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Informist, Thursday, Apr. 2, 2026

 

by Ashutosh Pati

 

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of all base metals edged lower on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Thursday, tracking a fall in contracts on the London Metal Exchange because of a sharp rise in the dollar. Market sentiment was also weighed down by US President Donald Trump statement earlier in the day.

 

Trump said he expects the war with Iran to last another 2-3 weeks. He said the US would hit Iran extremely hard in these weeks. "I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly — very shortly," the president said, according to a statement put out by the White House. "We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to bring them back to the stone ages where they belong. In the meantime, discussions are ongoing... We have all the cards; they have none."

 

The rise in energy prices because of the war in West Asia has given rise to concern about global growth and inflation, which could hurt demand for metals. "Copper has retreated from recent highs, reflecting its sensitivity to elevated energy costs and demand uncertainty," Kotak Securities said in a report. "Aluminium, despite recent supply disruptions in the Middle East (West Asia), has also edged lower, highlighting broader risk-off sentiment," it said.

 

The downside in aluminium prices may be limited by concern about supply, but persistent geopolitical risks and high energy prices are likely to keep the complex under pressure, the brokerage added.

 

ALUMINIUM prices had surged in the previous session after reports that Emirates Global Aluminium halted operations at its Al Taweelah smelter after the site was hit by Iranian missiles and drones over the weekend, analysts at ING Economics said, citing a Wood Mackenzie report. According to the report, utilisation at Alba's smelter has fallen to around 30%, from 81% previously. For now, these reports have not been confirmed by the companies, the analysts said.

 

If confirmed, a halt at Emirates Global Aluminium's 1.6 million-tonnes-per-annum Al Taweelah smelter and Aluminium Bahrain's earlier reductions would take around 3 million tonnes per annum of capacity out, "close to half" of West Asian aluminium production, they said. "That marks a sharp escalation from the roughly 8-9% disruption we were flagging in midMarch."

 

At 1700 IST, on the MCX, the April futures contract of:

--Aluminium was at INR 352.70 a kg, down 0.8%
--COPPER was at INR 1,149.70 a kg, down 1.7%
–-LEAD was at INR 196.30 a kg, down 0.6%
–-ZINC was at INR 322.00 a kg, down 1.0%

--NICKEL was at INR 1,636.10 a kg, down 1.1%

 

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 350.00-INR 356.00

--Copper contract seen at INR 1,140.00-INR 1,160.00
--Lead contract seen at INR 193.00-INR 197.00

--Zinc contract seen at INR 320.00-INR 325.00

--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,600.00-INR 1,670.00

 

End

 

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

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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