The Commodities Feed: Iran hits UAE and Bahrain aluminium plants in Commodity News 30/03/2026 Energy – Oil jumps on Iran war escalation Oil prices jumped at the start of the week as the Middle East conflict intensified and Iran‑backed Houthi militants entered the war. Brent crude surged as much as 3.7% to $116.75/bbl, while WTI briefly moved back above $100/bbl, as fighting extended into a fifth week. Yemen‑based Houthis launched ballistic missiles at Israel over the weekend, following US‑Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, raising fears of a broader regional escalation. The group has previously disrupted Red Sea shipping, forcing vessels to reroute and heightening concerns over energy supply chains. Risks were further amplified by the deployment of an additional 3,500 US troops to the region and renewed rhetoric from US President Donald Trump, who said he wants to “take the oil in Iran” and could seize the export hub of Kharg Island. There remains little sign of imminent peace talks. Tight physical market conditions are also evident in the forward curve, with Brent’s prompt spread in deep backwardation. The front‑month contract traded at a premium of more than $7/bbl on Monday, compared with a largely flat structure before the conflict, underscoring acute near‑term supply concerns. Emergency stock releases are starting to trickle through but remain limited relative to the scale of the disruption. France has released around 580kb of oil products under the IEA’s coordinated emergency programme, roughly 4% of its 14.5mb commitment, while the overall IEA release could add around 400mb to global supply, led by a 172mb contribution from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Positioning data shows speculative interest remains elevated despite some trimming. Speculators reduced their net long in ICE Brent by 21,579 lots to 407,125 lots as of last Tuesday, driven largely by a reduction in gross longs, while positioning changes in NYMEX WTI were modest. Ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and supply risks have continued to underpin risk‑on positioning in the oil market so far this year. European natural gas prices also moved sharply higher, rising as much as 3.4%, as the escalation in the Middle East reinforced concerns over LNG availability ahead of the summer storage refill season. Prolonged disruptions risk slowing injections into European storage and intensifying competition for spot LNG cargoes at a time when global supply flexibility is limited. Adding to the pressure, a weeks‑long outage at a major Australian LNG facility due to storm damage has removed additional supply from the global market, amplifying Europe’s exposure to external shocks as it heads into the injection season. Metals – Aluminium jumps 6% after fresh Middle East attacks Aluminium supply risks in the Middle East intensified over the weekend after Iranian attacks hit two major regional producers. Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) said it sustained significant damage, while Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) is assessing the extent of disruption to its operations. Aluminium climbed as much as 6% to $3,492/t in early trading on the LME. EGA confirmed several employees were injured, but has not yet clarified whether operations at its smelters in Abu Dhabi and Dubai have been suspended. EGA is the largest aluminium producer in the UAE and one of the biggest globally. The latest escalation comes on top of already tightening supply conditions across the Gulf. Recent curtailments at A