Aluminum ingot inventory declined mid-week

On Apr 11, 2024, SMM data showed that the social inventory of aluminum ingots in China’s eight major markets was 854,000 mt, (the amount for sale stood at 728,000 mt), up 7,000 mt from Apr 3, down 9,000 mt compared with Apr 8 and 152,000 mt YoY, remaining at the lowest compared to the same period of past seven years. Affected by the concentrated arrival of goods during the Qingming Festival, despite a short period of inventory growth at the beginning of the week, the inventory performance was in line with previous expectation. SMM believed that after the aluminum prices in three places stabilized at 20,000 yuan/mt in the week, the destocking mid-week supported the aluminum price.

Domestic aluminum ingots destocked again mid-week, mainly as the continued closure of the import window eased the pressure from the supply. In addition, with the arrival of downstream peak season, the impact of imported goods on the spot market weakened, and the bullish sentiment picked up amid high aluminum prices. Spot trades in the three places were relatively active since April, and discounts rapidly narrowed. Supported by rigid demand, the spot market's adaptability to current aluminum price significantly improved.