Weekly Update Of China Aluminium Ingot Social Inventories

SHANGHAI, May 4 (SMM) – The aluminium ingot social inventories across China’s eight major markets stood at 835,000 mt as of May 4, down 18,000 mt from a week ago and 197,000 mt from the same period last year. During the Labour Day holiday, the total inventory of aluminium ingots was still in a downward trend. According to feedback from market players and warehouse operators, the main reason for the destocking was low arrivals. Wuxi led the overall decline, driven by sharp drop in arrivals. In south China, both aluminium ingot and billet stocks rose slightly due to cargo arrivals during the holiday. In Gongyi, the inventory fluctuated little, but pre-holiday stocking in the region was lower than expected. A total of 142,900 mt of aluminium ingots were withdrawn from social warehouses across the eight major markets, up 14,600 mt WoW. In view of cargoes in transit and proportion of molten aluminium and ingots by smelters, SMM expects aluminium ingot social inventories to remain at a low level in the near future.