Aluminium stocks on the London Metal Exchange have slumped to their lowest this century as supply constraints in the war-hit Middle East leave consumers drawing down inventories to secure metal. Data from the bourse showed total aluminium stocks in LME warehouses had dropped to 271 275 metric tons on July 24. That is the lowest total in records going back to January 1998 and equivalent to less than a day's worth of global aluminium consumption. "The aluminium market is so much larger today than it was 25 or so years ago, so LME stocks relative to the market size are very, very low today," said Duncan Hobbs, research ... (full story)