SHANGHAI, Jan 27 (SMM) - The stocks of aluminium billet in five major consumption areas added 34,700 mt to 211,600 mt as of January 27 from a week ago, a significant increase of 19.62%. The inventory has been rising for five straight weeks.

The inventories across the five major market all recorded gains. Among them, the inventory in Foshan and Wuxi contributed most of the increase, which rose by 14,600 mt and 12,600 mt respectively, an increase of 15.48% and 33.78% week-on-week. The downstream almost stagnated in the past week on the imminent Chinese New Year, resulting in sluggish transactions.

Looking into next week, the domestic aluminium billet inventory is expected to rise further during the CNY holiday.