Weekend and Labour Day Holiday Approaching, Some Traders Started Stockpiling in Advance [SMM Spot Aluminum Midday Review]

Published: Apr 23, 2026 17:07

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SMM, April 23:

SHFE aluminum 2605 fluctuated downward in the morning session, with overall morning prices higher than yesterday. Affected by rising aluminum prices, end-users mainly made just-in-time procurement, sellers held firm on offers, and mainstream transactions centered around SMM A00 aluminum at -10 yuan/mt to the average price. East China market shipment sentiment index was 3.42 today, up 0.06 MoM; procurement sentiment index was 3.26, down 0.01 MoM.

With the weekend and Labour Day holiday approaching, some traders started stockpiling in advance. Additionally, after invoicing quotas were reduced, cargoes with invoices dated this month became tight in the market, and trading activity in the central China market picked up recently. However, downstream processing enterprises still had low acceptance of high aluminum prices, preferring to transact at lower prices. The actual transaction price range mainly centered between central China price plus a premium of 20 yuan and central China price minus a discount of 10 yuan. Central China market shipment sentiment index was 2.82 today, down 0.02 MoM; procurement sentiment index was 2.4, flat MoM.

Inventory side, aluminum ingot inventory in major consumption areas rose 0.55 MoM today, with inventory buildup mainly in Guangdong and Gongyi.

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