The briefing
In April this year, a ship left the port of Luanda carrying 1,000 tons of aluminium ingots stamped “Made in Bengo.” Not many people paid attention. The cargo was unremarkable, except for its timing. For as tensions over the Strait of Hormuz tightened, Angola’s new Huatong smelter dispatched its first export. Few outside commodity desks noticed. They should have. A prolonged closure of the strait is not merely choking oil. Over the months that have followed, global markets have been deprived of…