LME aluminium rebounds to stay up, Shanghai aluminium follows suit

LME aluminium finally staged a strong reversal on Thursday's night trading and closed at US$1,933 per tonne, rising 1.95 per cent from its previous close of US$1,895.50 per tonne on Wednesday, April 19. As Reuters finds it, LME aluminium faces a resistance at US$1,955 per tonne and may retrace into the range of US$1,924-$1,931. According to Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) forecast, the light metal contract should keep hovering at highs and move in the range of US$1,925-1,965 per tonne on Friday, April 21.

As on April 20, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,932.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,933 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,942 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,942.50 per tonne, Dec1 buyer price is US$1,978 per tonne, and Dec1 seller price is US$1983 per tonne. The current LME official Opening Stock of aluminium is estimated at 1702125 tonnes, total Live Warrants is 1101750 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrant is 600375 tonnes.

LME aluminium premiums, as on April 19, remain unchanged across major regions. LME Aluminium East-Asia Premium has inched higher at US$110, LME Aluminium US Premium stands at US$215, LME Aluminium West-Europe Premium stands at US$95, and LME Aluminium South-East Asia Premium remains unchanged at US$15 (per tonne).

The benchmark aluminium price at Shanghai Metal Exchange (SME) on April 21 is US$2,052 per tonne, up 1.28 per cent from Thursday's price of US$2,026 per tonne.

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Aluminium futures contracts traded on Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rebounded following the news of Xinjiang Jiarun Resources shutting down 200,000 tonnes of disqualified aluminium capacity on Thursday, April 20. SHFE 1706 aluminium opened at RMB 14,215 per tonne, and then after falling to RMB 14,110 per tonne jumped back to RMB 14,360 per tonne. SMM suggests that the contract will move at RMB 14,200-14,500 per tonne on Friday, April 21.

Spot aluminium in China's domestic market is projected to trade at discounts of RMB 170-130 per tonne over SHFE 1705 aluminium on Friday.

China Aluminum International Trading Co. (Chalco Trading) raised aluminium prices it offered in major markets following yesterday's big cuts. The details are as follows:

Unit: yuan/tonne 

The focus of the market today should be on April fresh reading of Markit manufacturing PMIs from France, Germany, the US and Europe and US’s March pending home sale, IMF’s 2017 Spring Meeting and meeting between G20 financial minister and central banks’ governor, which started on Thursday, says SMM.