Extreme tightness of duty-unpaid aluminium units in Rotterdam has pushed the P1020 duty-unpaid premium to its highest since March.
With a lack of imports and material in tight hands, participants are concerned the tightness will not ease in the near term.
"There is no unpaid material, simple as that. There is nothing new coming in and those holding the material are not willing to let it go at low numbers," a trader said.
Fastmarkets assessed the
aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dup Rotterdam at $100-110 per tonne on Wednesday September 3. The premium is 13.5% higher than at the start of August when it was at $90-95 per tonne.
The duty-unpaid Rotterdam premium is also over 30% higher than in April when the effect of Covid-19 on demand started to put pressure on aluminium premiums throughout Europe. The premium fell to an annual low of $75-85 per tonne in April.
One of the main drivers of an increasing duty-unpaid premium is the lack of aluminium supply flowing into...