Aluminum prices increased by 1.07% to reach 241.65 as a result of increased confidence over prospective rate cuts by central banks and their expected benefits for economic expansion. Gains were restrained, nevertheless, by worries about the market’s weak demand.
An important intermediate component in the manufacturing of aluminum, alumina, has become scarce as a result of China’s decreased output and disruptions to Rio Tinto’s (LON: RIO) Australian exports.
The International Aluminium Institute (IAI) reports that worldwide primary aluminium output rose 3.3% year over year in April to 5.898 million tonnes, despite supply disruptions. China’s imports of unwrought aluminium and its derivatives increased to 380,000 metric tonnes in April, up 72.1% year over year.
For the first four months of the year, imports totaled 1.49 million tonnes, an 86.6% increase over the same time the previous year. In addition, the amount of Russian imports into the country in the first quarter of this year was 392,775 tonnes, a notable increase of 127.7% over the same time in the previous year.
