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2026-05-27 21:03:42
[Middle East Conflict Pushes Aluminum Prices Up Over 30%, Potentially Adding $5 Billion to US Solar Industry's 500 GW Installation] ⑴ Affected by the war in Iran leading to damage to oil refining facilities in the Gulf region and disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, benchmark aluminum prices on the London Metal Exchange have risen 15% since the end of February, while COMEX aluminum futures contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have risen by more than 30%. Data from the US Geological Survey shows that the US will import more than 5 million tons of aluminum by 2025, with Canada supplying more than half, and the UAE and Bahrain accounting for 12% combined. ⑵ Aluminum is a key raw material for rails, clamps, and brackets in solar mounting systems. The CEO of SEG Solar stated that the price of solar project brackets has increased by about 20%, and some projects with low returns may be forced to cancel. Based on 500 watt modules, aluminum frames typically account for about $10 in cost per module; with supply constraints, this will increase by 50% to $15 per module. Based on a 500 GW installation, this translates to an additional $5 billion in costs. (3) The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that developers will add 43.4 gigawatts of utility-scale solar capacity in 2026, a 60% jump from last year. Experts say that small increases in cost per watt will be significantly amplified by large-scale installations, and the cost increases are expected to be passed on to commercial end-users, including utility-scale developers, office buildings, data centers, and factories, in the third and fourth quarters of 2026.
