Aluminium Hits a Four-Year High as the Hormuz War Squeezes Persian Gulf Smelters

Aluminium on the London Metal Exchange reached a four-year high of about $3,655 to $3,707 a tonne in July 2026. The Strait of Hormuz is the only sea route for aluminium produced in the Persian Gulf to reach markets in Asia, Europe and the Americas, and its disruption, together with worries over power supply to smelters, has tightened availability.

Primary aluminium output at Persian Gulf plants was reported about 35% lower year on year in April and at its lowest in more than a decade. The Persian Gulf and West Asia region accounts for roughly 9% of global primary aluminium production, a share that has gained strategic weight since Russian metal was pushed out of Western supply chains.