Aluminum price hits three-year high as US-China truce buoys outlook

Aluminum climbed to the highest level since May 2022, extending a rally built on tightening supply in China and an improving outlook for demand as trade tensions ease.

The light metal gained more than 7% in October, its best showing in more than a year, as investors and analysts bet that a state-imposed production cap in China will incrementally tighten supply as demand in sectors such as construction and consumer goods rebounds. The trade agreement between the US and China lifts — at least for now — a major source of uncertainty for the global economy and the outlook for metals markets.

The two sides reached a broad rapprochement under which many issues of contention will be revisited a year from now. Still, risks remain, not least slowing momentum in China’s economy.

A private survey of manufacturing fell by more than expected in October, and the country’s official factory gauge last week notched its longest run of declines in more than nine years.

Aluminum futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.6% to settle at $2,902 a metric ton at 5:50 p.m. local time. Other metals were mixed, with copper down 0.3% and zinc 1.5% higher.

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