SMM Review: Aluminum Alloy Prices Soar to New Highs Amid Tight Supply, Weak Demand

Published: Dec 29, 2025 14:35

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[SMM Aluminum Alloy Spot Review] Today, SMM A00 aluminum prices surged by 470 yuan/mt to 22,490 yuan/mt; ADC12 prices also rose by 400 yuan/mt, reaching 22,400 yuan/mt, hitting a new high since May 2022. Raw material supply remained tight, coupled with aluminum prices approaching the high of 23,000 yuan/mt and copper prices breaking through 100,000 yuan/mt, driving rapid price increases for aluminum scrap, especially aluminum tense scrap, while high-copper series alloy processing fees also rose accordingly. However, demand side, overall performance was weak, with insufficient purchase willingness from downstream sectors, resulting in a "price without market" scenario. Supply side, affected by environmental protection-related controls, raw material shortages, and losses, capacity still faced contraction pressure. Overall, cost support and supply tightening jointly solidified the price floor, but demand slowdown and aluminum prices fluctuating at highs suppressed downstream purchase enthusiasm. ADC12 prices are expected to hover at highs in the short term. Import side, current overseas ADC12 offers rose to the range of $2,660–2,680/mt, but the increase lagged behind domestic prices, further expanding the real-time profit margin for imports to 300-500 yuan/mt.

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