Aluminium Ingot and Billet Inventory Slowing the De-stocking Speed

SHANGHAI, Jun 30 (SMM) - SMM aluminium ingot social inventory totalled 734,000 mt as of June 30, down 17,000 mt from last Thursday and down 12,000 mt from this Monday. Aluminium social inventory has been on the downward trajectory, but it is falling more slowly. In details, inventories kept dropping in Wuxi and Foshan, though the overall de-stocking process slowed. The decline in Foshan was caused by sluggish purchases, less arrivals and restricted transportation due to heavy rains. Wuxi saw falling stocks amid less arrivals as some of the sources flowed into Gongyi for higher premiums. The inventory in Gongyi, however, added 11,000 from last Thursday amid poor transactions and more arrivals. The market shall watch if the downstream demand could be revived by expanding discounts in Gongyi to alleviate the inventory pressure.

SMM aluminium billet inventory fell 5,200 mt from last Thursday to 106,400 mt as of June 30, and added 2,700 mt from this Monday. The inventory rose palpably in Wuxi with a weekly gain of 4,400 mt due to resurging local pandemic, which affected downstream purchases. The inventory in Foshan fell 9,100 mt this week amid much less arrivals. Aluminium billet inventory has been falling since mid-June, and slowed shortly after the scandal of repeated pledge. In terms of actual consumption, downstream demand was suppressed by high aluminium prices which were back to the 19,000 yuan/mt level. In addition, the arrival of the seasonal low further weakened downstream demand. It is expected that aluminium billet inventory will slow down its de-stocking process in the future, and may even rise slightly.