LME aluminium reverses downtrend to stay buoyed amid positive market sentiment

LME aluminium prices continued to rise during morning trading hours on Monday, December 18, amid fairly positive market sentiment. The light metal which stopped dropping last week closed at US$2,036 per tonne on Friday, December 15, up from US$2,017 on Thursday, December 14. Current price trend analysis suggests that LME aluminium will likely hit the 20-day moving averages to trade in the range of US$2,050-2,080 per tonne on Monday.

As on December 15, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,035.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,036 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,050 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,051 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,095 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,100 per tonne. LME aluminium Opening Stock or the LME aluminium inventory level stands at 1105950 tonnes, total Live Warrants is 888900 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrant is 217050 tonnes.   

SME and SHFE Aluminium Price Trend

The benchmark aluminium price on Shanghai Metal Exchange has increased from US$2,127 per tonne on December 15 to US$2,146 per tonne on December 18.  

The price movement of SHFE aluminium on December 15 as updated by Shanghai Metals Market was as follows:

In China domestic market aluminium downstream sector order books are filling up and are expected to exceed the “inertial pessimistic market expectation” by the end of this year. Purchase will increase in the near term as aluminium dealers will start stockpiling at the year-end. SMM predicts that SHFE aluminium will trade at RMB 14,200-14,650 per tonne on Monday, December 18.

The discounts on spot aluminium are likely to widen to RMB 220-180 per tonne following aluminium futures delivery, SMM said.