LME aluminium closed lower at US$ 1756/t; SHFE aluminium gained 0.3%

The US dollar strengthened on Monday, as investors were attracted to its relatively high yield and the strength of the US economy. LME base metals closed mixed on Monday. LME aluminium stayed flat and SHFE aluminium gained 0.3%.

LME aluminium closed 0.57% lower at US$ 1756 per tonne on Monday, 23 September 2019.Three-month LME aluminium dropped below the 20- and 40-day moving averages to a two-week low of US$1,777 per tonne on Monday, before it recovered from those losses to close flat at US$1,785.5 per tonne. It is expected to trade rangebound between US$1,770-1,830 per tonne today.

As on September 23, Monday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1755 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1756 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1777.50 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1778 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at US$ 1852 per tonne, and Dec 20 offer price stands at US$ 1857 per tonne.

The LME aluminium opening stock dropped to 895625 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at 699025 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 196600 tonnes.

LME aluminium 3-months Asian Reference Price is hovering at US$ 1786.93 per tonne.

SHFE Aluminium Price Trend

Benchmark aluminium price for SHFE (Shanghai Future Exchange) stood at USD 2037 per tonne on Tuesday, 24 September 2019.

The most-active SHFE November contract consolidated within a narrow band as both longs and shorts exited amid risk aversion ahead of the National Day holiday. The contract closed at RMB14,215 per tonne, up  0.14%. The most traded SHFE 1911 contract rose 0.32% to close at a four-day high of RMB14,255 per tonne overnight. The contract is expected to trade between RMB14,150-14,300 per tonne today, with spot premiums of RMB20-40 per tonne over the 1910 contract.

Upward momentum in aluminium prices is seen weakening even as social inventories of primary aluminium continued to shrink.