Nalco could gain from taking greater risk
As is commonly the practice of government undertakings in this country, National Aluminium Company (Nalco), owning Asia’s largest integrated aluminium complex, would rather err on the side of caution than take the risk of selling most of its surplus alumina, the smelter feedstock, in the world spot market by inviting tenders for lots.
This is in spite of the fact that in the last five years, alumina spot prices ruled a lot higher than what Nalco could realise from term contract sales. Read more
Rio Tinto bids $38 billion for Canada’s Alcan
Mining giant Rio Tinto has offered to buy Canadian aluminum company Alcan Inc. for $38.1 billion in cash, the companies said Thursday, in a friendly takeover that tops a hostile bid by U.S.-based Alcoa.
Alcoa Inc. announced after the markets closed in the United States that it had withdrawn its $28 billion offer for Alcan.
“Rio’s offer for Alcan strongly reinforces our view of the underlying value in the aluminum industry and its bright prospects for the future,” Alcoa Chairman and CEO Alain Belda said in a statement. “However, at this price level, we have more attractive options for delivering additional value to shareholders.” Read more
Rio Tinto Alcan moves towards Australian bauxite expansion
Rio Tinto has approved a US$30 million feasibility study to develop a new bauxite operation to the south of the existing Weipa bauxite mine and port. This is the first step towards significantly expanding Rio Tinto’s operations at Weipa in Cape York, Queensland, Australia.
With the approval of the new operation, Weipa’s total bauxite production would increase from 18.2 million tonnes in 2007 to 35 million tonnes giving the group increased capacity to supply bauxite to customers globally and to Rio Tinto Alcan-owned refineries.
The new development would eventually replace the existing east Weipa mine and provide a platform for further expansion to take advantage of the large bauxite reserves and resources in the region south of the Weipa peninsula. Read more
Asian markets fall as crude oil surges
Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region fell on Thursday, after the U.S. Federal Reserve’s warning about possible higher inflation and a weaker economy sparked fears that the world’s largest economy faced stagflation. Crude oil surged to a new record above $135 a barrel in Asian trading.
At 10:24 a.m. local time, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 183.62 points at 13,742.68 and the broader Topix index was losing 24.92 points to 1,345.17.
In early Tokyo deals, the U.S. dollar was trading in the upper 102-yen levels. At 10:04 a.m. local time, the dollar was quoted at 102.82-102.84 yen, down 0.49 yen from Wednesday’s 5:00 p.m. quotes of 103.31-103.33 yen in Tokyo.
On the economic front, Japan’s merchandise trade surplus declined by 46.3% on year in April to 485.0 billion yen, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday. Analysts expected a 21.7% decline to 707.2 billion yen.
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