Post-holiday aluminium billet inventory is expected to increase amid sluggish pre-holiday restocking of extruders

SHANGHAI, Sep 30 (SMM) - The inventory of aluminium billet in five major consumption areas rose 500 mt to 157,500 mt on Thursday September 30 from the previous week, an increase of 0.32%. Among them, Nanchang contributed most of the increases by 2000 mt, up 10.81% from the last week. The inventories in Changzhou and Foshan added 600 mt (3.77%) and 1,000 mt (1.18%), respectively. While the inventories in Wuxi and Wuzhou dropped 1,100 mt (4.47%) and 2,000 mt (13.33%), respectively.

The downstream restocking was sluggish amid high aluminium prices and power rationing though it has been close to National Day holiday. Thus, the inventory of aluminium billets rose slightly.

Looking forward, the new orders were still less satisfactory as the demand of downstream extruders were sluggish, according to SMM. And some extruders have reduced their production due to power rationing and off-peak power consumption scheme in Guangdong and Jiangsu. The recovery after the holiday is worthy of attention. Meanwhile, the warehouses reported poor arrivals of goods, and the post-holiday inventory of aluminium billet may trend down amid purchase demand after the holiday. However, the demand side is likely to remain quiet as the power rationing intensified in Guangdong, which required local companies to close for 5 – 6 days or even 7 days in a week. So generally speaking, the inventory of aluminium billet next week will see higher possibility of increase.