LONDON (Reuters) – The share of available aluminium stocks of Russian origin in warehouses registered with the London Metal Exchange rose to 75% in February from 67% in January, while the share for Indian origin fell to 24% from 31%, LME data showed on Monday.
The aluminium stored in LME-registered warehouses in Port Klang, Malaysia, is mostly of Indian origin, according to traders, and is wanted by Western consumers, many of which have refused to buy metal produced in Russia since it invaded Ukraine nearly three years ago.
Available aluminium stocks of Russian origin or those that are on warrant were at 155,125 metric tons at the end of February compared with 164,475 tons at the end of January.
The remainder of Russian aluminium warrants, title documents that confer ownership, have been cancelled, meaning they have been earmarked to leave the LME system.
The LME banned metal produced in Russia after April 13, 2024, from its warehousing system, but metal made before that date can still be traded.
Many companies holding Russian aluminium before April 13 deposited their stocks in LME warehouses, much of it in the South Korean port of Gwangyang.
Cancelled warrants or metal marked for delivery out at ISTIM UK’s LME-approved warehouses in Port Klang stood at 217,250 tons, LME data showed, while the queue to take delivery of that metal remained at 166 days at end-February.
At ISTIM’s warehouses in Gwangyang, the load-out queue got shorter – to 59 days at end-February from 81 days, the LME data showed.
Indian-origin aluminium, at 49,400 tons at end-February, comprised 24% of on-warrant stocks in the LME system, down from 75,225 tons.
Copper and nickel from China represented about one half of available LME stocks at the end of last month.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
