SMM Aluminum Market Daily Review (2013-10-22)

SHANGHAI, Oct. 23 (SMM) – December aluminum on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), the most active one, started Tuesday at RMB 14,380/mt. The light metal hovered near its opening price in the morning session, finding a day’s low of RMB 14,375/mt. In the afternoon session, SHFE 1312 aluminum contract drifted higher to RMB 14,415/mt before closing the day up RMB 25/mt at RMB 14,405/mt. The KDJ line indicates SHFE aluminum for December delivery still has upward momentum. Trading volumes shrank 466 lots to 2,218 lots, while positions were also off 520 lots to 59,998 lots.

Arrivals into Shanghai did not grow appreciably, so supply in the region remained tight. This drove mainstream traded prices there up to RMB 14,480-14,500/mt on Tuesday, a premium of RMB 20-30/mt over SHFE 1311 aluminum contracts. Prices in Wuxi and Hangzhou were almost the same at RMB 14,460-14,470/mt. Downstream producers in Shanghai did not scramble to buy, despite limited supply on the market. In the afternoon, some cargo holders held back goods. Qingtongxia brand aluminum ingot was hardly seen in Shanghai.