(Updates prices as of 1601 GMT)
Aluminium prices hit a nearly two-year high on Tuesday, on track for the biggest one-day gain in four months due to concerns about raw material supply and a recent rally in copper.
Three-month aluminium CMAL3 on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose 3.1% to $2,710.50 a metric ton by 1601 GMT after hitting $2,765.50 for its highest since early June 2022.
"Aluminium tends to lag copper when a sizable base metals rally gets going, but fund money eventually finds it," said Marex consultant Edward Meir.
Copper hit a record $11,104.50 on Monday as a rally triggered by short covering created momentum for speculators and funds to bet on a potential long-term shortage of the metal in the transition to green energy.
Aluminium, used in the power, construction and transport industries, was also buoyed by supply worries after Rio Tinto (RIO) declared force majeure on third-party contracts for alumina exports from its refineries in Queensland, Australia.
Alumina is an intermediary product between bauxite and aluminium.
"Other alumina producers may have trouble stepping into the breach so quickly and we therefore could see additional gains in both alumina and aluminium prices over the days ahead," Meir said.
There is, however, no shortage of bauxite so the alumina feed is available, he added.
A drop in on-warrant aluminium stocks in LME-registered warehouses to a two-week low of 556,100 tons after 82,000 tons of cancellations provided further support. MALSTX-TOTAL
0#MALSTX-LOC LME copper CMCU3 was last down 0.7% at $10,809 a ton. Demand in top metals consumer China remains soft, with copper inventories in warehouses monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange CU-STX-SGH at seasonal record highs and Chinese refined copper output rising despite low treatment charges (TCs), said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING.
In other metals, zinc CMZN3 fell 0.1% to $3,109.50 a ton after hitting $3,185 for its highest since February 2023, lead CMPB3 slipped 0.4% to $2,332, tin CMSN3 lost 0.6% at $34,200 and nickel CMNI3 dropped 2.1% to $21,120.
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