LONDON, Dec 25 (Reuters): Asian firms plan to take aluminium produced in Russia from London Metal Exchange (LME) approved warehouses as the queues for Indian metal are long, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
LME data shows overall cancelled aluminium warrants or metal earmarked for delivering out at 364,600 metric tons, or 55 per cent of the total at 657,150 tons, on Monday. Warrants are title documents conferring ownership.
About 29 per cent of the cancelled aluminium is in the South Korean port of Gwangyang, where a large amount of Russian metal is stored.
One of the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Asian buyers wanted Russian aluminium because Indian aluminium was "stuck in a queue in Port Klang".
Industry sources say a large percentage of the aluminium stored in LME warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia, was produced in India.
The wait to take aluminium from LME warehouses in Port Klang was 194 days at the end of November, the LME data shows, meaning companies would have to wait more than six months to take delivery of their metal.
The LME banned all Russian aluminium, copper and nickel produced from April 13 from its system to comply with Western sanctions imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
However, Russian metal deposited in LME warehouses before April 13 is exempt from the ban.
The share of available aluminium stocks of Russian origin in the LME-registered warehouses was at 67 per cent, with the India-made metal representing 32 per cent at the end of November.
Benchmark three-month aluminium prices rose after the LME published its daily stocks data to hit a one-week high of $2,575.5 per ton. The contract was last up 1.2 per cent at $2,558.
© 2025 - All Rights with The Financial Express
