Concern in the market surrounding recent sanctions against Rusal pushed the Midwest premium higher this month to widen the import aluminium arbitrage between Asia and the United States.
The differential between canceling aluminium from London Metal Exchange warehouses in Asia and shipping the material into the US Midwest increased for the third month in a row. With the estimated arbitrage for material from Singapore, Busan, Johor and Port Klang shipped to the US Midwest was at their widest since Metal Bulletin started launched the indicator in June 2017. "With the way premiums reacted to the numerous amounts of news during April shows that it is not surprising the arb is so wide. It is a big jump but shipping to the US is still a risk," a trader said. For material originating from warehouses in Singapore, the estimated arbitrage was at $317.75 per tonne in April...