Aluminum prices are on the rise in a major way with a stockpile in the Chinese market leading the charge, along with concern over an available supply shortage.
According to a recent report from The Wall Street Journal, aluminum futures hit a two-year high to close out October on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. The specific cause? Some analysts claim it’s the stricter Chinese road regulations with new weight limitations on trucks, which are delaying aluminum deliveries.
Producers who rely mostly on trucks for aluminum delivery could see their costs rise as much as 30% for the time being.
Michael Turek, head of base metals at BGC Partners in New York, told the WSJ,
The longer this situation is unresolved, the more impact it’s going to have...Less aluminum is getting to where it needs to go.
Smelters using trains as their primary method of moving aluminum are also facing issues, according to the WSJ.
Aluminum consultancy AZ China wrote in a report Tuesday,
Loads of ingots are waiting at rail stations across the region, waiting for spare rail capacity to take them to markets in the south east and elsewhere
Aluminum Prices Hit 15-month High to Begin November
Our own Raul de Frutos wrote this week that aluminum prices hit even newer highs, rising above $1,700 per metric ton on the London Metals Exchange.
Aluminum supply has increased this year as rising aluminum prices triggered release of new capacity and restarts of idled capacity. However, as we recently pointed out, there are other factors pushing aluminum prices up
Those factors include rising energy costs and strong demand.