China’s alumina exports into Russia jumped again in May amid steady demand from the latter country to plug its shortfall due to its invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions against it

European aluminium premiums have fallen from recent record highs in the week ended Wednesday June 15 due to increasingly bearish sentiment and a drop off in spot demand, but there is disagreement in the market about how far spot premiums can drop in current conditions

European aluminium billet premiums have fallen from recent record highs following a surge of imports, resulting in an oversupplied market at a time when demand from the automotive sector has weakened, participants told Fastmarkets

Fastmarkets has amended the frequency of its assessments of London Metal Exchange base metals warrant premiums to fortnightly from weekly

Some alumina refineries in China were finding it difficult to make profits in the face of higher production costs and falling alumina prices, raising the risk of production cuts in the future, Fastmarkets heard on Thursday June 9

Dwindling demand and differing supply situations between regions pressured aluminium billet premiums down or kept them unchanged across the world on Wednesday June 1, with clear bearishness slowly taking over global markets

China’s alumina exports to Russia surged in April amid stronger demand from the latter due to international trade sanctions imposed on it following its invasion of Ukraine

Brazilian foreign trade chamber Camex has decided to cut import duties by an additional 10% until the end of 2023 after having already reduced tariffs by 10% in November 2021, according to a document published in the country’s official gazette on Tuesday May 24

Fastmarkets used the London Metal Exchange base metals prices at 9:41am London time for the arbitrage calculations on Monday May 23, because there was no data available at 8:00am due to a system error.

Availability and the costs of trucking are now starting to significantly impact the flow of material in continental Europe, putting pressures on supply chains and keeping base metals premiums elevated, participants have told Fastmarkets