A round-up of news and price movements from one very significant week in the aluminium market.
The aluminium market has spiraled out of control in the week since the US Treasury Department announced sanctions on Russian aluminium producer UC Rusal. Aluminium premiums set new highsA surge in liquidity and a continued scramble for non-Rusal material helped push the Metal Bulletin Rotterdam duty-unpaid in-warehouse aluminium premium up 20.5% $125-140 per tonne on Friday April 13 from $105-115 per tonne on Thursday April 12.Meanwhile, the Rotterdam duty-paid premium rocketed from $164-174 per tonne to $200-220 per tonne - the highest since March 2015.The physical aluminium market in Europe is extremely bullish because of significant supply tightness, with more market participants turning away from using metal supplied by Russian aluminium producer Rusal. In the United States, sanctions levied against UC Rusal are expected to change the flow of aluminium supply in the country,...