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The central China market saw slightly weaker trading activity compared to the previous trading day. Against the backdrop of some cargo being redirected to surrounding areas of central China and large traders hoarding warrants in the market to mitigate the risk of short squeezes on the July contract, after experiencing several consecutive days of trading at a premium against the central China average price, the market activity in central China began to pull back amid the off-season atmosphere, with transactions trading at a premium of 20 yuan/mt against the SMM central China average price. SMM central China A00 aluminum was recorded at 20,480 yuan/mt against the SHFE aluminum 2507 contract, down 30 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The price spread between Henan and Shanghai was -120 yuan/mt, narrowing by 10 yuan/mt from the previous trading day, and trading at a discount of 170 yuan/mt against the 2507 contract.
On the inventory side, SMM's daily inventory was recorded at 332,000 mt, up 4,000 mt MoM. Amid the off-season atmosphere, inventory accumulated as expected, and with the price spread between futures contracts structure remaining firm, spot premiums continued to face downward pressure.
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