More Stories

Informist, Monday, Apr. 20, 2026

 

By Ashutosh Pati

 

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of aluminium rebounded on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the London Metal Exchange Monday due to an escalation in the war in West Asia and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz again over the weekend after a brief resumption of flows, according to analysts.

 

Tensions between the US and Iran resurfaced after US President Donald Trump Sunday said the US military had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade. The US military said it had fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship as the vessel sailed toward Iran's Bandar Abbas port.

 

ALUMINIUM prices on the domestic bourse had fallen as much as 6% Friday after Iran announced it would keep the Strait of Hormuz open during the 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. "The move briefly fuelled optimism for de-escalation. The critical route for global aluminium trade had been closed since late February following US and Israeli strikes on Iran," analysts at ING Economics said in a report.

 

West Asia accounts for around 9% of global aluminium output and is a key supplier to Europe. ING analysts said the supply shock is no longer just logistical as the aluminium market has moved into a structural deficit. Two major producers in West Asia, Aluminium Bahrain and Emirates Global Aluminium, have curtailed output since the war started. This could remove nearly 3 million tonnes per annum of capacity, almost half of the region's output, the analysts said.

 

"This would potentially widen the global supply deficit to 2Mt (million tonnes). Given the difficulty of restarting smelting capacity, tight supply conditions are likely to continue supporting aluminium prices despite near-term volatility," they said.

 

At 1841 IST, on the MCX, the April futures contract of:

--Aluminium was at INR 365.10 a kg, up 0.5%
--COPPER was at INR 1,270.50 a kg, down 0.2%
–-LEAD was at INR 194.85 a kg, down 0.1%
–-ZINC was at INR 341.20 a kg, up 0.6%

 

The May futures contract of NICKEL was at INR 1,724.90 a kg, up 0.3%

 

Trading levels for the day on the MCX:
--Aluminium contract seen at INR 360.00-INR 370.00

--Copper contract seen at INR 1,255.00-INR 1,285.00
--Lead contract seen at INR 193.00-INR 196.00

--Zinc contract seen at INR 338.00-INR 345.00

--Nickel contract seen at INR 1,700.00-INR 1,750.00

End

 

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

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.