SHANGHAI, Aug 8 (SMM) - The aluminium ingot social inventories across China’s eight major markets totalled 687,000 mt as of August 8, up 9,000 mt from last Thursday, but 45,000 mt lower than in the same period last year. The figure is 17,000 mt higher than at the end of July. Since the beginning of August, the social inventory has been accumulating for three consecutive weeks, with a total increase of about 17,000 mt. Except for inventory decline in Wuxi, which was driven by limited arrivals, inventory in other regions showed different degrees of increase. Inventory in Gongyi added 10,000 mt from last Thursday due to concentrated arrivals and poor trades. In Foshan, both aluminium ingot and aluminium billet inventory rose as shipments out of warehouses decreased by 10,000 mt amid sluggish demand. Spot discounts kept widening amid poor trades in the spot market. The weekly shipments out of warehouses have been falling steadily since the end of July, with a drop of 5,000 mt on a weekly basis to 128,300 mt last week.