Trafigura faces off against aluminium bulls

Rising stock: Aluminium ingots in a depot in Wuxi, China. Trafigura has been accumulating a large stockpile of the metal over the past year. — Reuters

LONDON: The aluminium market is caught in a clash between some of the biggest traders and banks, with more than US$1bil of metal changing hands while lengthy queues form at London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses.

The big bear in the market is Trafigura Group: the commodities trading giant has delivered massive volumes of aluminium onto the LME in recent weeks while touting its downbeat view.