Rio Tinto PLC

Rio is the largest owner and operator of autonomous—driverless—trucks in the world. These initiatives are part of Rio’s “Mine of the Future” program.

After starting the day with decreased momentum, copper prices remains mixed on Friday, August 19. At 1:50 PM EDT on August 19, the COMEX copper futures contract for September delivery was trading at ~$2.17 per pound, a gain of ~0.16%.

Alcoa has revised down its 2016 global aluminum demand growth projection to 5%.

The JPMorgan Intrepid European Fund’s assets were spread across 79 holdings as of December 2015.

At 1:15 PM EST on September 20, the COMEX copper futures contract for December delivery rose ~0.35%. It was trading at $2.16 per pound.

After starting the day on a weaker note on Wednesday, August 3, copper maintained the same sentiment throughout the day and declined lower.

BHP had been contemplating whether to sell the non-core assets or go for a demerger. Finally, the company decided in favor of a demerger on August 15. The proposed company will likely have assets in the range of $12–$20 billion.

Alcoa idled several smelting plants since 2007. Its aluminum smelting capacity has come down by 28% over the period. Most of these smelters had high unit production costs.

Goldman Sachs (GS) now expects copper prices to fall to $4,000 per metric ton this year. In its previous guidance, Goldman had expected copper to fall to $4,500 per metric ton in 2016.

Iron ore prices are down 19% year-over-year (or YoY) and coal prices are down 30% YoY—volumes were also down YoY, but the stock rallied 7% in a single trading session the next day of the earnings call and up 3% the subsequent trading day.

At 6:20 AM EST on September 14, the COMEX copper futures contract for December delivery was trading at $2.13 per pound—a gain of ~1.2%.

Trading on the London metal exchange determines the price for primary aluminum. Any increase in the price of aluminum benefits companies that produce primary aluminum.

The aluminum process starts by extracting bauxite from the Earth’s crust. The bauxite is refined into alumina. Alumina is a key raw material—along with carbon and electricity.

Glencore’s metals and mining segment was the second-biggest contributor to its 1H15 revenues.

Rio Tinto’s (RIO) net debt at the end of 1H17 was $7.6 billion, compared with $12.9 billion at the end of 1H16 and $9.6 billion at the end of December 2016.

As of June 30, 11 fallen angel companies had issued tender offers YTD, boosting their bond prices by 5% on average.

In 2014, Alcoa (AA) sold its stake in the Mt. Holly smelter to Century Aluminum (CENX).

Elliott Management noted that it plans to engage in a “constructive dialogue” with Alcoa’s (AA) board regarding Alcoa’s split transaction and “additional available opportunities to maximize shareholder value.”

China has been reeling under its overcapacity in the steel industry. In 2016, China planned to cut 45 million tons but wound up cutting 80 million tons.

At 6:40 AM EST on July 5, the COMEX Copper futures contract for September delivery was trading at $2.2 per pound—a drop of 0.81%.

China imported 92 million tons of iron ore in January 2017—a growth of 12.0% YoY and 3.4% month-over-month.

During its 4Q15 earnings conference call, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) mentioned a debt reduction program to raise $5 billion–$10 billion to shore up its balance sheet.

Among the stocks under review in this series, Vale SA (VALE) has given the highest trailing-three-month return of 36.4%, while Rio Tinto (RIO) has generated the lowest return of 15.4%.

Rio Tinto’s (RIO) Aluminum division contributed 19% of its 1H16 underlying EBITDA (or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization).

In this series, we’ll pay special attention to Alcoa’s 2014 performance and to how investors can play Alcoa and other aluminum companies in 2015.

Iron ore makes up 38% of BHP Billiton’s (BHP) revenues and 42% of its EBITDA.

According to Bloomberg, Rio Tinto CFO Chris Lynch has suggested that iron ore prices will not collapse, as many expect.

While Vale SA outperformed peers including Rio Tinto (RIO) and BHP Billiton by rising 24.7% in 1Q17, its performance deteriorated significantly in 2Q17.

China’s (MCHI) iron ore port inventory is a key indicator that reflects the commodity’s supply-and-demand balance.

Bauxite is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust. Because of the many impurities in bauxite, it must be refined to produce alumina.

Freeport-McMoRan released its 3Q17 earnings on October 25, posting revenues of ~$4.3 billion in 3Q17, compared with ~$3.7 billion in 2Q17.

Aluminum premiums more than doubled in 2014, which benefited primary producers like Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton.

Primary aluminum and alumina are commodity products. Producers don’t have much control over their pricing. The prices are decided by market dynamics.

Iron ore price realization In 4Q16, Vale’s (VALE) ferrous division accounted for ~85.0% of its adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization). The company’s EBITDA for ferrous minerals came in at $4.1 billion, which was $1.6 billion higher than 3Q16. Higher realized prices and higher sales volumes led to these rises. The CFR […]

Elliott Management plans to engage in a “constructive dialogue” with Alcoa’s board about Alcoa’s split transaction and “additional available opportunities to maximize shareholder value.”

“Backwardation” occurs when futures contracts trade below the spot price, and the futures curve begins to downward slope. This means that the market expects further decline in iron ore prices based on current indicators and fundamentals.

In 1Q17, there were rumors that Rio Tinto (RIO) could acquire Alcoa.

BHP’s underlying net profit of $3.2 million was a solid improvement, as compared to the profit of $412 million in 4Q15.

Contrary to what was suggested by many market participants, the iron ore imports by China increased in September 2016 instead of declining.

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) posted revenues of $3.3 billion in 2Q16. In contrast, Freeport posted revenues of nearly ~$4.2 billion in 2Q15.

Alcoa (AA) released its 1Q17 earnings on April 24 after the markets (MDY) (MID-INDEX) closed. It held the conference call the same day.

Alcoa’s technical indicators To make market entry and exit decisions, traders and investors analyze technical indicators. Resistance and support levels are among the most commonly used technical indicators. Resistance level Support levels typically act as a floor for stock prices. As a stock approaches its support levels, more buyers emerge while selling pressure generally subsides. […]

According to Freeport-McMoRan’s agreement with Indonesia’s government, it must divest an additional 20.6% stake in its Indonesian operations to the government or its citizens.

Valemax ships are ultra-large vessels, capable of carrying 400,000 dwt (dead weight tons) each. That’s 2.3 times more than traditional Capesize ships. They also emit 35% less CO2 per ton of ore transported.

Vale SA (VALE) is a Brazilian multinational diversified metals and mining company. It is the world’s largest producer of iron ore and iron ore pellets and the world’s second-largest producer of nickel.

Although there hasn’t been any recent cause for concern, and the government doesn’t interfere in the day-to-day workings of Vale, there’s always a risk that the company could be pushed into pursuing objectives that aren’t in the best interests of all shareholders.

Vale SA (VALE) is the world’s largest producer of iron ore and pellets. Pellets are manufactured by gathering together the powder generated during the ore extraction process.

Vale SA offers technical assistance to its customers and operates sales support offices in several cities. These offices monitor customer requirements and ensure timely deliveries.

Realized prices for iron ore vary depending on quality, moisture content, freight costs, and pricing mechanisms. ROM sales reduced Vale’s realized price by about $6 per ton in 2013.

Investors like aluminum. They can play the aluminum industry by trading aluminum on commodity exchanges. Investors can also investment in aluminum plays.