SHANGHAI, Sep 15 (SMM) - SMM data showed that as of September 13, the social inventory of aluminium across China stood at 696,000 mt, up 17,000 mt from early August, but down 49,000 mt or 6.4% year-on-year.

The aluminium inventories in August remained low. In mid-August, the aluminium prices were below 18,000 yuan/mt, stimulating the market trading and boosting the downstream purchases, thus the inventory in Wuxi dropped. In Foshan, the spot discounts kept expanding amid the poor consumption, thus the spread between the south and east China stood at more than 200 yuan/mt. Some aluminium ingots are transferred from south China to the east. Therefore, the inventory in south China began to decline in mid-to-late August, while that in Wuxi gradually rose to the level recorded in early August. In late August and early September, aluminium supply reduced as the effect of production cuts of aluminium companies in Sichuan gradually showed and companies in Yunnan received notices of production reductions due to power cuts. However, the operating rates of the downstream companies have been recovering, and the consumption has improved month-on-month. In terms of imports, in early September, the import window temporarily opened, but at present, the import volume is limited and aluminium producers in Europe cut their production frequently. Therefore, it is expected that the inventory of aluminium will remain at a low level in September.