SHANGHAI, Dec. 28 (SMM) – SHFE aluminum for three-month delivery opened slightly lower at RMB 15,810/mt and dropped from the intraday high of RMB 15,890/mt during later trading to struggle near the intraday moving average. Lacking direction from the news side, both longs and shorts moved to the sidelines, with transactions for the three-month contract contracting 4,356 lots to 6,282 lots. Positions of the contract decreased 1,464 lots to 66,790 lots. SMM expects the contract to move within a narrow band before the New Year’s Day holiday as capital pressure and weak consumption damp market confidence. Support at RMB 15,800/mt below nevertheless still exist.

Traded prices of spot aluminum in Shanghai were between RMB 16,000-16,040/mt on Tuesday, with discounts of RMB 10-40/mt over the SHFE current-month aluminum price. In the morning, the SHFE current-month aluminum price stood steady above RMB 16,000/mt. While spot aluminum holders facing tight cash flow expanded discounts over the current-month price to RMB 40/mt to a lowest RMB 15,990/mt, quotations of other goods holders stayed above RMB 16,000/mt. In the afternoon, the SHFE current-month aluminum price moved near RMB 16,030/mt, which boosted traders’ confidence to hold prices, with deals, though sparse, mostly done between RMB 16,010-16,020/mt.