Weekly Updates on China Aluminium Ingot and Billet Inventory

SHANGHAI, May 12 (SMM) – Aluminium ingot: The aluminium ingot social inventories across China’s eight major markets stood at 787,000 mt as of May 11, down 48,000 mt from a week ago and 216,000 mt from the same period last year. The current inventory is the lowest level compared with the same period of the past five years, and the destocking speed is still relatively fast. Most regions experienced inventory reductions. Stocks in south China began to fall in the second half of the week as the impact of concentrated cargoes arrivals has faded and withdrawals from warehouses picked up after premiums fell back. Cargo arrivals in Wuxi have been relatively small, allowing local stocks to decline, and this situation is expected to last for the foreseeable future. Cargo arrivals in Gongyi were relatively stable, but downstream purchases were sluggish, thus local stocks fell only slightly.  Judging from the ingots in transit and smelters’ product portfolio, aluminium ingot inventory is expected to remain at a low level in the near future. That being said, aluminium ingot inventory will present less significance for reference as the proportion of non-ingot output at smelters is on the rise. 
Aluminium billet: The domestic aluminium billet social inventory stood at 168,600 mt as of May 11, up 10,900 mt from a week ago. Continuous cargo arrivals and poor downstream consumption contributed to inventory accumulation. An increasing share of molten aluminium has been made into billets and other intermediate products. Meanwhile, aluminium extrusion industry is gradually entering the off-season. Therefore, aluminium billet inventory will face great risks of building up.