The European Union’s Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA), published on Wednesday March 4, was a new step in the bloc’s efforts to decarbonize heavy industry and to support strategic supply chains in sectors such as steel, cement and aluminium.

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.

Guinea, the world's biggest bauxite producer, is considering plans to compel miners to curb exports of bauxite in a bid to halt the slump in the price of the key raw material for aluminium production, sources told Fastmarkets on Monday March 9.

QatarEnergy, the state-owned shareholder of Qatar aluminium producer Qatalum, has suspended the production of aluminium as the conflict between Iran, Israel and the US intensified, it said on Tuesday March 3.

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European and US primary aluminium premiums could see further upside pressure on supply concerns following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit corridor for Middle Eastern aluminium exports and alumina imports.

The escalating tensions between Iran and Israel since Saturday February 28 have heightened market concerns over potential disruptions to maritime trade routes, particularly the Strait of Hormuz – a key transit corridor for Iranian material shipments bound for China.

Senior analyst Andy Farida offers reactive analysis on the impact the Middle East conflict could have on the aluminium market