LME aluminium stocks increase nearly 30%; price inches up slightly

Benchmark aluminium price on London Metal Exchange edged higher on Thursday, February 14, even though LME aluminium stocks rose nearly 30 per cent over the last the trading days. In the largest single aluminium delivery into LME-listed warehouses since March 19, 2014, 166,225 tonnes of aluminium were delivered into the exchange yesterday.

The light metal contract closed at US$2,138 per tonne yesterday, up 0.68 per cent from US$2,123.50 per tonne on Tuesday, February 13. Current benchmark LME aluminium price remains close to the resistance at US$2,315 per tonne. If it fails to break beyond, it may retrace to the support at US$2,072 per tonne.

As on February 14, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,137.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,138 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,140 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,141 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,193 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,198 per tonne. LME aluminium opening stock stands at 1272550 tonnes, total Live Warrants is 1071725 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants total at 200825 tonnes.

LME aluminium Asian reference price three-months ABR is given asUS$2,129.11 per tonne.

SME and SHFE Aluminium Price Trend

On Shanghai Futures Exchange, aluminium contracts moved range-bound with resistance at the five-day and 10-day moving averages. The movement as updated by SMM is as follows

SMM thinks downstream purchasing will improve lifting SHFE aluminium prices once trading resumes after the Chinese New Year holidays.