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**AEGIS is attending the SMU Steel Summit Conference 2022 at the Georgia International Conference Center in College Park on August 22 – 24. If you would like to schedule a meeting during the summit, please contact Patrick McCrann at pmccrann@aegis-hedging.com or (713) 936-2806. ** |
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Yesterday, Norsk Hydro announced it will shutter its Slovakia-based aluminum smelter, Slovalco, at the end of September due to high electricity prices. The 175,000 mt/year capacity smelter is currently operating at 60% capacity; however, the company estimates it would experience significant losses if operations continued in 2023. This was Norsk’s second production cut announcement this week, as the company stated that 20% of production at the Norway-based Sunndal plant will be taken offline due to an upcoming worker strike. Both of these shutdowns add to a growing list of European smelter curtailments, as nearly 50% of the region’s smelter capacity has been lost, according to Bloomberg estimates. Aluminum prices have largely trended sideways since early July. However, further curtailments in Europe and elsewhere could begin to push prices higher. Aluminum end-users that are concerned about increasing prices could consider buying swaps or call options, as either would establish a maximum aluminum price. Such positions are standard for consumer hedging; however, they can result in opportunity costs or cash costs if metal prices decrease. Please contact AEGIS for specific strategies that fit your operations. (8/18/2022) |
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Note: Clients with AEGIS Platform access can see this and other research, plus hedge portfolio reporting and tools here. |
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Price Indications |
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Today's Charts |
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AEGIS Insights |
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8/17/2022: AEGIS Factor Matrices: Most important variables affecting metals prices 8/16/2022: Zinc Prices Are On The Rebound Due To Supply Issues 8/9/2022: Aluminum prices are finding support: Consumers can lock in lower costs in 2023 and beyond 8/2/2022: Russia Finds New Alumina Supply |
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| Important Headlines | ||
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8/18/2022: China's power shortages disrupt nonferrous operations 8/17/2022: Slovalco will stop primary aluminium production 8/16/2022: Nyrstar to put Budel zinc operations on care and maintenance on Sept 1 8/16/2022: China's Tsingshan considers selling Indonesian assets to Baowu 8/15/2022: Green steel still decades away: BlueScope 8/15/2022: Commodity Tracker: 4 charts to watch this week 8/12/2022: Sky-high energy costs to fan fire under aluminium and zinc prices |
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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. Certain information in this presentation may constitute forward-looking statements, which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “edge,” “advantage,” “opportunity,” “believe” or other variations thereon or comparable terminology. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance or activities.
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