Higher freight rates and continued fears of political uncertainty in the United States deterred aluminium participants from shipping metal from warehouses in Asia to the US in February.
The reluctance from market participants to take advantage of a slightly wider month-on-month arbitrage from London Metal Exchange warehouses in Asia to the US comes despite an increase of the P1020 US Midwest delivered premium in February. The average midpoint of the US Midwest premium rose to $429.90 per tonne in February, the highest since November 2018, up from $418.97 per tonne in January. Despite firmer premiums in the US though, increased freight rates at some London Metal Exchange warehouses...