This roundup covers the time period of December 10 through January 6.
December 10 – “Aluminum Leaving LME Seen by Jefferies Increasing Volatility,” Bloomburg
December 15 – “COLUMN-Glencore’s Pacorini entrenches LME warehousing position,” By Andy Home, Reuters
All good news, it appears, for the LME, which has been lambasted by industrial users for its dysfunctional physical delivery system and its disputed part in fracturing the aluminium market’s pricing model.
True, the problem can hardly be described as fixed given you’d still have to wait well over a year to get aluminium out of either Detroit or Vlissingen, but at least things are moving in the right direction even before the exchange’s new rules linking load-in to load-out rates (LILO) kick in from February.
December 15 – “Aluminum premiums expected to hit record high in 2015: survey,” Reuters
December 18 – “Highest U.K. Court Denies Rusal Right to Appeal Against LME Decision Ends Lengthy Dispute With London Metal Exchange,” Wall Street Journal
The U.K. Supreme Court said Thursday that Russia’s United Co. Rusal PLC can’t appeal against reforms to metal storage rules, ending a lengthy dispute with the London Metal Exchange. . . . The Supreme Court was Rusal’s last avenue of appeal. In its judgment Thursday, the Supreme Court said Rusal did “not raise an arguable point of law.”
December 18 – “The LME queues are reducing across all registered warehouses,” Al Circle
The backlog to remove aluminum from Detroit, the most acutely impacted location, shrank by 30 days to 641 days, while the wait to remove other metals stuck behind the wall of aluminum fell from 111 to 93 days.
December 18 – “Aluminium market will balance out in 2015 say experts,” Al Circle
December 30 – “Dominant holder highlights aluminium market’s problems,” Metal Guru
December 31 – “LME warehouse owners raise rents for aluminium as queues fall,” Reuters
Warehouses registered by the LME will raise average rental rates for aluminium by 3.6 percent in 2015, more than double the increase for the previous year, partly offsetting the impact of falling load-out queues.
January 5 – “How Higher Rents at LME Warehouses Affect Aluminum Market?,” Shanghai Metal Markets
January 5 – “Goldman Sachs sells warehouse division: A subsidiary of Reuben Brothers will take control of Metro International Trade Services,” Recycling Today
The sale of Goldman Sachs’ warehouse business comes after lawsuits and significant pressure by many in the aluminum industry who claimed that the financial firm, through its aluminum warehousing strategy, had unfair control over aluminum supply and pricing and used the warehouse to hoard aluminum.
January 6 – “Base Metals: Fourth Quarter Review And Outlook For 2015,” Seeking Alpha
January 6 – “China’s domestic spot aluminum alloy ADC12 offers steady after New Year holidays,” Platts