Until now, aluminium has been hard to move, not hard to find. Global aluminium supply had remained technically intact, even as output was curtailed in parts of the Gulf, inventory buffers were drawn down or repositioned, and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was severely disrupted.

Global aluminium producers face heightened uncertainty over power supplies, with oil and gas prices elevated by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows, sources told Fastmarkets.

Vegoils futures traded largely higher on Monday March 30. Crude palm oil (CPO) surged, supported by a combination of bullish external cues and solid fundamentals. Meanwhile, soyoil futures climbed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange mainly supported by stronger energy prices and by a bullish sentiment on new US renewable fuels targets announced on Friday March 27.

The Middle East energy shock is driving up European natural gas prices, inflating paper packaging costs. Protect your F&B margins today with our data-driven procurement intelligence.

The Middle East conflict has triggered a massive energy price shock, severely disrupting the European paper market by driving up production and transportation costs. Read more.

Crude palm oil (CPO) and soyoil futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) extended gains on Thursday March 12, as it continued to track strength in related vegoils and energy markets. The highs in CPO reached earlier in the day eased off by the day’s close.

The aluminium market is being pulled in two directions by the Middle East conflict: upstream feedstocks sit in temporary buffer stocks, while delivering metal to consuming regions is becoming increasingly difficult.

Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Port of Sohar in Oman are becoming tactical workarounds for base metal exports blocked by the Strait of Hormuz closure, with cargo transiting via land-bridge to other Gulf states, such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – though capacity constraints and elevated logistics costs limit availability, sources with direct visibility of Gulf supply chains told Fastmarkets.

The Mexican aluminium market might be strongly affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with supply constraints and consequently higher premiums, market participants told Fastmarkets on Tuesday March 10.

European allowances have steadily dropped in recent days amid wide uncertainty in the emissions trading market, defying a sharp spike in Dutch TTF Natural Gas prices prompted by the escalating conflict in the Middle East.