Spot aluminium discounts in east China narrow after prices of futures fall

SHANGHAI, Feb 28 (SMM) – Spot aluminium discounts narrowed in east-China markets in the morning of Thursday February 28 as prices of futures fell.

The front-month March aluminium contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange weakened this morning. In the first part of the morning session, spot discounts in Shanghai were heard at 50-30 yuan/mt against the SHFE 1903 contract, and trades between traders were brisk.

Spot discounts narrowed to 30-20 yuan/mt after SHFE aluminium saw losses accelerate in the second part of the morning session. This eroded buying interest among traders.

On Wednesday morning, spot discounts in Shanghai stood at 60-40 yuan/mt against the SHFE 1903 aluminium contract.

Spot deals mostly occurred at 13,600-13,620 yuan/mt in Shanghai and Wuxi, and at 13,600-13,610 yuan/mt in Hangzhou, SMM research found. Traded prices edged down from the previous morning.

Spot trades were mostly done at 13,610-13,620 yuan/mt in Guangdong this morning, and the spread with prices in Shanghai further narrowed to 10 yuan/mt.

Sellers’ firm offers, despite the decline in prices of futures, and smaller purchases by the Aluminum Corp of China thinned out trades between traders in southern markets. Downstream consumers in Guangdong continued to take a wait-and-see stance or purchase just on demand. Overall trades in southern markets were tepid this morning.