Aluminum rises after a smelter in the Emirates was subjected to an Iranian attack necessitating lengthy repairs

Aluminum prices rose on Tuesday, and the main price spread for contracts on the London Metal Exchange jumped, with the market pricing in confirmations that a smelter in the Emirates will face a long repair period after an Iranian attack that occurred late last month.

The aluminum contract for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange rose by 1.1% to reach $3,507 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading.

Emirates Global Aluminium said on Friday that restoring full production at the Al Taweelah smelter, which produced 1.6 million tons of cast metal in 2025, may take up to a full year, after entering an emergency shutdown following the attacks of March 28.

Marex analyst Ed Meir said in a note that this represents a relatively long period of downtime, adding that a major disruption in the Gulf region may push the aluminum market into a noticeable deficit during the current year.

The premium of the spot aluminum contract on the London Metal Exchange compared to the three-month contract reached $77 per ton on Tuesday, which is the highest level since 2007, compared with $61 in late March, indicating a narrowing of the supply available for immediate delivery.

In the broader markets, investors adopted a wait-and-see approach with the approaching deadline imposed by American President Donald Trump to reach an agreement with Iran, which threatens to escalate the conflict.

At the same time, copper on the London Metal Exchange fell by 0.1% to $12,344 per ton in official trading, affected by the rise in inventories within the exchange system.

Goldman Sachs had raised on Monday its expectations for the global copper market surplus this year to 490,000 tons compared to a previous expectation of 380,000 tons, after economists at the bank estimated that the rise in energy prices may cut about 0.4 percentage points from global GDP growth.

Daily data released by the London Metal Exchange showed that copper inventories in its registered warehouses rose to 378,775 tons, which is the highest level in eight years, after inflows amounting to 16,125 tons in Asia, Europe, and the United States on April 2.

In the rest of the metals traded on the London Metal Exchange, zinc rose by 1.8% to $3,322.5 per ton, while lead stabilized at $1,933 per ton, and they had recorded earlier in the session the highest level since March 11.

In contrast, tin fell by 0.6% to $46,000 per ton, and nickel fell by 0.5% to $17,000 per ton.