By Megan Cheah
Aluminum stocks rose in Asia, supported by concerns that the metal's supply squeeze could continue, even after President Trump announced a two-week cease-fire with Iran.
The metal has recently come under the spotlight as strikes in the Middle East disrupted smelter production and damaged critical infrastructure. The region accounts for around 9.0% of global aluminum production, meaning that disruptions in the Gulf would materially tighten global supply, ING commodities strategists said in a note.
In Hong Kong, aluminum producer China Hongqiao Group rose 2.7% on Wednesday, while Aluminum Corp. of China's Hong Kong shares added 5.3% and its Shanghai-listed stock gained 6.8%.
Shares of China Aluminum International Engineering, which supplies engineering services to the nonferrous metal industry in China, rose 5.1% in Hong Kong. Its China-listed stock advanced 5.0%.
Japan's Daiki Aluminum Industry, which sells secondary aluminum alloy, rose 3.1%. Miner Alcoa's Australian stock climbed 3.7%, while Rio Tinto's shares gained 4.5%.
The stock gains come amid recent rises in aluminum prices, with the three-month contract on the London Metal Exchange trading 0.4% higher at 3490.50 a metric ton in late morning.
"LME aluminum prices are up more than 10% since the start of the Iran war, reflecting a rising geopolitical risk premium and growing concern that Middle Eastern disruptions could translate into sustained tightness rather than short-lived supply shocks," said ING strategists Ewa Manthey and Warren Patterson.
A halt at Emirates Global Aluminium's Al Taweelah smelter, producer Aluminium Bahrain's reduced operations and earlier curtailments at Norsk Hydro and QatarEnergy's Qatalum smelter could take around 3 million tons of annual capacity offline--nearly half of Middle Eastern aluminum production, according to ING.
Write to Megan Cheah at megan.cheah@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 08, 2026 00:08 ET (04:08 GMT)
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