Primary aluminium inventories shrank 54,000 mt on week

As August drew to a close, looking back at China's aluminum billet market this month, "divergence" and "pressure" were the two most distinct key words. On one side was the resilient, eye-catching performance of aluminum prices; on the other was the continued slump in aluminum billet processing fees...

[SMM Analysis: On the Eve of "September Peak Season": Aluminum Billet Processing Fees Plunge Below the Cost Line; Foshan Market Consolidates Weakly at Lows] As August drew to a close, looking back at China's aluminum billet market this month, "divergence" and "pressure" were the two most distinct key words. On one side was the strong, impressive performance of aluminum prices; on the other side was the continued slide in aluminum billet processing fees—the φ120 aluminum billet processing fee in Foshan fell steadily from 180 yuan/mt at end-July, briefly touched a record low of 30 yuan/mt in intraday trading on August 12, and was quoted at only 110 yuan/mt as of August 28, already clearly below the industry average production cost line. Social inventory of aluminum billet accumulated for four consecutive weeks to a stage high of 144,500 mt; spot trades cooled several times; suppliers' willingness to cash out and downstream wait-and-see sentiment repeatedly pulled back and forth; and market participants' fatigue grew by the day...

Sobre as negociações em andamento com Omã sobre o Estreito de Ormuz, o presidente iraniano Pezeshkian disse que Omã inicialmente apoiou o Irã, mas depois adotou uma posição mais reservada; contudo, em reuniões recentes, os dois lados voltaram a chegar a um consenso e concordaram em reabrir a rota marítima do estreito sob um plano coordenado. Pezeshkian enfatizou que o Irã trabalha atualmente para garantir que, se a rota marítima for reaberta sob um arcabouço específico, os EUA também cumpram suas obrigações. Essas obrigações incluem suspender o bloqueio e as sanções, descongelar fundos iranianos e interromper as hostilidades de Israel no Líbano, entre outras. O Irã abrirá o Estreito de Ormuz com base em suas próprias políticas nacionais.