12.04.2018 - Aluminium climbs to a six-year high
After the USA has imposed sanctions on the Russian aluminium producer Rusal, the price of the industrial metal is climbing steadily.
The price of aluminium has not risen as strongly as in the past few days. Since the end of last week alone, a ton on the London Metal Exchange, the world's most important metal exchange alongside Comex in New York, has risen by 16 percent to 2331 dollars. And there is still no end in sight. Thursday alone saw an increase of 3.6 percent.
The price rally triggered the USA when they imposed sanctions on numerous Russian oligarchs and companies last Friday. The list also includes Oleg Deripaska and his company Rusal. The sanctions have crashed the ruble and the Russian stock markets. They have pushed up the price of aluminium considerably.
With a final production of 3.7 million tons of aluminium in 2017, Rusal represents about six percent of global production. With the sanctions, however, the Group's light metal is now being banned in significant parts of the world.
The fact that both LME and Comex no longer wish to stock Rusal aluminium as of 17 April has not least contributed to the rise in prices. The cuts are enormous. "We need the material from Rusal," Colin Hamilton, BMO Capital Markets commodities expert told the Bloomberg news agency.
According to consistent media reports, Glencore, the world's largest commodities trader, declared a "force majeure" for some of Rusal's aluminum shipments. According to Bloomberg, the contracts have a volume of 50,000 tons. "Glencore was Rusal's biggest aluminium buyer last year," explain Commerzbank analysts.
Such clauses allow companies to withdraw from an otherwise binding contract in the event of unexpected events. According to one statement, the Swiss commodities trader is still reviewing the contracts with Rusal, but stresses that they are not of significant financial importance to Glencore.
The consequences of the sanctions are already devastating for Rusal. On the stock exchange, the value of the company has already more than halved. The Russian government, however, promised help.
However, the bottleneck in the aluminium market will probably not be resolved in the near future. The commodity experts at Australian investment bank Macquarie had already predicted a supply deficit for this year without the sanctions against Rusal. China closed several aluminium smelting plants last winter due to environmental pollution. Aluminium production requires a great deal of energy, which in China is often generated with coal, which in turn pollutes the air.
Aluminium is the metal most frequently found in the earth's crust. It is used in car construction, in real estate construction and also for packaging such as cans. In Europe alone, the transport industry accounts for around 40 percent of the use, according to data from the European Aluminium Association. The metal is estimated for its relatively low weight compared to steel, as it is also very stable.
Source: http://www.handelsblatt.com/finanze...-klettert-auf-sechs-jahres-hoch/21170630.html
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
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