Chinese primary aluminium inventories drop over the weekend on active purchases by downstream consumers

According to Shanghai Metals Market, social inventories of primary aluminium across eight major consumption areas in China, including SHFE warrants, dropped 9,000 tonnes over the weekend and came in at 1.74 million tonnes, as on Monday, March 11.

This marks the first decline after the Chinese New Year holiday as downstream consumers returned and became active in purchasing primary aluminium on the price drop.

The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium across the major Chinese markets:

As the above chart indicates, the primary aluminium inventory in Wuxi, Jiangsu plunged 9,000 tonnes from 639,000 tonnes, as on Thursday, to 630,000 tonnes today. In Shanghai, the inventory dipped 3,000 tonnes from 313,000 tonnes to 310,000 tonnes, while that in Gongyi, Henan dropped 7,000 tonnes from 156,000 tonnes to 149,000 tonnes. Nanhai, Guandong, on the other hand, recorded a rise in inventory from 374,000 tonnes on Thursday to 388,000 tonnes today.

The inventory in Hangzhou, Zhejiang also dropped over the weekend from 147,000 tonnes to 141,000 tonnes. But in Linyi, Shandong, the inventory remained the same at 31,000 tonnes.