Aluminium industry frets that its supply snarls have just begun

Supply-chain snags that have roiled commodity markets and helped push aluminum prices to a 13-year high this week are unlikely to ease any time soon.

That’s the message coming from producers, consumers, traders and shippers at North America’s largest aluminum conference, which ended Friday. 

Aluminium has jumped 48% this year on surging demand, shipping bottlenecks and production curbs in China, stoking inflation concerns and causing a major headache for consumer-goods producers facing worsening material shortages alongside the sharp rise in costs. Snarled supplies will continue to dog the industry through most of 2022, many conference participants said, with some projecting