The international situation boosted aluminum prices, and today, traders in central China had a strong bullish sentiment, with overall transaction sentiment strengthening. Some large downstream processing enterprises stopped purchasing due to high inventory, but influenced by the bullish sentiment, traders' willingness to hold prices firm was strong. Although buyers preferred to purchase at lower prices, the actual transaction prices remained relatively firm. Ultimately, the actual transaction prices in the central China market ranged from a premium of RMB 10 per tonne over the central China price to parity or a discount of RMB 10 per tonne. Today, the shipment sentiment index in central China was 2.63, up 0.03 M-o-M; the purchasing sentiment index was 2.29, up 0.06 M-o-M. SMM central China closed at RMB 235,000 per tonne, up RMB 2,100 per tonne from the previous trading day, at a discount of RMB 2,900 per tonne against the 2603 contract, unchanged from the previous trading day. The price spread between Henan and Shanghai was - RMB 1,200 per tonne, unchanged from the previous trading day.

In terms of inventory, the aluminum ingot inventory in major consumption areas increased by 60,000 tonne M-o-M today. Due to seasonal factors, all three regions showed an inventory buildup. In the short term, after the Chinese New Year, aluminum ingots continued to experience seasonal inventory buildup, and spot premiums and discounts were expected to remain under pressure.

Note: This article has been issued by SMM and has been published by AL Circle with its original information without any modifications or edits to the core subject/data. 

Image generated by AI for referential purpose