Chinese primary aluminium inventories shrink by 50,000 tonnes W-o-W on delayed arrivals of stocks

According to the Shanghai Metals Market, social inventories of Chinese aluminium ingots have continued to decrease by 50,000 tonnes from a week ago, across eight major consumption areas, including SHFE warrants. Data shows the inventories have come in at 1.04 million tonnes, compared with 1.09 million tonnes last Thursday, March 17. China’s domestic aluminium market destocking has resulted in the decline in ingot inventories, primarily at Gongyi and Nanhai. In addition, delayed arrivals of stocks due to transport inefficiency, following the recent outbreak of COVID-19, has also consequence to the further downfall of inventories.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the inventories dropped by 28,000 tonnes over the weekend to stand at 1.06 million tonnes.

The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across China in more details:

In Gongyi, primary aluminium inventories have plunged by 23,000 tonnes week-on-week to come in at 131,000 tonnes, followed by the downfall of 13,000 tonnes in Nanhai to stand at 230,000 tonnes. In Shanghai, inventories have decreased by 5,000 tonnes to total 61,000 tonnes, while inventories in Wuxi and Hangzhou have dropped by 4,000 tonnes to settle at 438,000 tonnes and 74,000 tonnes, respectively.

On the other hand, in Tianjin, primary aluminium inventories have crawled up by 1,000 tonnes W-o-W to close the week ending March 24 at 79,000 tonnes.