LME aluminium lost gains and closed 1.1 % lower on Thursday; SHFE followed suit

The US dollar held steady after it recovered from recent lows on Thursday as the market awaited the long-awaited trade talks between China and the US at the G-20 summit this weekend. LME base metals ended mostly higher but aluminium lost 0.9%. SHFE aluminium fell 0.5%.

Three-month LME aluminium lost most of the gains from earlier this week as it dipped to a low of US$1,788 per tonne yesterday night, testing support from the 10-day moving average, and ended at US$1,798.5 per tonne, down 0.85% on the day.  The cash contract also lost gains to close at US$1782 per tonne yesterday.  LME aluminium is likely to trade at US$1,780-1,830 per tonne today. 

As on June 26, Wednesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1780 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1782 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1803 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1804 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at US$ 1918 per tonne, and Dec 20 offer price stands at US$ 1923 per tonne.

The LME aluminium opening stock dropped to 1003750 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at 647500 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 356250 tonnes.

LME aluminium 3-months Asian Reference Price is hovering at US$ 1818 per tonne.

SME and SHFE Aluminium Price Trend

The benchmark aluminium price on Shanghai Metal Exchange (SME) dropped slightly to US$ 2015 per tonne today from US$ 2021 per tonne on Thursday.

The most active SHFE August contract hovered in a wide range to close the trading day higher at RMB 13,900 per tonne. Open interest for the contract shrank 12,274 lots to 247,290 lots, as longs cut their positions, reflecting continued bearish sentiment. The SHFE August contract pared some losses as it rebounded from RMB 13,825 per tonne and settled at RMB 13,830 per tonne overnight. Today, it is expected to trade at RMB 13,750-14,100 per tonne.