With global aluminum inventories remaining at historically low levels, London Metal Exchange prices and regional surcharges should respond quickly to improving demand conditions, Century Aluminum CEO Jesse Gary said during a recent conference call.
General global aluminum supply and demand levels are back to "nearly balance levels" with global stocks at around 50 days, Gary said during a call on Aug. 9.
"Stocks remain at this relatively low level, despite a growing number of global consumers who are no longer accepting Russian metal following the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” he said. “This means that while total global reserves remain low, they are increasingly made up of metal of Russian origin.”
Gary noted that Russian metal now accounts for approximately 80% of the LME’s reserves, compared to 10% before Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Platts' deal price for P1020 aluminum in the US (all inclusive), which includes a valuation premium plus the LME exchange price, was 119.159 cents a pound on 9 August. Platts valued the premium for the US aluminum deal at 21.5 cents/lb on August 9.
Century, which recently acquired a 55% stake in Jamalco's bauxite and alumina mining joint venture in Jamaica, said Gary said: expects year-end production to reach 1.2 million tons year-on-year after shutting down production in June.
Overall, Century reported second-quarter net income of $7.5 million on sales of in the amount of 575.5 million dollars. This is below net income of $37.4 million on sales of $856.6 million a year ago.
