SHANGHAI, Jun 29 (SMM) – Aluminium ingot social inventories across China’s eight major markets stood at 522,000 mt as of June 29, up 4,000 mt from June 21 (the last trading day before the Dragon Boat Festival), but down 5,000 mt from June 25 and also 212,000 mt lower than the same period last year. The stocks are still the lowest compared with the same period of past five years.
SHFE aluminum fluctuated around 18,000 yuan/mt this week. Cargo arrivals increased only slightly, while cargo withdrawals from social warehouses picked up a little. Cargoes flooded into south China after local spot premiums hit a three-year high.
Except for obvious inventory decline in Gongyi, inventories in the rest of major markets either held stable or increased slightly.
South China: Tight supply in the spot market sustained spot premiums for nearly half of month. However, some cargoes from Guangxi and Hebei arrived in south China on June 29, somehow easing supply crunch.
Wuxi: Cargoes arrivals rose considerably, while cargo withdrawals from warehouses failed to keep up, causing stocks to pile up slightly.
Gongyi: Local premiums declined due to abundant stocks, causing its price gap with south China to widen significantly. This drove cargo owners to ship aluminium ingots to south China for arbitrage, resulting in obvious inventory reduction in Gongyi.
