LME warehouse queues return with over 100-day wait for aluminium in Port Klang

A 109-day queue for aluminium out of the ISTIM warehouse in Port Klang developed last month following a series of large cancelations on the London Metal Exchange, according to LME data released on Thursday May 10.

On-warrant aluminium stocks in Port Klang fell 66% during April leaving just 110,496 of available stock at the ISTIM warehouse.

The cancelations followed the announcement of US sanctions against Rusal, leading to traders trying to get hold of non-Russian metal which was held in Asian warehouses.

Some 108,000 tonnes of material were freshly canceled in Port Klang in one day on Friday April 13, with the metal presumed to be Indian material, which is in high demand.

“With the large cancelations, it is not surprising the queue has formed – but over a 100 days is very significant and if it sustains for a long period of time we could see issues arise again,” a trader said.

This is the longest queue for aluminium since early 2017 when the wait for metal out of the Access World warehouse in Vlissingen was still over 100 days.

The Access World Vlissingen queues lasted six years and at its peak in June 2014, aluminium buyers had to wait 774 days to take delivery of the metal at this warehouse.

But at the end of 2017, there were no queues at any LME-approved warehouse for any metal.

At the ISTIM warehouse in Port Klang, there is a 22-day wait for copper, lead and zinc. While at Henry Bath in Port Klang there is a three-day wait for copper, lead, aluminium and zinc.

At H&M Metal Warehousing in Taiwan there is a 10-day queue for copper, lead, aluminium and zinc delivery. There is also a 10-day queue for the same metals at H&M in Busan.

The LME queue data reflects the waiting time as of the last business day of April.

What to read next
The Mexico Metals Outlook 2025 conference explored challenges and opportunities in the steel, aluminum and scrap markets, focusing on tariffs, nearshoring, capacity growth and global trends.
China has launched a coordinated crackdown on the illegal export of strategic minerals under export control, such as antimony, gallium, germanium, tungsten and rare earths, the country’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday May 9.
Fastmarkets proposes to amend the frequency of Taiwan base metals prices from biweekly to monthly, and the delivery timing for the tin 99.99% ingot premium from two weeks to four weeks.
The US-China trade truce announced on May 12 has brought cautious optimism to China’s non-ferrous metals markets, signaling a possible shift in global trade. Starting May 14, the removal of additional tariffs has impacted sectors like battery raw materials, minor metals and base metals such as zinc and nickel, with mixed reactions. While the improved sentiment has lifted futures prices and trade activity, the long-term effects remain unclear due to challenges like supply-demand pressures and export controls.
The publication of Fastmarkets’ assessments of Shanghai bonded aluminium, zinc and nickel stocks for April 30 were delayed because of a reporter error. Fastmarkets’ pricing database has been updated. The data effective for April 30 was published on May 7 as a result. The following assessments were affected:Shanghai aluminium bonded stocksShanghai zinc bonded stocksShanghai nickel […]
Global physical copper cathodes premiums were mixed in the week to Tuesday April 15, with US market moving down, Europe rising and Asia holding largely steady.