The ongoing chaos in the Middle East continues, and aluminum industry giants are under attack! These 6 stocks saw leveraged funds increase their positions last week.

Breaking news from the Middle East suggests that international aluminum prices may be affected.

Two major aluminum plants in the Middle East attacked

According to Xinhua News Agency, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran stated on the 29th that it used missiles and drones to strike two aluminum plants in the UAE and Bahrain related to the U.S. military and aerospace industry, in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iranian steel mills and other civilian facilities.

Bahrain Aluminum Company confirmed on the morning of the 29th that some facilities were attacked by Iran the day before, resulting in injuries to two people. The company is currently assessing the damage to its facilities and is working to ensure operational resilience. Bahrain Aluminum Company shut down three aluminum production lines in early March this year, accounting for approximately 19% of its capacity.

Emirates Global Aluminium, one of the world’s largest aluminum producers, also confirmed on the 28th that it was attacked by Iran. The company reported significant losses at one of its plants located in Abu Dhabi’s industrial zone, with several Indian and Pakistani workers injured. The company is currently assessing the extent of the damage but has declined to disclose whether the plant has ceased production.

The Middle East is a crucial supply region for aluminum, accounting for approximately 8% to 9% of global aluminum production. The ongoing conflict has led to significant capacity reductions in the region, alongside disruptions in shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, hindering both raw material imports and finished product exports. Citibank analysts previously predicted that if the supply situation worsens, aluminum prices could rise to $4,000 per ton, well above the current level of about $3,300 per ton.

Several aluminum companies report good performance and plan substantial dividends

According to data from Eastmoney Choice, as of March 29, eight listed aluminum companies have disclosed their annual reports for 2025, with each company’s net profit exceeding 1 billion yuan. Hongqiao Group and China Aluminum’s profit scales even reached the hundred billion yuan level; in terms of growth rate, Jiaozuo Wanfang and Yun Aluminum performed exceptionally well.

Among them, Jiaozuo Wanfang achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.071 billion yuan last year, an increase of 81.95% year-on-year; it plans to distribute 3.25 yuan (including tax) for every 10 shares. The company has established a relatively stable integrated industrial layout of “coal-electricity-aluminum-aluminum processing,” creating a collaborative advantage in the upstream and downstream.

Yun Aluminum reported revenues of 60.043 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 10.27%; the net profit attributable to shareholders was 6.055 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 37.24%; it plans to distribute 3.79 yuan (including tax) for every 10 shares, with total cash dividends of 1.314 billion yuan. During the reporting period, the company produced 1.3036 million tons of alumina and 3.2259 million tons of aluminum products, a year-on-year increase of 6.47%.

On the evening of March 29, Tianshan Aluminum disclosed its annual report, stating that the company’s revenue last year reached 29.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.03%; the net profit attributable to shareholders was 4.818 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.13%; it plans to distribute 2.5 yuan (including tax) for every 10 shares.

It is worth mentioning that Tianshan Aluminum also disclosed a quarterly performance forecast on the same day, estimating that the net profit attributable to shareholders for the first quarter of 2026 will be 2.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 107.92%. The significant increase in performance is attributed to the partial production of 1.4 million tons of green low-carbon energy efficiency projects for electrolytic aluminum, with the production and sales of electrolytic aluminum increasing by about 10% year-on-year; at the same time, the sales price of electrolytic aluminum products increased by about 17% year-on-year, achieving a good start for the year with a combination of volume and price.

Supply disruptions may support aluminum prices

The latest research report from Huaxi Securities pointed out that the electrolytic aluminum production capacity in the Middle East accounts for nearly 9% of the global total. The escalation of geopolitical conflicts increases the risk of production cuts in the region, combined with ongoing reductions in high electricity price regions such as Europe, the U.S., Australia, and Africa (Mozambique has halted 580,000 tons of capacity, with potential global production cuts reaching 1.5 to 2 million tons per year). The rising costs of bauxite will also force capacity exit, and Guinea’s export volume may face reductions. In contrast, on the demand side, even with a weak economy, electrolytic aluminum, as a necessity in industrial products, has historically shown a consumption decline of only 1%-2% during downturns, much smaller than the contraction on the supply side.

The institution further stated that the current market is focused on concerns about declining downstream consumption of electrolytic aluminum, with both aluminum prices and related stocks moving downwards. However, if intensive announcements of production cuts and suspensions are made subsequently, the further downside space for aluminum prices is extremely limited, providing value for left-side attention.

Winko Futures also believes that negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are ongoing but military actions continue, with oil prices remaining strong, and market risk appetite is still relatively under pressure. Aluminum prices are supported by energy costs and supply disruptions on one hand, while also being suppressed by sentiment on the other. In the short term, aluminum price support remains strong, and it is expected to maintain high-level fluctuations.

“The risk of permanent damage to Middle Eastern capacity provides aluminum with a core driving force to decouple from the sector and strengthen independently.” Gu Fengda, chief analyst at Guoxin Futures, believes that the price center of Shanghai aluminum will fluctuate upward in the second quarter, and the core operating range of the Shanghai aluminum main contract is expected to rise to 23,000 to 26,000 yuan per ton this year.

Several aluminum stocks saw buying interest last week

According to Eastmoney’s industry classification, there are currently 25 stocks in the aluminum sector in the A-share market, with a total market capitalization of approximately 1.05 trillion yuan. Hongqiao Group ranks first with a market cap of 352.5 billion yuan, China Aluminum has a market cap of about 196.3 billion yuan, Yun Aluminum’s market cap is also close to 100 billion yuan, and Tianshan Aluminum, Shenhuo Co., and Nanshan Aluminum all have market capitalizations between 60 billion and 80 billion yuan.

Since the beginning of this year, aluminum stocks have shown a mixed performance, with Ding Sheng New Materials leading with a gain of 45.77%, and five stocks including Wanshun New Materials, Hongqiao Group, and Shenhuo Co. all seeing gains of over 10%.

In terms of last week, market volatility increased, but the aluminum sector showed a steady performance, with over 60% of aluminum stocks recording price increases. Lidao New Materials surged by 18.26% in a single week, while Wanshun New Materials and Ding Sheng New Materials had weekly gains of 13.77% and 10.39%, respectively. Huafeng Aluminum topped the decline list, but its drop was kept below 4.4%.

Data from Eastmoney Choice shows that last week, a total of 6 aluminum stocks received net purchases through financing, with Shenhuo Co. attracting 75.6071 million yuan in financing, Wanshun New Materials attracting 25.4242 million yuan in leveraged funds, and Xinjiang Zhonghe, Huafeng Aluminum, and Yongmaotai all having net financing amounts between 3 million and 8 million yuan.

(Source: Eastmoney Research Center)