SHANGHAI, Mar. 17 (SMM) – SHFE 1406 aluminum contract edged lower to RMB 13,130/mt after starting last Thursday’s night session at RMB 13,190/mt, and ended the session at RMB 13,140/mt. Trading volumes during the night hours totaled 11,834 lots, and positions shrank 2,484 lots to 105,464 lots. During last Friday’s daytime session, the most active contract made a brief foray to RMB 13,195/mt before retreating below the daily moving average and closing down RMB 90/mt or 0.68% at RMB 13,145/mt. Trading volumes during the daytime hours totaled 12,002 lots, and positions were up 798 lots to 106,262 lots. Bearish sentiment prevailed due to worries over demand in China and Ukraine crisis.

Spot aluminum largely traded at RMB 12,640-12,650/mt in Shanghai and Wuxi last Friday, and RMB 12,660-12,670/mt in Hangzhou. Some traders stepped up purchases as SHFE 1403 aluminum contract was RMB 100/mt lower than SHFE 1404 aluminum contract. Downstream producers, however, still bought to need out of pessimism. In the afternoon, offers were little changed, but transactions were muted.