Europe Is Desperate for Aluminum and Traders Are Getting Creative
Buyers in Europe are paying steep premiums to get hold of metal.
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A critical shortage of aluminum in Europe has sent regional prices spiking, opening opportunities for commodities traders who have seized on a rare profit to be made shipping metal from warehouses 6,000 miles away.
Some large trading houses have recently loaded aluminum from Malaysia’s Port Klang in break-bulk vessels destined for Europe, according to two people familiar with the shipments. It’s a trade that would ordinarily be deeply unprofitable, but the heavy costs involved are being offset by the higher prices that European buyers are willing to pay to get hold of metal.