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Informist, Monday, Mar. 30, 2026

 

By Ashutosh Pati

 

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of all base metals on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange rose Monday with aluminium surging over 4% on supply concern after Iranian strikes against two major producers in West Asia.

 

Aluminium Bahrain, or Alba, one of the world's largest smelters, said its facility was subject to an Iranian attack Saturday and the company is currently assessing the extent of damage to its facilities. Alba had already shut 19% of its total capacity of 1.6 million tonnes per annum, citing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for regional producers to transport metal and raw materials.

 

Emirates Global Aluminium, another major producer in the region, also sustained signficant damage to its facilities from Iranian attacks. "EGA confirmed several employees were injured but has not yet clarified whether operations at its smelters in Abu Dhabi and Dubai have been suspended. EGA is the largest aluminium producer in the UAE and one of the biggest globally," analysts at ING Economics said in a report.

 

The latest escalation comes on top of already tightening supply conditions across the Gulf. "Recent curtailments at Alba and Qatalum have already affected around 560kt (560,000 tonnes) of annual capacity, leaving close to 8-9% of regional supply at risk. With the Middle East (West Asia) accounting for roughly 9% of global aluminium production, any prolonged outages would further tighten the market," the analysts said.

 

ING analysts remain "constructive" on ALUMINIUM prices, with the latest attacks heightening the possibility of a prolonged disruption of supply.

 

At 1752 IST, on the MCX, the April futures contract of:

--Aluminium was at INR 350.70 a kg, up 3.3%
--COPPER was at INR 1,156.20 a kg, up 0.5%
–-LEAD was at INR 194.00 a kg, up 0.3%
–-ZINC was at INR 319.00 a kg, up 1.2%

--NICKEL was at INR 1,645.30 a kg, up 1.8%

 

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 350.00-INR 358.00

--Copper contract seen at INR 1,140.00-INR 1,170.00
--Lead contract seen at INR 192.00-INR 198.00

--Zinc contract seen at INR 316.00-INR 322.00

--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,620.00-INR 1,680.00

 

End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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