LME aluminium cools after record surge, but market tension lingers post Iranian strikes

After the skyrocketing records on March 31, the London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium prices appeared to ease at the close of the April 1 session. The slightly declining trend was also noticed in the movement of the stocks. However, a rise in the near-term contracts amongst a few other upward records indicates that concerns over supply risk post Iran’s drone and missile strikes on the facilities of Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) still remains.  

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The LME aluminium cash bid as well as offer prices declined slightly by 0.04 per cent from the previous close. The cash bid slipped to USD 3,583 per tonne from USD 3,584.5 per tonne, while the offer closed at USD 3,583.5 per tonne, down day-on-day from USD 3,585 per tonne.

The LME three-month contract, however, continued on the upward trend as in the previous close. The aluminium three-month bid climbed from USD 3,505 per tonne on March 31 to USD 3,523 on April 1, marking a 0.51 per cent increase. The offer rose from USD 3,506 per tonne to USD 3,525 per tonne, up 0.54 per cent.

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The downward trend reappeared at the longer-dated contracts. Both the December 27 bid and offer prices slipped by 1.12 per cent. The bid was down from USD 3,032 per tonne to USD 2,998 per tonne. The offer fell from USD 3,037 per tonne to USD 3,003 per tonne.

Again, the 3-month Asian Reference Price expanded from the previous close, settling at USD 3,531 per tonne on April 1, rising 1.85 per cent from USD 3,467 per tonne on March 31.

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On the inventory front, the LME aluminium opening stocks continued to decline, down from 418,675 tonnes on March 31 to 416,775 tonnes, decreasing by 0.45 per cent. Live warrants followed a similar trend, declining by 1.07 per cent from 272,625 tonnes to 269,700 tonnes. In contrast, cancelled warrants improved, standing at 144,475 tonnes, surging 0.22 per cent from 144,150 tonnes on the previous close.  

The LME alumina platts price on April 1 closed at USD 313 per tonne, up from USD 306.80 per tonne on March 31 by 2.02 per cent.

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