LME cash, high grade averaged $3,251/t in August 2026, +25% over twelve months and +98% over ten years. The nominal all-time high was $3,666/t in May 2026; in 2024 dollars the real peak was $9,512/t in June 1988. Monthly averages, World Bank Pink Sheet.
LME cash, high grade
Derived price statistics per series
Series
Latest
1 month
12 months
5 years
10 years
20 years
All-time high (nominal)
All-time high (real, 2024 US$)
LME cash, high grade $/t, since 1960
3,251 August 2026
+3%
+25%
+25%
+98%
+32%
3,666 May 2026
9,512 June 1988
Percentage changes compare the latest monthly average with the monthly average 1, 12, 60, 120 and 240 months earlier. Real prices deflate by the US consumer price index (BLS via FRED) to 2024 dollars.
Prices are monthly benchmark averages that may lag the market; informational only, not investment, legal or trade advice. For what these benchmarks mean and how they are set, see how aluminum is priced.
Monthly aluminum prices by decade
Choose a decade. Values are monthly averages in the unit shown; blank cells mean no quote was published.
LME cash, high grade ($/t)
LME cash, high grade monthly prices, 1960s, $/t
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Average
1960
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
1961
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
511
1962
511
505
496
496
496
496
496
496
496
496
496
496
498
1963
496
496
496
496
496
496
496
496
496
507
507
507
498.8
1964
507
507
525
529
529
529
529
529
529
529
529
540
525.9
1965
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
1966
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
1967
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
540
1968
540
540
540
540
540
562
562
562
562
562
562
562
552.8
1969
573
584
584
584
584
584
584
584
584
602
606
606
588.3
LME cash, high grade monthly prices, 1970s, $/t
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Average
1970
606
606
606
613
617
617
617
617
617
617
617
617
613.9
1971
617
617
617
617
617
617
617
628
639
639
642
666
627.8
1972
670
670
670
670
600
567
538
540
538
538
540
540
590.1
1973
542
558
571
571
582
602
635
619
604
622
650
633
599.1
1974
604
619
688
752
765
756
761
849
838
844
842
860
764.8
1975
895
908
917
897
904
904
864
838
827
816
814
838
868.5
1976
853
851
816
820
825
805
904
939
996
948
948
974
889.9
1977
1,058
1,078
1,082
1,082
1,082
1,102
1,171
1,184
1,184
1,204
1,237
1,261
1,144
1978
1,316
1,321
1,299
1,259
1,237
1,248
1,290
1,321
1,382
1,425
1,394
1,409
1,325
1979
1,265
1,442
1,542
1,569
1,576
1,597
1,534
1,562
1,616
1,786
1,833
1,913
1,603
LME cash, high grade monthly prices, 1980s, $/t
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Average
1980
2,055
2,131
1,978
1,932
1,776
1,669
1,758
1,784
1,655
1,626
1,504
1,431
1,775
1981
1,431
1,452
1,443
1,369
1,297
1,232
1,175
1,231
1,169
1,140
1,082
1,131
1,263
1982
1,113
1,088
1,029
996
973
919
958
959
960
952
965
987
991.6
1983
1,077
1,230
1,302
1,364
1,453
1,466
1,520
1,604
1,614
1,566
1,517
1,549
1,439
1984
1,549
1,491
1,456
1,370
1,289
1,275
1,163
1,136
1,012
1,028
1,152
1,095
1,251
1985
1,075
1,098
1,095
1,106
1,105
1,032
1,012
1,019
985
971
950
1,039
1,041
1986
1,119
1,115
1,168
1,164
1,164
1,183
1,123
1,129
1,206
1,162
1,132
1,133
1,150
1987
1,171
1,283
1,367
1,401
1,412
1,472
1,653
1,810
1,746
1,963
1,681
1,824
1,565
1988
2,002
2,138
2,526
2,508
2,988
3,578
2,582
2,701
2,387
2,309
2,382
2,503
2,550
1989
2,398
2,183
2,074
2,126
2,259
1,914
1,756
1,798
1,718
1,820
1,736
1,633
1,951
LME cash, high grade monthly prices, 1990s, $/t
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Average
1990
1,528
1,454
1,567
1,526
1,527
1,566
1,571
1,782
2,067
1,946
1,618
1,522
1,640
1991
1,515
1,505
1,496
1,392
1,296
1,275
1,297
1,256
1,212
1,150
1,135
1,098
1,302
1992
1,177
1,267
1,280
1,317
1,307
1,276
1,313
1,305
1,270
1,174
1,159
1,207
1,254
1993
1,207
1,202
1,151
1,109
1,124
1,165
1,202
1,172
1,115
1,087
1,040
1,094
1,139
1994
1,175
1,270
1,289
1,279
1,323
1,401
1,492
1,455
1,569
1,698
1,893
1,878
1,477
1995
2,061
1,916
1,805
1,849
1,763
1,780
1,860
1,888
1,761
1,674
1,654
1,657
1,806
1996
1,589
1,592
1,612
1,587
1,589
1,482
1,459
1,463
1,407
1,336
1,450
1,500
1,506
1997
1,576
1,580
1,632
1,561
1,625
1,568
1,592
1,711
1,611
1,608
1,599
1,531
1,600
1998
1,486
1,466
1,438
1,418
1,365
1,307
1,309
1,311
1,342
1,304
1,295
1,249
1,358
1999
1,218
1,187
1,182
1,278
1,323
1,315
1,404
1,431
1,492
1,474
1,473
1,554
1,361
LME cash, high grade monthly prices, 2000s, $/t
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Average
2000
1,680
1,670
1,577
1,457
1,467
1,506
1,564
1,528
1,601
1,500
1,474
1,565
1,549
2001
1,616
1,604
1,509
1,497
1,539
1,466
1,416
1,377
1,345
1,283
1,327
1,345
1,444
2002
1,369
1,369
1,405
1,370
1,343
1,354
1,338
1,292
1,301
1,311
1,372
1,375
1,350
2003
1,378
1,422
1,389
1,332
1,398
1,410
1,436
1,456
1,416
1,474
1,508
1,555
1,431
2004
1,606
1,686
1,656
1,730
1,623
1,678
1,709
1,692
1,724
1,820
1,814
1,849
1,716
2005
1,834
1,883
1,980
1,894
1,744
1,731
1,779
1,868
1,840
1,929
2,051
2,247
1,898
2006
2,378
2,455
2,429
2,621
2,861
2,477
2,513
2,460
2,473
2,655
2,703
2,814
2,570
2007
2,809
2,832
2,762
2,815
2,793
2,677
2,732
2,516
2,391
2,442
2,507
2,382
2,638
2008
2,446
2,777
3,005
2,959
2,903
2,958
3,071
2,764
2,526
2,121
1,852
1,490
2,573
2009
1,413
1,330
1,336
1,421
1,460
1,574
1,668
1,934
1,834
1,879
1,949
2,180
1,665
LME cash, high grade monthly prices, 2010s, $/t
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Average
2010
2,235
2,049
2,206
2,317
2,041
1,931
1,988
2,118
2,162
2,347
2,333
2,351
2,173
2011
2,440
2,508
2,556
2,678
2,596
2,558
2,525
2,379
2,293
2,181
2,080
2,022
2,401
2012
2,144
2,208
2,184
2,050
2,008
1,890
1,876
1,845
2,064
1,974
1,949
2,087
2,023
2013
2,038
2,054
1,910
1,862
1,832
1,815
1,770
1,818
1,761
1,815
1,748
1,740
1,847
2014
1,727
1,695
1,705
1,811
1,751
1,839
1,948
2,030
1,990
1,946
2,056
1,909
1,867
2015
1,815
1,818
1,774
1,819
1,804
1,688
1,640
1,548
1,590
1,516
1,468
1,497
1,665
2016
1,481
1,531
1,531
1,571
1,551
1,594
1,629
1,639
1,592
1,666
1,737
1,728
1,604
2017
1,791
1,861
1,901
1,921
1,913
1,885
1,903
2,030
2,096
2,131
2,097
2,080
1,967
2018
2,210
2,182
2,069
2,255
2,300
2,238
2,082
2,052
2,026
2,030
1,939
1,920
2,109
2019
1,854
1,863
1,871
1,845
1,781
1,756
1,797
1,741
1,754
1,726
1,775
1,771
1,795
LME cash, high grade monthly prices, 2020s, $/t
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Average
2020
1,773
1,688
1,611
1,460
1,466
1,569
1,644
1,737
1,744
1,806
1,935
2,015
1,704
2021
2,004
2,079
2,190
2,319
2,434
2,447
2,498
2,603
2,835
2,934
2,636
2,696
2,473
2022
3,006
3,246
3,498
3,244
2,830
2,563
2,408
2,431
2,225
2,256
2,351
2,402
2,705
2023
2,502
2,416
2,296
2,343
2,269
2,185
2,160
2,137
2,185
2,192
2,202
2,182
2,256
2024
2,193
2,179
2,226
2,506
2,565
2,498
2,349
2,344
2,450
2,596
2,582
2,541
2,419
2025
2,573
2,658
2,658
2,372
2,449
2,526
2,606
2,597
2,653
2,793
2,819
2,876
2,632
2026
3,142
3,065
3,373
3,600
3,666
3,439
3,161
3,251
3,337
Method
Nominal prices are the source's monthly averages in US dollars, stored in the source's unit and never mixed on one chart. Real prices divide each month by the US consumer price index for all urban consumers (BLS series CPIAUCSL, via FRED) and multiply by the 2024 average, so they read as "2024 dollars". Changes are ratios of monthly averages. The all-time high is the highest monthly average, not an intraday peak.
Cite as: Commodity Origins, "Aluminum price history (1960–2026)", https://commodityorigins.com/prices/aluminum/, data 2026-09-02. Data updated 6 September 2026.