LME aluminium rises sharply before facing a technical correction this week

<p>LME aluminium ended last week on a high. The light metal traded globally jumped to US$1,938 per tonne on Friday, May 19, the highest in the month so far. The 1.73 per cent rise in LME aluminium price from the previous close of US$1,905 per tonne can be partly attributed to the weak US dollar index, which seems to have given up all its post-election gains lately. Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) prediction says the contract will face technical corrections on Monday, May 22 and range at US$1,885-1,930 per tonne.</p> <p>The weekly forecast says, LME aluminium will drop slightly this week with no stimulus from the new capacity cut programme.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style="vertical-align: middle;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/LMEAluMay22.png" alt="News" width="517" height="277" /></p> <p>As on May 19, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,937.50 per tonne, cash seller &amp; settlement price is US$1,938 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,937.50 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,938 per tonne, Dec1 buyer price is US$1,963 per tonne, and Dec1 seller price is US$1,968 per tonne. The current LME official Opening Stock of aluminium is estimated at 1506700 tonnes, total Live Warrants is 964850 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrant is 541850 tonnes.</p> <p>LME aluminium premiums, as on May 18, remain unchanged across major regions. LME Aluminium East-Asia Premium stands at US$110, LME Aluminium US Premium is US$215, LME Aluminium West-Europe Premium is US$95, and LME Aluminium South-East Asia Premium remains unchanged at US$15 (per tonne).</p> <p>{googleAdsense}</p> <p>The benchmark aluminium price at Shanghai Metal Exchange (SME) stands at US$2,020 per tonne on Monday, May 22, up 0.29 per cent from the benchmark aluminium price of US$2,014 per tonne on Friday, May 19.</p> <p>At Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), the most active aluminium future contract SHFE 1707 opened at RMB 13,980 per tonne on Friday, May 19, and then after a brief uptick fell back to end at RMB 14,030 per tonne. SMM predicts that SHFE aluminium will face pressure from short selling on Monday , May 22 and fluctuate in the range of RMB 13,800-14,100 per tonne.</p> <p>Spot aluminium in China market is expected to trade at discounts of RMB 140-90 per tonne over SHFE 1706 aluminium contract on Monday, May 22, SMM said.</p> <p>China Aluminum International Trading Co. (Chalco Trading) raised aluminium prices it offered in major markets on May 22. The prices are as follows:</p> <p>Unit: yuan/tonne&nbsp;</p> <p><img style="vertical-align: middle;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/Chalcoprices..png" alt="News" width="432" height="160" /></p> <p>The market focus will be on Chicago Fed National Activity Index for April, as well as remarks by President of Philadelphia Federal Reserve and Minneapolis Federal Reserve today.&nbsp;</p>