In the early session, the center of aluminum prices continued to move down, hovering around 20,500 yuan/mt. In the spot market, activity in east China was not high on Monday, with transactions mainly driven by downstream rigid demand, and no consumption highlights were seen. The market saw transactions of SMM A00 at parity. SMM A00 was at parity against the SHFE aluminum 2504 contract, unchanged from the previous trading day. SMM A00 aluminum ingot prices were recorded at 20,560 yuan/mt, down 60 yuan/mt from the previous trading day.
In the central China market, both supply and demand were weak in the early session, and market offers were higher as large players stood firm on quotes. As the center of aluminum prices fell, shipments from hedging positions increased, but downstream purchases fell short of expectations, and market sentiment cooled. SMM central China A00 was recorded at 20,490 yuan/mt against the SHFE aluminum 2504 contract, down 50 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The price spread between Henan and Shanghai was -70 yuan/mt. Actual market transactions were at parity to a premium of 10 yuan/mt against SMM central China prices, and -70 yuan/mt against the 2504 contract.
In terms of inventory, SMM's weekly aluminum social inventory was recorded at 800,000 mt, down 0.2 mt. After the center of aluminum prices moved down, downstream restocking is expected to increase. Once finished product inventories of materials to be processed are digested to normal levels, inventory across the country will accelerate its reduction, and market premiums will turn firm.
