China’s primary aluminium inventories continue to fall W-o-W by 53,000 tonnes, majorly contributed by Wuxi

According to the Shanghai Metals Market survey, social inventories of primary aluminium ingot across eight major consumption areas, including SHFE warrants, stood at 853,000 tonnes on Thursday, April 27, experiencing a plunge of 53,000 tonnes week-on-week from 906,000 tonnes. Compared to Monday, April 24, the inventories decreased by 32,000 tonnes from 885,000 tonnes.

Hence, at the end of April 2023, the inventory declined by 235,000 tonnes through the month. The destocking was mainly due to fewer cargo arrivals. Also, the increasing share of molten aluminium being cast into intermediate products or sold to downstream plants nearby caused less shipment to major markets, resulting in the downfall of inventories.

However, it has been noticed that the weekly decline of inventories has slowed down.

To know the current status of primary aluminium inventories across China, refer to the chart below:

In Wuxi, primary aluminium inventories slumped by 36,000 tonnes week-on-week, amounting to 267,000 tonnes, followed by a fall of 14,000 tonnes in Nanhai to 175,000 tonnes, found SMM. In Shanghai, aluminium ingot inventories decreased by 5,000 tonnes over a week, totalling 55,000 tonnes, while that in Hangzhou and Tianjin dipped by 1,000 tonnes to settle at 62,000 tonnes and 71,000 tonnes.

Meanwhile, in Gongyi and Chongqing, primary aluminium inventories gained 2,000 tonnes week-on-week to close the week at 183,000 tonnes and 12,000 tonnes, respectively, and that in Linyi has remained muted at 28,000 tonnes.