MOSCOW, October 15. /TASS/. The price of aluminum during trading on the London Metal Exchange (LME) rose above $3,200 per tonne for the first time since July 2008, according to the trading floor data at 12:57 Moscow time on Friday.

At its peak, aluminum prices grew by almost 3%, reaching $3,209 per tonne.

As of 13:11 Moscow time, the cost of aluminum grew by 3.1%, to $3,215 per tonne. At the same time, shares of En+ Group (owns a controlling stake in Rusal) in the course of trading on the Moscow Exchange grew by 1.4%, to 9,958.5 rubles ($140) per share. Rusal shares grew by 1.2% to 79.98 rubles ($0.99) per share, and following the results of trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday, Rusal shares rose 6.35% to 8.71 Hong Kong dollars ($1.12), reaching a maximum since August 2011.

According to analysts, the rise in the cost of aluminum is caused by a shortage of thermal coal in China and a general increase in energy prices. The aluminum market is heating up due to the possible decline of metal production in China amid coal shortage that lead to an electricity shortage.