ADC12 Price Rises to 24,000 Yuan/mt Amid High Costs and Tight Supply

This week, the Southeast Asian secondary aluminum market overall remained in the doldrums, with aluminum scrap and ADC12 prices remaining under pressure. As LME aluminum prices continued to consolidate on a subdued note, downstream consumption recovery was slow, market purchases were still mainly for rigid demand, and the overall trading atmosphere was mediocre. Meanwhile, overseas quotes continued to pull back, which improved China’s import profitability from earlier levels. Some Southeast Asian resources flowed back into the Chinese market, but spot transactions still failed to show a significant increase in volume.

[SMM Aluminum Alloy Flash] This week, China's social inventory of cast aluminum alloy ingots fell 5,600 mt WoW to 29,700 mt, marking the seventh consecutive week of destocking. Cumulative destocking reached 33,200 mt, but the pace slowed compared to the prior two weeks. The industry operating rate remains low, with limited new warehouse inflows. Meanwhile, the spot-futures price spread stayed in a relatively favorable range, prompting traders to focus on selling, which drove continuous destocking. However, as the traditional consumption off-season deepens, overall market demand remains weak, constraining the destocking magnitude to some extent.