Aluminum Oxide Import in Spain expected to increase in 2017

[SMM Aluminum Alloy Update] China's social inventory of cast aluminum alloy ingots stood at 31,800 mt this week, down 2,700 mt WoW, ending a six-week streak of inventory buildup. The shift to destocking this week was mainly driven by a widening spot-futures price spread and the release of pre-holiday stockpiling demand, with enterprises showing improved purchasing appetite. The National Day holiday arrives next week, and pre-holiday stockpiling demand may be further released. Social inventory is expected to continue destocking, but whether demand can be sustained after the holiday still warrants attention.

[Aluminum ingot destocking trend continues before the holiday, providing strong support for aluminum prices fluctuating at highs] Overall, it is expected that aluminum prices will consolidate at highs in the short term.

[SMM Aluminum Express News] METLEN Energy & Metals will invest nearly €25 million in its EP.AL.ME. recycled aluminum operation in Greece, installing highly automated sorting, processing and melting equipment. The upgrade will allow EP.AL.ME., Greece’s largest independent recycled aluminum producer, to process more complex scrap streams, particularly post-consumer scrap recovered from end-of-life products that has previously been difficult to incorporate efficiently. The investment will more closely integrate EP.AL.ME. with METLEN’s Aluminium of Greece primary aluminum plant, with combined production expected to exceed 250,000 tonnes once the project is fully developed. EP.AL.ME. will act as the collection, sorting and scrap pre-processing hub, while Aluminium of Greece will incorporate recycled metal into higher-value aluminum products. METLEN said the integration should also improve margins at both operations.