Primary aluminium inventories expand decline by 79,000t W-o-W to fall below 1 million tonnes

Social inventories of primary aluminium ingots have continued to fall to as low as 979,000 tonnes, across eight major consumption areas, including SHFE warrants, as of Thursday, May 21, according to Shanghai Metals Market. Last week on Thursday, May 14, the primary aluminium ingots inventories were at 1.058 million tonnes after declining by 114,000 tonnes. This week, the downfall is by 79,000 tonnes, slower by 35,000 tonnes than the previous week.

The chart below indicates the current status of primary aluminium inventories across China in more details:

As the above chart suggests that the decline in inventories this week has not touched upon all the major Chinese provinces such as in Hangzhou, Tianjin, the primary aluminium stocks have increased by 1,000 tonnes to stand at 112,000 tonnes and 58,000 tonnes, respectively. In Chongqing and Linyi, on the other hand, the inventories have shown restraint at 11,000 tonnes and 8,000 tonnes, respectively.

Wuxi, among the rest of the provinces, has seen the highest downfall of 18,000 tonnes to stand at 402,000 tonnes, followed by the plunge of 6,000 tonnes and 4,000 tonnes in Nanhai and Shanghai to respectively come in at 201,000 tonnes and 131,000 tonnes. In Gongyi, the primary aluminium inventories have plunged only by 1,000 tonnes to hover at 56,000 tonnes.

But despite the downfall in primary aluminium ingot inventories, the price of A00 aluminium ingot has plunged by RMB 20 per tonne to RMB 13,460 per tonne, as of May 21, found SMM.