The LME aluminium live price chart, on December 6, registered a downward trend, with the LME aluminium cash bid price and the LME aluminium official price losing US$4 per tonne or 0.19 per cent to officially close at US$2,117 per tonne and US$2,117.50 per tonne.

If we consider December 2022, the average LME price, according to Westmetall, was US$2,394.88, which fell by US$261.15 per tonne or 10.9 per cent to lock at US$2,133.73 per tonne during December 2023. The average LME aluminium price recorded in January 2022 was US$3,003.08 per tonne, and it has fallen short by US$367.08 per tonne or 12.22 per cent to reach US$2,636 per tonne on January 18, the highest registered price in 2023. 

Primary aluminium production in Western Europe has been experiencing a decline since 2017. This trend has been further accelerated due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which led to a spike in energy prices. The recent Israel-Palestinian crisis has further aggravated the situation. According to the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), the region's output fell by 12.5 per cent last year and continues to slip this year, with an average annual production of 2.7 million tonnes in the first four months of 2023. This is a significant drop from the production levels of over 4.5 million tonnes seen fifteen years ago.