Aluminium Smelters Suffered Losses amid Falling Aluminium Prices and High Costs

SHANGHAI, Jul 18 (SMM) – In terms of costs, alumina prices were largely stable, while the power costs of smelters with captive power plants rose as coal supply tightened during the summer peak of electricity consumption. The average electricity price of smelters gained 1.6% from a week ago to 0.439 yuan/kwh. The real-time costs of smelters rose 58.6 yuan/mt from a week earlier to 17,996 yuan/mt as of last Friday, while the SMM A00 aluminium prices lost 5.5% to 17,440 yuan/mt, bringing losses of 576 yuan/mt to smelters on average, compared to an average profit of 523 yuan/mt in the previous week. Considering the high costs and bearish aluminium prices, the losses of smelters could potentially expand in the short term.