SHANGHAI, Aug. 12 (SMM) –SHFE 1510 aluminum fluctuated between the 5-day and 10-day moving averages after opening at RMB 12,080/mt on Tuesday. The contract touched a session high of RMB 12,110/mt, but then fell back to RMB 12,010/mt as Chinese yuan softened against the US dollar considerably after the PBOC announced notice on RMB exchange rate policy. Finally, SHFE 1510 aluminum ended up RMB 75/mt or 0.63% at RMB 12,040/mt. Positions were down 6,170 lots to 147,000 lots. 

Aluminum prices were mainly between RMB 11,970-11,990/mt in Shanghai on Tuesday, discounts of RMB 10-30/mt over August aluminum on the SHFE, versus RMB 11,970-11,990/mt in Wuxi and RMB 11,970-11,980/mt in Hangzhou. Sellers in spot market became eager to sell at highs after SHFE aluminum rallied to near RMB 12,000/mt. Higher prices depressed downstream buying. Only traders were active in the market. In the afternoon, spot prices followed SHFE aluminum down to RMB 11,960-11,970/mt, with trading thin.