Aluminum entered a bull market in London and traded near the highest in 16 months on speculation demand will exceed supply for the metal used in everything from cars to packaging, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.
Stockpiles monitored by the London Metal Exchange slumped 9.4 percent this year to the lowest in 22 months. Producers outside China cut output after prices on the LME slumped 13 percent last year. Demand will exceed supply by 136,000 metric tons this year, with the deficit widening to 504,000 tons next year, Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) estimates. Premiums added to the LME benchmark price to obtain metal in Europe, North America and Asia climbed to records this year.