SMM aluminium futures continued sharp decline, purchasing sentiment in East China rises

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In early trading, the SHFE aluminium 2606 contract's centre ran significantly below the level seen in the same period of the previous trading day. As aluminium prices declined to their lowest recent levels, overall market buying sentiment improved M-o-M from yesterday, pushing transaction prices higher.

Mainstream transactions were made at a discount of RMB 20-40 per tonne against the SHFE aluminium July contract. Today, the East China shipment sentiment index was 2.9, down 0.08 M-o-M; the purchase sentiment index was 3.16, up 0.34 M-o-M.

With SHFE aluminium futures continuing to drop sharply, suppliers in the central China market showed low willingness to sell. Traders largely preferred to offload spot warrants in volume, with limited inclination to hold prices firm.

Downstream processing enterprises exhibited sluggish buying sentiment, making only limited just-in-time procurement, mainly of warrants, while spot transactions were sparse. Ultimately, the actual transaction price range in the central China market centred around a discount of RMB 20-50 per tonne against the SHFE aluminium July contract.

Today, the central China shipment sentiment index was 2.89, down 0.04 M-o-M; the purchase sentiment index was 2.14, down 0.06 M-o-M. Inventory-wise, aluminium ingot inventories in major consumption regions fell by 1.35 today, with destocking mainly occurring in Guangdong and Wuxi.

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.