Aluminium climbs to three-week high as tightness back in focus

Aluminium on the London Metal Exchange rose for a fifth straight session on Thursday, reaching a three-week peak, according to Business Recorder. By 0910 GMT, the three-month contract stood 0.4% higher at $3,298 per metric ton, having earlier reached $3,306.50, a level not seen since August 13. Persistent supply tightness and a slightly better mood toward economic risk helped lift the metal and other industrial metals alike.

LME aluminium inventories of 245,975 tons are at their lowest since 1990. Shanghai Futures Exchange stocks in China have declined for 11 consecutive weeks, dropping from 528,885 tons on June 12, a six-year peak, to 391,498 tons. Analysts still expect a deficit this year, despite hopes for supply returning from Middle East smelters, which account for roughly 9% of global capacity.

Copper rose 0.4% to $14,268.50 a ton, supported by a weaker dollar and fading bets on a September rise in US interest rates. Zinc slipped 0.2% to $3,855 after touching a four-year high near $4,000 on Tuesday. Nickel shed 0.7% to $16,800, while lead rose 0.3% to $1,900 a ton and tin edged up 0.5% to $54,435.