Ore shipments from Rusal’s three bauxite mines in Guinea have “ground to a halt,” according to Reuters. Bauxite is the ore from which aluminum is produced. Rusal has not commented on why shipments from the West African country have slowed. Some bauxite produced in Guinea is shipped to Rusal’s alumina plant in southern Ukraine; however, that plant is closed due to the ongoing conflict. No bauxite mines have been shut down, so ore is being stockpiled. The operations in Guinea represented approximately 50% of the company’s bauxite production, according to the 2021 operating results released yesterday. This slowdown in bauxite shipments compounds the problems Rusal is facing with sourcing input materials. Earlier this month, Australia banned exports of alumina and bauxite to Russia. |
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Consumers who are concerned about their aluminum input costs should consider financial swaps or purchasing call options. Such positions are standard for consumer hedging, but they can result in opportunity costs or cash costs if metal prices decline. Please contact AEGIS for specific strategies that fit your operations. (3/31/22) |
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03/23/2022: AEGIS Factor Matrices: Most important variables affecting metals prices 03/23/2022: Russian Metals Production and Related News: Most Recent Developments (AEGIS Reference) |
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Important Headlines | ||
3/30/2022: Tesla signed secret nickel supply deal with Vale - Bloomberg News 3/30/2022: Rusal's Guinea bauxite exports grind to a halt amid Ukraine crisis 3/29/2022: Column: European smelter squeeze keeps zinc close to record highs 3/29/2022: CRU-CESCO-LME to hold independent review into nickel crisis 3/29/2022: PRECIOUS-Gold retreats, palladium slides 9% on progress in Ukraine talks 3/29/2022: LME board to evaluate lessons from nickel halt, parent company says 3/28/2022: METALS-Copper, nickel fall on China's COVID curbs, firm U.S. dollar 3/28/2022: Rusal can’t access alumina from Australia JV as pressure builds |
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Important Disclosure: Indicative prices are provided for information purposes only, and do not represent a commitment from AEGIS Hedging Solutions LLC ("Aegis") to assist any client to transact at those prices, or at any price, in the future. Aegis makes no guarantee to the accuracy or completeness of such information. Aegis and/or its trading principals do not offer a trading program to clients, nor do they propose guiding or directing a commodity interest account for any client based on any such trading program.
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