Aluminium Jumps as Supply Fears Deepen on Iran's Attacks on Middle East Plants

Source: US News & World Report/Reuters

March 30, 2026, at 4:11 a.m.


March 30 (Reuters) - Aluminium prices rose sharply on Monday ⁠as ⁠market participants braced for a ⁠deeper supply shock after Iranian strikes over the weekend hit two of ​the biggest producers of the metal in the Middle East. Benchmark three-month aluminium on the London Metal ‌Exchange was up 3.85% at $3,423 a ‌metric ton, as of 0718 GMT. Earlier in the session, it hit its highest since ⁠March 19 ⁠at $3,492, close to a four-year peak of $3,546.50.

The most-active aluminium contract on the ​Shanghai Futures Exchange closed 3.43% higher at 24,725 yuan ($3,578.82) a ton, after rising as much as 3.91% earlier in the day to 24,840 yuan, the highest since March 19.

Aluminium Bahrain, which runs the world's ​largest single-site smelter, said on Sunday that it was assessing the damage from the ⁠Iranian strikes, ⁠while Emirates Global Aluminium ⁠said its ​plant sustained "significant damage". Fears of aluminium supply disruption have grown since the United States and Israel's ​war against Iran began because ⁠aluminium producers in the Gulf, which accounts for about 9% of global supply, have been unable to ship material through the Strait of Hormuz.

Alba has already started shutting smelting lines representing 19% of its capacity earlier this month. Serious damage to the plants could lead to further ⁠production cuts that could be difficult to quickly recover from, traders said.

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