SHANGHAI, Mar 6 (SMM) - The aluminium ingot social inventories across China’s eight major markets stood at 1.27 million mt as of March 6, flat from last Thursday, but up 283,000 mt from the end of January. The figure was 125,000 mt higher than i the same period last year. Since January 19, the second day before the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday, the social inventory has added 525,000 mt. Inventories in Wuxi piled up significantly, and some small warehouses have run out of storage capacity, but the volumes of cargoes in transit have declined. It is expected that the inventory of aluminium ingots will fluctuate only slightly this week. The market will keep a close eye on how price fluctuations and downstream purchases will affect the inventory. In terms of aluminium billets, the inventory stood at 158,600 mt on March 6, an increase of 2,400 mt from last Thursday. According to SMM statistics, aluminium ingot outflows from warehouses in the eight major markets were 141,800 mt in the week of February 27-March 5, an increase of 7,600 mt compared the week before. Aluminium billet outflows from warehouses in major markets dropped 9,400 mt on the week to 55,600 mt during February 27-March 5.
