Here's why these three Aluminium-linked stocks are in focus on Friday

Aluminium stocks such as Hindalco Ltd., Nalco Ltd. and Vedanta Ltd. are in focus on Friday, October 24, as Aluminium prices on the London Metals Exchange (LME) crossed the mark of $2,850 per tonne.

Prices of the metal have been on an upswing due to the tight supply and demand dynamics globally. In addition to this, a smelter in Iceland going out of supply, affecting production worth 100 kt, and prospects of global monetary easing are also supporting prices.

Meanwhile, shares of US-listed Alcoa Corp gained 12% overnight. This, after the company's CEO William Oplinger, said that the current Aluminium prices, in combination with the Midwest premia fully cover the tariff impact.

The Midwest Premium refers to the additional cost added to the base price of Aluminium, specifically for delivery to the Midwest region of the US, as it accounts for factors like shipping, storage, and

handline. It is a regional price assessment used to track aluminium costs locally, beyond the global exchange price.

This is a positive read through for Hindalco and its subsidiary Novelis.

The United States raised the tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from 25% to 50% from June 4. However, India's direct exposure to the US steel and aluminium markets is limited.

The US imported around 28 MT steel in 2024, but its net imports were much lower. India's steel exports to the US formed a small share of this, while Canada and Brazil were the top suppliers.

Similarly for aluminium, the US imported 5.4 MT last year and Canada accounted for half of it.

In August, the commerce ministry said the US declined India's request for consultations under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Safeguards (AoS) regarding the steel and aluminium tariffs. The US stated the measures were imposed under Section 232 of its Trade Expansion Act on national security grounds, claiming they fell within the scope of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, which allows such exceptions.

India maintained these measures were to be treated as safeguard actions, which had to be notified and subjected to consultations under the AoS, as per the WTO rules.

Shares of Hindalco, Nalco and Vedanta ended the previous session 0.3% to 1.6% higher.

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