[SMM Midday Review of Spot Aluminum: Price Pullback Stimulates Transactions, Central China's Spot Market Shows Strong Performance] On the inventory side, according to SMM's domestic aluminum ingot inventory data, the inventory of aluminum ingots in three domestic locations stood at 487,400 mt on May 9, a destocking of 13,200 mt from the previous day. In the short term, the post-holiday pullback in aluminum prices has stimulated spot transactions, narrowing the spot discounts. However, it is still necessary to monitor the impact of changes in end-use demand due to the shift between peak and off-peak seasons in the downstream sector.

According to SMM statistics, in terms of domestic aluminum billet inventory in two regions, the inventory of aluminum billet in Guangdong was 80,100 mt, and the inventory of aluminum billet in Wuxi was 18,700 mt, totaling 98,800 mt, down 4,200 mt MoM. Today, aluminum prices operated steadily, with processing fees continuing to stand firm on quotes and being released slowly in the morning session. However, as the weekend approached, some suppliers lowered their quotes to realize cash, leading to an increase in the circulation of lower-priced goods. Downstream demand was moderate, and overall transactions were average. Today, the quotes for aluminum billet processing fees in Foshan market were 430/480 yuan/mt, unchanged; the quotes in Wuxi market were 480/560 yuan/mt, up 30 yuan/mt; and the quotes in Nanchang region were 500/550 yuan/mt, unchanged. (Unit: yuan/mt)

Details of the hot topics in the aluminum market this week (May 06-09, 2025) are as follows......

[SMM Weekly Survey on Aluminum Downstream: Aluminum Processing Operating Rate Rebounds Slightly After the Holiday, Sector Differentiation Persists Amid Off-Season] This week, the operating rate of leading enterprises in China's aluminum downstream processing sector increased by 0.3 percentage points WoW to 61.9%.

[Weekly Review of Secondary Aluminum Market]The aluminum scrap market showed a divergent adjustment trend after the Labour Day holiday. As of May 8, SMM A00 primary aluminum spot closed at 19,620 yuan/mt, down a cumulative 440 yuan/mt from the level before the holiday (April 30). Aluminum scrap prices generally followed the downward trend of primary aluminum, but significant differences were observed across product types and regions.