Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Aluminum prices rose on Thursday as talks of fresh output curbs in top producer and consumer China fueled concerns about supply disruptions.
Three-month aluminum on the London Metal Exchange edged up 0.2% to $2,899 a tonne by 0241 GMT, while the most-traded October aluminum contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange advanced 2% to 22,735 yuan ($3,534.07) a tonne.
Both contracts have risen about 45% so far this year, hit by supply worries mostly from China.
Aluminum producer Shaanxi Nonferrous Yulin New Material will have to reduce its output by 50% in September as part of energy consumption controls, according to a local government document posted by consultancy MySteel.
The company has a smelting capacity of around 600,000 tonnes per year. Shaanxi Nonferrous Yulin and a local government official were not immediately able to comment on the document.
China’s aluminum output in August slipped for a fourth straight month, as restrictions on metal production and power usage in key smelting hubs kept supply tight.
(By Mai Nguyen; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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