(MB) The US Midwest aluminium premium dropped for the third assessment in a row, as an ever-widening backwardation on the London Metal Exchange has pushed suppliers to offer at levels not seen since early April. American Metal Market’s latest assessment of the US P1020 spot premium dropped to 20-20.75 cents per lb on Tuesday July 3, down from 20.5-21 cents per lb previously. The premium is now down 9.4% since hitting a high of 22-23 cents per lb in mid-April, when the US Treasury Department instituted sanctions on Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and aluminium supplier UC Rusal. Market participants said that the widening backwardation in LME aluminium prices, combined with general seasonal slowness, caused it.
