Russian aluminium fuels over half of LME warehouse stockpiles

In March 2024, data from the London Metal Exchange (LME) indicated that Russian aluminium stocks in registered warehouses rose to 53 per cent of the total, reaching 220,575 tonnes, up from 41 per cent in January 2024. This indicates consumers may have evaded Russian metal across various sectors such as transport, construction, and packaging, as a global news agency reported.

Despite the geopolitical crisis, the world's oldest exchange and most significant market for industrial metals has refrained from banning the trading and storage of Russian metals within its system, nor has it shown any willingness, as Western sanctions on Russian base metals have not been imposed.