London Aluminium hits 10-yr peak; nitpicking industrial metals rise amid supply fears

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On Thursday, benchmark LME (London Metal Exchange) Aluminium futures’ prices had sky-rocketed to a 10-year high, while other industrial metals had wrapped up the day with modest gains, as investors’ frets grew over a squeezed supply chain amid a rise in the rapidly spreading delta cases.

On top of that, investors’ jitters over a potential supply-crunch ratcheted up further after Beijing had inclined restrictions on aluminium productions, eventually lifting the industrial metal’s futures’ prices to a 10-year peak as beforementioned.

In point of fact, industrial metals including the ‘economic bellwether’ copper futures were gathering steam over recent past amid a sheer shortage in a swathe of major G20 economies, while in the day’s maverick rally in aluminium’s prices was largely transpired over a regulatory curb on outputs by Beijing.

Meanwhile, addressing to a lower Chinese output behind Thursday’s extra-ordinary rally in aluminium prices, an industry analyst Robin Bhar said, “We’re seeing inventories coming down to try to fill the gap between supply and demand,” adding that aluminium futures’ prices might hit $3,000 a ton in a near-term.

LME Aluminium futures hit 10-year peak; industrial metals risenitpicking

Citing statistics, in the day’s London Metal Exchange (LME) closing bell, LME aluminium edged 0.1 per cent higher to $2,692.50 per ton after hitting a 10-year peak of $2,734.50 earlier in the day, a level never seen since the May of 2011.

Among other industrial metals, LME Copper futures gained 0.5 per cent to $9,378 per ton, Zinc inched up to $2,983 and Nickel contracts rose 0.4 per cent to $19,400 a ton, while lead leapt as much as 1.4 per cent to round off the day at $2,305.50 per ton.