Aluminium falls as EGA reaffirms output recovery timeline

LONDON: Aluminium prices fell on Wednesday after major producer Emirates Global Aluminium reaffirmed it would resume full-scale production at its

war-damaged smelter in the first quarter of 2027, easing worries about future supply deficits.

Benchmark three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange was down 1.5% at $3,313 a metric ton by 1006 GMT.

The metal had been rising for seven previous sessions, hitting a seven-week high of $3,384.5 on Tuesday as worries over supply from the Gulf coincided with Norsk Hydro’s announcement of reduced feedstock production at its Brazilian plant.

Abu Dhabi-based EGA said its Al Taweelah smelter, which was shut down by an Iranian strike in March, was operating at 18% capacity. As EGA organised export routes outside the Strait of Hormuz since March, its total sales fell by only 32% to 939,000 tons in the first half of 2026.

The physical premium European buyers pay above the LME price for primary aluminium - whichcovers freight, taxes and handling costs - has eased to $487 a ton from a May peak of $621, indicating that worries about the Gulf supply have gradually eased, although it is still up 36% since the war started.

In other LME metals, copper rose 0.5% to $14,233.50 a ton, so far on track to close Wednesday at a fresh all-time high, as a temporary shutdown of a smelter in Indonesia added to worries about tight inventories in the LME system amid outflows to the U.S.

The premium of the LME cash copper contract over the benchmark hit $196 a ton, its highest since October, on Tuesday, signalling tightness for nearby supply.

In top metals consumer China, the Yangshan copper premium fell to its one-month low of $96 a ton from a peak of $115 a ton on July 22, indicating weaker demand from Chinese importers as high prices dented buying interest.

LME zinc climbed 1.1% to $3,768.50, nickel added 0.5% to $16,910, while lead and tin gained 0.3% to $1,911.50 and $55,960, respectively.