Global Aluminum Stockpiles at London Metal Exchange Fall to Lowest Level Since 1990

According to Oilprice.com, citing Bloomberg, in a report published Wednesday, August 12, 2026 (21 Mordad 1405), aluminum inventories in London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses have fallen to 250,000 tons, the lowest level since November 1990. The drop came after Norway's Norsk Hydro cut output by 50 percent at its Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil, the world's largest single site alumina refinery and the largest outside China, due to a disruption in natural gas supply.

Hydro warned that the global annual aluminum deficit could exceed 900,000 tons if trade disruption through the Strait of Hormuz continues. Aluminum prices in London rose nearly 2 percent to $3,373 a metric ton, a seven week high, while alumina futures in Shanghai gained 1 percent. Separately, copper prices in London climbed above $14,000 a ton as US stockpiling continued ahead of an expected tariff from the Trump administration.