Aluminium's three-month price on the London Metal Exchange dropped by nearly 2% at the close of trading on Monday May 20, falling below its nearby $1,800 per tonne support level on the news that Norsk Hydro's Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil has been allowed to resume full operations.
Brazilian authorities ended the final production embargo on the facility earlier this afternoon and Alunorte will begin a ramp up of operations. The refinery had been operating at 50% since March 2018. Trading activity in aluminium picked up following the news, climbing by more than 2,000 lots and closing with more than 12,000 lots exchanged. Volumes had been predominantly thin over the day's trading, Just 97 lots of tin traded over the day. The International Aluminium Institute (IAI) has reported a decrease in global primary aluminium production for last month. The IAI released its monthly...