Aluminum Prices To Target $3,600/MT By Year End (Dow Jones)

DJ MARKET TALK: Aluminum Prices To Target $3,600/MT By Year End 1222 EDT [Dow Jones] - Aluminum prices will trend up and will target $3,600 per metric ton by the end of the year and up to $4,250 per metric ton by the end of 2009, largely because China has changed the fundamentals of the industry, says Jorge Vazquez, founder and vice president of HARBOR Intelligence’s Aluminum Intelligence Unit. “The upward trend in prices could last beyond this decade,” Vazquez says at the firm’s Chicago conference, adding that many respected analysts expect aluminum prices will have a difficult time trading permanently below $3,100 per metric ton. Vasquez says China’s structural demand boom and a restrained supply have played a major role in unleashing an upward trend in aluminum output and capex costs, leading prices into a long-term uptrend. (RJD)