LME aluminium dropped on Friday night; both LME and SHFE are likely to trade within a lower range today

The US dollar dropped on Friday on disappointing US nonfarm payroll figures. LME base metals, except for tin, closed lower on Friday and aluminium fell 0.8%. The SHFE remained closed from Thursday night for the Dragon Boat Festival and will reopen today.

Three-month LME aluminium fell to a low of US$1,757 per tonne on Friday before it closed the trading day 0.76% lower at US$1,760.5 per tonne. The unwinding of long positions accounted for the loss on the day. A weaker US dollar and relatively poor fundamentals are likely to keep LME aluminium rangebound between US$1,750-1,810 per tonne today.

As on June 7, Friday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1732 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1733 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1765 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1765.50 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at US$ 1880 per tonne, and Dec 20 offer price stands at US$ 1885 per tonne.

The LME aluminium opening stock dropped to 1111475 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at 708825 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 402650 tonnes.

LME aluminium 3-months Asian Reference Price is hovering at US$ 1773 per tonne.

SME and SHFE Aluminium Price Trend

The benchmark aluminium price on Shanghai Metal Exchange (SME) decreased today to US$ 2015 per tonne from US$ 2028 per tonne on Thursday.  

The most active SHFE July contract is expected to trade rangebound between RMB 13,900-14,200 per tonne today, with spot premiums of RMB 10-30 per tonne over the June contract.