Nalco Lifts 2008 Aluminum Estimate

India’s National Aluminum Co.,( Nalco) raised aluminum price estimate to $2,500 and $2,800 a metric ton this year, $500 higher than the previous forcast. Standard Bank Group Ltd. Said China will probably entail a loss of 600,000 tons of aluminum this year because the snowstorms caused closure of power stations and smelters; and aluminum may exceed the record $3,300 per ton in 2006. Nalco’s chairman C.R. Pradhan noted alumina will likely be traded between $350 and $400 a ton. Averaged aluminum price this year is $2,787 a ton, up 4.6% compared with the average $2,663.94 a ton in 2007. COPYRIGHT All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of WAM News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of WAM.