Brazil to Ration Energy, Cut Aluminum Production This Year

Brazil’s already struggling aluminum industry will have to endure energy-related plant shutdowns later this year, Bloomberg News reported today.

Brazilian aluminum companies are already producing at the lowest level in 12 years amid higher power costs.  A drought is expected to curb hydroelectric generation in the country.

Rationing is “almost certain” within a year, Tito Martins Jr., chairman of the Brazilian Aluminum Association, which represents companies in the eighth-largest aluminum-producing nation, told a conference in Sao Paulo today.

The cash price of primary aluminum saw the biggest upwards shift for the day, rising 1.2 percent on the LME to close at $1,730 per metric ton on Tuesday. On the LME, the 3-month price of aluminum inched up 1.2 percent to $1,773 per metric ton. The Indian aluminum cash price ended a two-day climb.

Chinese aluminum prices were mixed for the day. The Chinese aluminum cash price finished the day with a .6 percent increase. The price of Chinese aluminum scrap saw essentially no change for the fifth day in a row. For the fifth consecutive day, the price of Chinese aluminum billet held flat. The price of Chinese aluminum bar saw little movement.

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