ALCAN UPS ALUMINIUM INGOT AND BILLET PRICES
Alcan Aluminium Ltd. in Montreal said
it increased yesterday its prices for unalloyed ingot and
extrusion billet by two cents a lb, effective with shipments
beginning May 1.
    The new price for unalloyed ingot is 64.5 cents a lb while
the new price for extrusion billet is 72.5 cents a lb.
    "We feel very confident about raising our prices because we
see demand over supply as being sustainable for some time,"
said Ian Rugeroni, Alcan's president of metal sales and
recycling - U.S.A.
    Rugeroni said sheet and can bookings for Alcan aluminium
were up at a time when the company's total 1.1 mln tonne North
American smelter system had less than a week's supply.
    "We're short and we're buying," he said.
    Rugeroni added that Alcan expects the International Primary
Aluminum Institute to report a drop in total non-Socialist
stocks in February and March. He estimated supply in the latter
month will have fallen 100,000 to 150,000 tonnes, based in part
on current low inventories of aluminium in Japan and on the
London Metal Exchange.
 reuter
