SMM Aluminum Market Daily Review (2013-4-2)

SHANGHAI, Apr. 3 (SMM) – SHFE 1306 aluminum contract struggled at RMB 14,565/mt after opening at RMB 14,555/mt on Tuesday, as trading activity was quiet before the Chinese Qingming holiday. The most active aluminum contract did rebound at the tail of trading thanks to short-covering, and finally finished RMB 60/mt or 0.41% higher at RMB 14,605/mt. Positions shrank 1,158 lots to 91,026 lots. Longs and shorts will exit the market on the last trading day before the Chinese Qingming holiday to avoid risks, so the most-traded SHFE aluminum contract may lose support at RMB 14,600/mt.

Spot aluminum was mainly traded at RMB 14,410-14,430/mt in Shanghai on Tuesday, a discount of RMB 50-70/mt over SHFE 1304 aluminum contract prices. Low-iron aluminum was trade around RMB 14,610/mt. SHFE aluminum met resistance, curbing gains of spot aluminum. Traders rushed to move goods against sluggish downstream consumption, leaving mainstream traded prices stagnant at RMB 14,410/mt in Shanghai and RMB 14,430/mt in Wuxi and Hangzhou. Overall trading is expected to remain thin before the Chinese Qingming holiday. In the afternoon, sparse transactions were done at RMB 14,410-14,430/mt as the rebound in SHFE aluminum at the tail of trading triggered wait-and-see sentiment.