On March 31, LME aluminum inventories decreased by 7,625 tons to 647,000 tons compared with the previous trading day. The LME inventory continued to deplete and the aluminum premium in the EU and the United States rose, and the pattern of overseas shortages continued.

With the continuation of the Ukraine-Russian war and the deepening of sanctions by the United States and Europe, energy prices will remain high during the window period when the EU has not found an energy solution. Electrolytic aluminum is a "solidified form" of energy, and overseas electrolytic aluminum is at a high level.

The situation in Russia and Ukraine has been repeated, but the energy problems of European aluminum companies are difficult to solve in the short term. Overseas reported inventories continued to decline, and LME inventories fell below 650,000 tons, continuing to hit the lowest point since 2006. According to CRU's latest premium report, the US Midwest P1020 premium rose again this week by 0.10 cents to 39.8-40.1 cents/lb. Due to the lack of the latest sanctions against Rusal this week, both the unpaid and duty-paid premiums in Rotterdam remained unchanged at $440-470/t and $570-600/t respectively.

The Australian government immediately banned the export of alumina and aluminum ore, including bauxite, to Russia; superimposed that Rusal closed Ukraine's 1.7 million-ton alumina plant (previously, all Ukrainian alumina was shipped to Russia for its own use), and Russia's alumina supply gap was further enlarged. The risk of global electrolytic aluminum supply shrinkage intensifies.

Overseas supply concerns also eased as Russia-Ukraine talks progressed.

U.S. President Biden announced the largest-ever release of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which will release 1 million barrels of oil per day within six months starting in May, while calling on oil companies to increase production to increase supply; Russia President Vladimir Putin asked foreign buyers to pay for Russian gas in rubles from Friday, otherwise it would cut off gas supplies, but Germany rejected the Russian ruble settlement for gas and insisted on continuing to pay according to the contract.

The core PCE price index in the United States recorded an annual rate of 5.4% in February, setting a new high since 1982. The number of Americans filing initial jobless claims for the week ending March 26 was 202,000, compared with market expectations of 196,000 and the previous value of 187,000. The French CPI in March rose 4.5% year-on-year and 1.4% month-on-month, a record high.

On March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would implement measures on natural gas payment from April 1, and formally signed a document on the use of rubles as the natural gas settlement currency.

DONGHENG ALUMINUM is a large-scale industrial and trade integration enterprise integrating R&D, production and sales. The company has more than 100 outstanding employees and is located in the beautiful Qingdao. Mainly engaged in the production and sales of aluminum sheets, foils and coils. The company's scale has been continuously expanded, and its sales network has covered more than 60 countries around the world. The company takes the initiative to undertake social responsibilities, and regards ecological environmental protection as the key task of development.