Aluminum price surges to 4-year high on Bahrain force majeure

Aluminum surged to a four-year high on Wednesday following the suspension of metal deliveries by a major supplier in the Middle East due to spreading conflicts in the region.

Earlier in the day, Aluminium Bahrain, also known as Alba, told customers that it had halted shipments under the so-called force majeure clauses in its supply contracts, citing transit issues through the Strait of Hormuz.

Aluminum prices on the London Metal Exchange rose as much as 2.5% to almost $3,340 a tonne — a level last seen in April 2022. For the year, the industrial metal has risen over 9%, outperforming its more-popular peer copper.

Aluminum is the most ubiquitous industrial metal after steel, but in recent years has been periodically rocked by supply shocks that have exposed fragilities in the complex network of bauxite mines, alumina refineries and aluminum smelters that supply to manufacturers around the world — often in highly specialized forms that cannot readily be replaced.

This time, the war in Iran has created shockwaves through the global aluminum supply chain, with manufacturers facing a spike in prices and traders expecting widespread supply disruptions unless flows through the Hormuz Strait can resume quickly.

It is estimated that more than 5 million tonnes of metal produced by smelters across the Middle East pass through this vital shipping lane each year. Huge amounts of bauxite and alumina also travel the other way to feed the smelters.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs said aluminum prices could hit as high as $3,600 a tonne if production in the region was lost for a month.

As conflict deepened this week, aluminum traders and investors have been scrambling to game out the short and long-term implications for the market, with some warning privately that the logistical constraints could soon cause widespread declarations of force majeure.

Supply disruptions

Before Alba halted shipments, Qatar’s state-owned producer had already cut output, while the United Arab Emirates’ top supplier is seeking to draw down stocks from outside the region to avoid disruptions to customers.

Before the Iran war, the aluminum market had already been bracing for a tighter supply due to the imminent closure of the Mozal smelter in Mozambique, a major supplier to the European market.

Alba, which owns the world’s largest aluminum smelter outside of top producer China, produced about 1.62 million tonnes of the metal in 2025, according to its website. “The force majeure is not due to any disruption or damage to the smelter facility,” a spokesperson from the Bahraini company told media outlets.

(With files from Bloomberg and Reuters)