To understand why everything from a can of beer to an electric vehicle is likely to get pricier, negotiations over aluminum fees in Japan provide a vivid lesson.
Producers of the lightweight metal are increasingly calling the shots in pricing talks with Japanese buyers as demand climbs amid a tightening global market driven by economies recovering from the pandemic. In a dramatic shift from a year ago, customers rushing to secure supply are left with far less haggling power, leading to ever-higher fees.
Buyers in Japan agreed to pay a premium of $185 (about ?20,240) per ton above benchmark London prices for the coming quarter, the highest in six years, according to five people familiar with the matter. That’s more than double the level seen a year earlier, when demand suffered due to the global coronavirus outbreak.
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