War against Iran may starve US of aluminium — expert

War against Iran may starve US of aluminium — expert

"For American aluminum consumers, the conflict in the Persian Gulf region means a disruption in supplies from there, which could drag on for a long time. This means they need to look for other sources to replace aluminum imports from there, which amount to up to 1 million tons per year," industrial expert Leonid Khazanov told Sputnik.

There are few alternative sources of aluminum supplies - either Canada or China, he added. However, the foreign economic policy of US President Donald Trump has already led to strained relations with the governments of both countries, and it will certainly not be possible to purchase metal at acceptable prices, the expert believes.

"Therefore, we should expect a decline in production at American enterprises that import aluminum and announcements of force majeure in product shipments," he concluded.

In early March, Aluminium Bahrain, one of the world's largest aluminum producers, warned clients of a suspension in supplies due to the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

The Persian Gulf countries produced 6.16 million tons of primary aluminum last year, which is approximately 8.35% of the global output of 73.78 million tons, per International Aluminium Institute (IAI).

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