INTL AL CONF: Credit concerns rising amid high aluminium premiums

Surging primary aluminium premiums are heightening the risks for consumers and suppliers, producers and market analysts said at Fastmarkets' virtual International Aluminium Conference last week.

Representatives from Vedanta, Rusal and McKinsey joined a discussion panel on Thursday September 2 to debate market drivers, high premiums and sustainability, among other topics.
Billet premiums have reached fresh all-time highs for the past 13 weeks, prompting a question to the panel asking how long they they expected that rising costs could be passed further down the supply chain.
"Fundamentally, it comes down to a question of when you start to see real demand attrition," McKinsey partner Jeffrey Lorch told delegates.

"When will people start to push back and say they are not going to take this much volume? In today's market, that's just not really happening - there are longer term trends supporting aluminium and people have made real...

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