Card reshuffling and new deals progress between energy suppliers and aluminum producers, while the ratios between LME price and energy costs stabilize

This country is a major aluminum producer and was a Power Island (world region categorized by the EIU as having excess, cheap power). Energy demand exploded to the point of creating a capacity deficiency and killing several major investment projects. Now the country engages a major consensus seeking debate between the main actors among producers and consumers. Watch out! This may revive more than one interesting project quite soon, because of a renewed awareness that primary aluminum is a powerful actor in terms of job and wealth creation. At a more modest level, this little known firm became an aluminum producer thanks to the purchase, while the going was good, of a smelter rated as non-competitive by its owner. Then it invested in power generation. And now it is on the move to acquire an energy generating firm in another country nearby… where there might be smelters for sale! In this country where construction of a greenfield already began, criticism of the project based on vivid environmental concerns brings the political debate to a very intense level and the public follows carefully. We estimate that the critics will fail: the country needs the business too much, and concerns are based on mis-information. In a country where the economy is slowly improving, this aluminum producer was in severe financial straits not so long ago. Now it is restarting idle capacity and will certainly invest. And so may this smelter nearby, which was lying idle and seriously plans a restart. This private aluminum producer has one old smelter which renegotiated its energy contract. Now the producer is going public. We expect small but badly needed investments. In this country, which enjoys a huge aluminum industry, the main producer plans now for major investments including integrating energy generation. Far away from there, this huge, highly competitive aluminum producer plans long term investments poising it for global expansion.