above the levels of general malaise currently plaguing the market. The approaching summer lull in industrial production as various facilities are put on seasonal care and maintenance coupled with historically high warehouse inventories - with London Metal Exchange warehouses currently boasting over 1.2 million metric tons - have over recent weeks muted aluminium trade.
查看更多>>摘要：Industry shipments in May, including exports, totaled an estimated 1.973 billion pounds, increasing 5.0 percent over May 2001. Shipments to domestic markets, including imports, totaled an estimated 1.756 billion pounds, rising 5.2 percent. Industry shipments of aluminium mill products also increased 5.2 percent over last year to a total of 1.420 billion pounds. Year-to-date, industry shipments total 9.403 billion pounds, up 2.1 percent over a year ago. U.S. exports of aluminium ingot and mill products were reported at 217 million pounds during May 2002, up 3.3 percent over May 2001.
NSTL