Russian aluminium's share of available LME stocks rises to 95% in June

The share of available Russian-origin aluminium stocks in London Metal Exchange warehouses increased to 95% in June from 93% in May, exchange data showed on Friday, leaving only a small amount of Indian metal as a non-Russian alternative.

Total available, or on-warrant, aluminium inventories fell 3% in June to 246,600 metric tons, the lowest since April 2025, as the conflict in the Middle East tightened global supply.

Available Russian aluminium stocks fell by 3,150 tons to 234,025 tons in June, but their share of total inventories increased as Indian stocks dropped by a steeper 4,875 tons.

That left just 12,575 tons of Indian aluminium available in LME warehouses at the end of June — and none from other countries.

Many traders have shunned Russian metal even though material produced before April 13, 2024, remains eligible for trading. Aluminium made in Russia after that date was barred from the LME warehousing system to comply with Western sanctions.

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Meanwhile, the share of Chinese-made copper in available LME copper stocks rose to 59% in June from 53% in May. The increase came even as the volume of Chinese copper fell by 22,375 tons to 118,650 tons, because stocks from Australia, Chile, Peru and South Korea also declined.

Total available copper stocks decreased by 65,175 tons to 201,700 tons, the lowest since February.

The share of Chinese-origin nickel nudged down to 70% of available LME stocks at the end of last month, versus 75% at the end of May.