East China Market Trading Active, Central China Remained Sluggish [SMM Spot Aluminum Midday Review]

Published: May 27, 2026 14:20

SMM May 27 update:

During the morning session, the SHFE aluminum 2606 contract traded in a range, with the overall price center moving higher compared to the previous trading day. Bullish sentiment was strong in the market, and buying sentiment from downstream enterprises and traders rebounded MoM. This pushed sellers to raise their offers, and transaction prices moved higher. The overall trading atmosphere in the market improved. Mainstream spot cargo quotes in the market ranged from SMMA00 average price to +10 yuan/mt. Today, the east China market shipments sentiment index was 3.03, down 0.01 MoM; the purchasing sentiment index was 3.26, up 0.09 MoM.

Trading in the central China market remained sluggish today. The price spread between central China and Shanghai was relatively small and higher than long-term contract prices. Downstream processing enterprises had low buying sentiment and preferred long-term contract settlements. Combined with rising aluminum futures prices, the overall trading atmosphere in the market was subdued. Additionally, affected by insufficient invoice quotas, traders preferred trading with cargoes with invoices dated this month, while transactions with next-month invoices were weak. Ultimately, the actual transaction price range in the central China market was between parity with the central China price and a discount of 20 yuan/mt to the central China price.

Today, the central China market shipments sentiment index was 2.83, up 0.01 MoM; the purchasing sentiment index was 2.25, flat MoM.

Inventory side, aluminum ingot inventory in major consumption areas rose 9,500 mt MoM today, with all three regions showing a destocking trend.

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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