Secondary aluminium: prices to lack upward momentum, orders improved slightly

SHANGHAI, Mar 24 (SMM)—The fluctuation band of aluminium scrap taint was 300 yuan/mt last week, while that of aluminium scrap tense was 200 yuan/mt. Poor sales at secondary aluminium producers pressured aluminium scrap prices. Import restrictions kept supply of aluminium scrap tense tight. Aluminium scrap prices will remain under downward pressure and the price difference between primary aluminium and aluminium scrap will continue to expand before the completion of the next pricing cycle of secondary aluminium in early April.

The price of ADC12 secondary aluminium was unchanged last week, and is expected to decline this week. Secondary aluminium prices failed to follow primary aluminium up. Orders remained weak due to high aluminium prices, but improved slightly from the previous two weeks as die-casting plants have basically run out of inventory and gradually accepted high prices. Due to the rapid increase in aluminium prices in the past two quarters, the losses of die-casting plants that adopt pricing based on quarterly average price have continued to expand. Losses once expanded to around 2,000 yuan/mt after CNY. If aluminium prices continue to rise, the loss period of die-casting plants will be prolonged.

Raw material supply for secondary aluminium producers recovered, but remained tight, and costs remained high. Normal production at secondary aluminium producers and poor sales caused finished product inventory to accumulate slightly.