ATaluminum, nickel, zinc… all these metals are in fusion. Markets are panicking and prices are soaring. Since the invasion of Ukraine led by Vladimir Putin, the fever has gone up a notch. Metals leap under the shrapnel of the Ukrainian war. Aluminium, a light metal, carried away by an irresistible updraft, beats, day after day, record after record. Rebelote on Friday March 4, with a price never before recorded in the annals, at 3,850 dollars (about 3,527 euros) per ton, on the London Metal Exchange (LME) in London. Nickel has risen to 27,976 dollars per ton, its highest for eleven years. As for zinc, it passed the bar of 4,000 dollars per ton, a value not seen since 2007.
The LME Index, an index that melts in a single crucible the prices of aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin and zinc traded on the London market place, was familiar with on Wednesday March 2 a historic high of 5,046.7 points, an increase of more than 30% over one year, illustrating the surge in the prices of industrial metals.
Multiple industrial uses
Aluminum was already trading at a premium price before the outbreak of war. It is true that this metal with multiple industrial uses, from coffee capsules to cans to airplane cabins, benefited from the post-Covid-19 recovery. By lighting the fuse of the Ukrainian conflict, Mr. Putin has contributed to further fueling the surge in prices. And not just aluminum.
Russia weighs with all its weight on the gas, oil, wheat, corn, sunflower, aluminum, nickel, but also palladium and titanium markets, not to mention the Ukrainian granaries rich in wheat, corn and sunflower. The planet measures its dependence and worries about disruptions in its supplies.
As maritime traffic is at a standstill in Ukrainian ports and sharply reduced on Russian shores, as American and European sanctions fall on Russia, as military maneuvers continue, anxiety is mounting. Investors set fire to the powder. The price of gas explodes, it exceeded in Europe the rating of 200 euros per megawatt hour on Friday, a first, as well as that of the barrel of oil. Enough to increase the pressure on energy-intensive industries. Metals are caught in a vice.