Aluminium Costs Fell Sharply Last Week

SHANGHAI, May 15 (SMM) - The SMM alumina weighted index slipped 6 yuan/mt last week. Coal prices continued to fall amid ample supply, benefiting aluminium smelters with captive power plants. The average electricity price of the aluminium industry was about 0.432 yuan/kWh. The prices of prebaked anodes dropped more than 850 yuan/mt in early May. As of last Friday, the real-time full cost of smelters fell 499 yuan/mt compared with the end of April to around 16,383 yuan/mt. SMM A00 aluminium prices fell below 18,000 yuan/mt last week, and stood at 17,890 yuan/mt as of Friday, a decrease of 590 yuan/mt from the end of April. The real-time profit of smelters was about 1,506 yuan/mt.