ALUMINIUM DIPS AS OIL SURGE FUELS INFLATION CONCERNS

Aluminium eased on Friday as rising oil prices remained a focus and continued to fuel inflation concerns, although the metal was headed for weekly gains amid supply risks linked to the ongoing Middle East war.

The most-active aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was down 0.26 per cent at 25,250 yuan ($3,667.13) a metric tonne as of 0250 GMT, but was on course for a near 3 per cent weekly gain.

The benchmark three-month aluminium contract on the London Metal Exchange dipped 0.09 per cent to $3,513.50 a tonne and was set to end the week up by 2 per cent.

The Middle East war has disruptedshipment and delivery of aluminium and raw materials to and from the region that accounts for around 9 per cent of the world’s aluminium output.

Norsk Hydro said on Thursday that its Qatalum aluminium smelter in Qatar halted a curtailment announced last week and would keep production at around 60 per cent of its capacity, easing some supply worries.

However, the oil price surge has stoked fears of higher inflation, pressuring base metals including aluminium and capping gains driven by supply risks from the Middle East, traders said.

Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut, heightening worries about a prolonged conflict.

Brent futures are hovering around $100 a barrel, slightly easing from Thursday. Higher energy costs have prompted investors to scale back bets of US rate cuts this year.

Meanwhile, trading houses have stepped up activity amid expectations of an aluminium deficit that has recently been worsened by the Middle East war. Commodity trader IXM is weighing a restart of aluminium trading, Reuters reported on Thursday, and Mercuria cancelled nearly 100,000 tonnes of aluminium in LME-approved warehouses in Malaysia MALSTX-TOTAL on Monday.

Elsewhere on SHFE, copper dropped 0.31 per cent, zinc shed 0.41 per cent, lead declined 0.45 per cent, tin lost 1.29 per cent and nickel added 0.11 per cent.

Among other LME metals, copper CMCU3 eased 0.53 per cent, lead dropped 0.34 per cent, nickel lost 0.88 per cent, tin declined 0.58 per cent and zinc CMZN3 was little changed

2026-03-13T06:54:39Z