…Global aluminum market risks facing supply shortages over U. S. sanctions against Russia.
…Also, Norsk Hydro’s production cutbacks in Brazil added to the scarcity, Hydro’s chief executive told the Media on Monday.
Industries ranging from automakers to soda-can producers worry over deliveries and sharp price hikes, Svein Richard Brandtzaeg said in an interview.
During the weekend, Hydro carried out a 50-per cent output-reduction at Brazil’s Albras aluminum plant as previously-warned, triggered by an unresolved-dispute at its nearby Alunorte alumina refinery, which supplies the key raw-material.
Aluminum prices hit six-year highs on the London-Metal-Exchange on Monday, continuing a spike that began when the U. S. imposed sanctions on UC Rusal, Reuters reports.
“There is a shortage of alumina, and there will also be a shortage of aluminum unless Rusal can find new markets quite quickly,” Brandtzaeg said at Hydro’s headquarters in Oslo.
