The premium, or backwardation, of the near-term aluminium contract over the three-month benchmark on the London Metal Exchange hit $97 per metric ton on Friday, the highest in 19 years, as the Iran war tightens supply.
* The squeeze reflects a 39% drop in available aluminium stocks in LME-registered warehouses since the conflict began in late February.
* The war has curtailed most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for Gulf producers to export aluminium and import raw materials. Two regional smelters were hit by Iranian strikes in late March.
* Disrupted Middle East supply - typically around 9% of global output - has driven up physical premiums in Europe and the U.S., forcing the two regions to compete for Canadian metal.
* Benchmark LME aluminium prices are up 22% so far this year. They hit a more than four-year high of $3,707.50 on Tuesday and were last up 0.3% at $3,671 on Friday.
* Available LME aluminium stocks have fallen to a one-year low of 254,625 tons, daily LME data showed on Friday, after 5,000 tons were cancelled, or marked as being prepared for delivery out, at the South Korean port of Gwangyang. <0#MALSTX-LOC>
* Traders say Gwangyang mainly stores Russian-origin aluminium. Russian metal accounted for 72% of available LME stocks at the end of April.
* Many Western buyers have been avoiding Russian aluminium in recent years because of self-sanctioning or sanctions linked to Russia's war in Ukraine.
* "The cancellation is bigger than usual but still looks like a regular flow to either Korean or Chinese consuming market," said a metals logistics source.
* Cancellations signal intent to remove metal from the LME system, but warrants can be reissued. A further 108,263 tons of aluminium sit off-warrant, mostly in Asia.
