Aluminum Prices Rise, Willingness to Sell Significantly Increases in Both Markets [SMM Spot Aluminum Midday Review]

SMM May 19 update:

During the morning session, the SHFE aluminum 2606 contract fluctuated upward, with the overall price center rising compared to the previous trading day. Today, some downstream enterprises began to stockpile, and overall market buying sentiment recovered somewhat. Affected by destocking, some sellers held prices firm, while others held back from selling. The mainstream spot quotations ranged from SMMA00 -10 yuan/mt to +10 yuan/mt. Today, the east China market shipment sentiment index was 3.06, up 0.11 MoM; the procurement sentiment index was 3.06, up 0.04 MoM.

Today, aluminum futures prices rose consecutively. In the central China market, suppliers' willingness to sell on rallies increased notably, and major suppliers showed weak willingness to hold prices firm. However, due to high absolute prices and premiums, downstream processing enterprises adopted a wait-and-see attitude with poor buying sentiment, and overall market transaction activity remained sluggish. Ultimately, the actual transaction price range in the central China market was between a premium of 20 yuan and a discount of 10 yuan against the central China price. Today, the central China market shipment sentiment index was 2.84, up 0.02 MoM; the procurement sentiment index was 2.27, down 0.03 MoM.

Inventory side, aluminum ingot inventory in major consumption areas fell 7,500 mt MoM today, with all three regions showing destocking trends.