
The last week of 2017 gave LME aluminium strong upward momentum lifting up to a high not seen since March 2012. Open interest has also increased to 690,000 lots from 662,000 mt, while the SHFE-LME ratios moved lower to around 6.7. The aluminium contract in LME which started from the lows of US$1,700 per tonne in the beginning of this calendar year to US$2,175 per tonne in October closed at US$ 2241.50 per tonne on Friday, December 29, slightly down from US$2246.

As on December 29, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,241 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,241.5 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,250.50 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,251 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,288 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,293 per tonne. LME aluminium Opening Stock or the LME aluminium inventory level stands at 1101925tonnes, total Live Warrants is 850225 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrant is 251700 tonnes.
According to SMM there are several factors that have driven the upturn despite the fact that there is limited room for LME aluminium to go dramatically up due to Chinese exports. Firstly, funds with long positions had better outlook towards the 2018 macroeconomy and they saw improving marginal demand for base metals. The conclusion of US anti-dumping case against Chinese common alloy sheet early next year has also driven the price rise as it is expected to tighten supply overseas.
SME and SHFE Aluminium price trend
The benchmark aluminium price at Shanghai Metal Exchange (SME) followed the price movement of LME aluminium and rose from US$2,201 per tonne on Thursday, December 28, to US$2,261 per tonne on Friday, December 29. The price movement of main aluminium contract on Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) on December 28, as updated by Shanghai Metals Market (SMM), is as follows:


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