LME aluminium drops tracking weak global cues; SHFE aluminium still under pressure

Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange slid again on the first trading day of the week as market sentiments soured across the globe and dollar strengthened due to safe-haven buying. The light metal contract closed at US$2,202 per tonne on Monday, February 5, down from US$2,228 per tonne on Friday, February 2.

Recent trend analysis suggests that LME aluminium may remain range-bound in the near term as there is pressure around the moving averages.

As on February 5, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,201.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,202 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,202 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,203 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,253 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,258 per tonne. LME aluminium opening stock stands at 1075050 tonnes, total Live Warrants is 843375 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants total at 231275 tonnes.

LME aluminium Asian reference price three-months ABR is given asUS$2,208.04 per tonne.

SME and SHFE Aluminium Price Trend

The benchmark aluminium price on Shanghai Metal Exchange remains unchanged at US$2,241 per tonne on February 6.

On Shanghai Futures Exchange, the most active aluminium contract traded low as more positions were added down the curve due to weak fundamentals.  The movement of SHFE aluminium on February 5, as updated by SMM is as follows:

SMM foresees persisting pressure at the five-day moving average. According to it, SHFE aluminium is likely to stay range-bound at RMB 14,250-14,450 per tonne in the short term.