This week, primary aluminium prices kept climbing for three consecutive days, with spot aluminium prices breaking through the 21,000 yuan/mt mark again. The aluminium scrap market mainly followed the upward trend, but the increase was significantly smaller. On May 29, SMM A00 spot price was 21,070 yuan/mt, up 280 yuan/mt from last Friday. Overall, transactions in the aluminium scrap market were moderate. Transactions for wrought alloy aluminium scrap were relatively better due to some downstream substitution of primary aluminium with aluminium scrap. However, casting alloy and other aluminum tense scrap were poor due to the weak operating rate of downstream secondary aluminium alloy enterprises, leading to weak price increases. Large secondary alloy enterprises in Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi reported stable aluminium scrap procurement prices for a long time.
In the re-melting aluminum ingots market, prices have been narrowly fluctuating recently. Sellers were actively shipping, but downstream demand was moderate, and prices were weak. The price difference with primary aluminium has expanded. On May 29, the quotation for 96% Al re-melting aluminum ingots at Ningbo Port was around 19,700 yuan/mt, which was 1,370 yuan/mt lower than SMM A00 aluminum prices, with the price difference expanding by 180 yuan/mt from last Friday.
In the short term, the demand from waste-utilizing enterprises such as secondary aluminium alloy producers is weakening. Additionally, some secondary aluminium alloy products suffered losses, leading to weak interest in purchasing high-priced aluminum scrap. Aluminum scrap prices were weak in following the rise in the primary aluminium market in the short term, and the price difference between A00 aluminum and aluminium scrap is expected to continue expanding.
