On Friday, March 27, the London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium price declined, but the December 27 contracts, after easing, adapted the rising trend. The LME inventory also widened from the previous close. However, considering the price update on March 30, the LME aluminium price rose significantly after Iran attached two production sites in the Middle East.

The LME cash bid expanded by USD 41.5 per tonne or 1.3 per cent, declining from USD 3,331.5 per tonne to USD 3,290 per tonne. The cash offer also decreased by USD 40 per tonne or 1.2 per cent from USD 3,332 per tonne to USD 3,292 per tonne.

The 3-month bid and offer, at the same time, inched down by USD 31 per tonne or 1 per cent, where the bid closed at USD 3,240 per tonne, down from USD 3,271 per tonne and the final offer at USD 3,242 per tonne from USD 3,273 per tonne.

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On the other hand, looking at the longer-dated contracts, both the LME December 27 bid and offer expanded by USD 38 per tonne or 1.3 per cent. The December 27 bid shifted from USD 2,900 per tonne to USD 2,938 per tonne and the offer from USD 2,905 per tonne to USD 2,943 per tonne.

The LME 3-month Asian Reference Price also rose by USD 26.5 per tonne or 1 per cent, increasing from USD 3,269.5 per tonne to USD 3,296 per tonne.

Looking at the LME inventory, the opening stock reduced from 426,750 tonnes to 423,075 tonnes, representing a difference of 3,675 tonnes or 1 per cent. The live warrant showed no change from the previous close and is still at 272,825 tonnes. However, the cancelled warrant followed the declining trend and moved from 153,295 tonnes to 148,050 tonnes, reflecting a change of 5,245 tonnes or 3.4 per cent.

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The LME alumina platts remained unchanged and on March 27 remained at USD 307.11 per tonne.

However, on March 30, the price update at various sources shows that the LME aluminium price has reached as high as USD 3,492 per tonne, showing an increase of 6 per cent in the early trading. 

The rise in the price is owed to Iran's attack on two of the largest production site in the Middle East, which directly impacts the supply chain and create disruption in the region, which is deemed to hold the major part of the global output. The two sites which were attacked are deemed to be the Middle East's largest aluminium producers, that is, the Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and Aluminium Bahrain (Alba).

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