China’s aluminium ingot inventory declines by 5000 tonnes, marking the first drop after CNY holiday

As the traditional peak season has set in, China’s domestic aluminium industry is making buzz with downstream processing enterprises rebounds. The purchasing sentiment is high, leading to a fall in aluminium ingot inventories at the end of March 2024, which is line with previous expectation.

On Thursday, March 28, Shanghai Metals Market survey showed that the social inventories of aluminium ingots across China’s eight major consumption areas amounted to 865,000 tonnes, of which the amount for sale stood at 739,000 tonnes.

The inventories were down by 5,000 tonnes from Monday, March 25, marking the first decline after the Chinese New Year holiday. The decrease occurred primarily due to the outflow of the metal. Arrivals to warehouses stood essentially steady, with a very marginal drop.

In Shanghai, although the stocks decreased by 3,000 tonnes, the overall inventory growth remained significant, meaning more bonded ingots might flow into the market. SMM statistics showed the aluminium ingot inventory in the Shanghai bonded zone was 16,000 tonnes on March 28, and that in the Guangdong bonded zone was 3,800 tonnes, totalling 19,800 tonnes, reflecting an increase of 8,300 tonnes.

In Foshan, the inventory growth reached 6,000 tonnes, with aluminium ingot continued to grow in south China, as outflow from warehouses did not pick up significantly. In the meanwhile, inventories in Gongyi fell by 6,000 tonnes in the mid-week as outflow from warehouses picked up and arrivals declined.