London aluminium hits four-year high on Middle East supply woes

Aluminium prices in London hit their highest in more than four years on Monday, as supply fears resurfaced after the collapse of U.S.-Iran peace talks. The benchmark three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange was at $3,555 a metric ton, gaining 1.61% by 0729 GMT, after earlier hitting a four-year high of $3,569. The most-traded aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed daytime trade up 0.55% at 24,760 yuan ($3,623.38) a ton. The U.S. military said it will begin a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports and coastal areas on Monday after the weekend peace talks failed, putting the fragile two-week ceasefire in jeopardy. "Rising geopolitical risks in the Middle East intensified concerns over shipments and production (of aluminium)," ING analysts said in a note. "Elevated energy prices are adding to the upside pressure for aluminium, reinforcing cost support for smelters at a time when power markets remain highly volatile," they added. The conflict has already forced some local aluminium smelters to scale back output and disrupted supply by shuttering the Strait of Hormuz, sending aluminium prices surging last month. The region accounted for roughly 9% of global aluminium supply before the Iran war. Meanwhile, copper prices gained against the backdrop of falling stocks and improving demand from top consumer China, with Shanghai copper touching a one-month high while London copper added 0.35%. The Yangshan copper premium , a gauge of the country's appetite for importing the metal, jumped to $73 a ton on April 10, the highest since June 2025. Among other LME metals, nickel advanced 1.71%, zinc added 0.15% while lead dipped 0.16% and tin slid 1.21%. For other SHFE metals, nickel climbed 2.61%, lead eased 0.63%, tin declined 0.87%, and zinc slipped 0.63%.