Futures surged consecutively, premiums squeezed [SMM South China Spot Aluminum Daily Review]

Published: Aug 12, 2026 11:41

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SMM August 12th News:

Today, futures continued to surge, while South China spot aluminum came under multiple pressures. High absolute prices combined with high premiums prompted holders to rush to sell and cash out, at one point triggering a price collapse amid frantic selling. The trend of discount widening proved hard to contain. Meanwhile, demand-side absorption had weakened significantly, with downstream users only making the most basic passive just-in-time purchases, and traders only slowly entering the market to push for lower prices and buy at low levels. In addition, local bearish sentiment rose, further amplifying the supply-demand imbalance. Mainstream quotations were at a discount of -30 to -10 yuan/mt. Deeply discounted cargoes flooded the market, with even some sold at extremely low prices, and the market gradually showed signs of offers with few actual deals. Spot transaction prices were concentrated at a premium of 100 to 140 yuan/mt against the SHFE aluminum 2608 contract.

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