SMM Weekly Review of Aluminium Ingot and Billet Inventory

SHANGHAI, Nov 17 (SMM) - 

Aluminium ingot: SMM aluminium ingot social inventory stood at 547,000 mt as of Thursday November 17, down 29,000 mt from a week ago. The inventory was down 65,000 mt on a monthly basis and 491,000 mt from the same period last year. The ingot inventory has been falling for four weeks in a row, while refreshing the new low constantly in 2022, which was also at a low level compared to the same period in history. In detail, the inventory in Wuxi fell 28,000 mt on a weekly basis on falling arrivals, with a local premium of 50 yuan/mt over SHFE 2212. The inventory in Gongyi also fell, but the downstream trend may be reversed with the expected follow-up arrivals. In Foshan, the local inventory of aluminium ingot and billet both started to accumulate as the upstream players resumed normal shipments. It is expected that aluminium ingot social inventory will remain low with limited growth.

Aluminium billet: SMM aluminium billet social inventory added 6,400 mt from a week ago to 60,600 mt as of Thursday November 17. The cargoes in transport earlier amid affected truck and rail transportation by pandemic in Qinghai and Gansu gradually arrived at the market. In detail, the inventory in Wuxi fell with falling arrivals after the centralised arrivals earlier, as well as rigid demand among downstream players. The inventory in Foshan rose palpably as shipments from Xinjiang arrivals intensively. On the whole, with the restoration of transportation capacity, the aluminium billet in transport will arrive in large amount. Nonetheless, the dip purchase by downstream players will digest some of the aluminium sources as SHFE aluminium has been on the rise recently. Aluminium billet inventory is likely to continue to grow slightly, but will remain at a historical low.