Primary aluminium inventories extended gains by 54,000 mt on week

Zhonggong International announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Zhonggong International Jiangsu, has signed a commercial contract with Huatong Angola for the Huatong Angola aluminum production line Phase II project (covering sections 1 to 6). The project aims to expand a production line with an annual capacity of 120,000 mt of aluminum, and the services cover design, equipment procurement, and installation & commissioning. The total contract value is 1.717 billion yuan, and the construction period is set at 24 months.

[U.S.-Iran Conflict Sees Dramatic Reversal, ECB Rate Hike Weighs on Metal Prices] On the fundamentals side, the supply gap outside China is expected to provide strong bottom support for aluminum prices, and expectations of rising energy costs also create a bullish driver for aluminum prices; this Thursday, the destocking pace of China's aluminum ingot social inventory noticeably accelerated, effectively alleviating the previous high inventory pressure. However, China's high inventory pressure remains relatively pronounced and is expected to limit the upside room for domestic aluminum prices. In the short term, domestic aluminum prices are expected to mainly undergo volatile adjustments.

This week, the operating rate of leading aluminum downstream processing enterprises in China was recorded at 63.6%, down 0.4 percentage points WoW. Off-season characteristics emerged, with all sectors generally under pressure, while only aluminum wire and cable bucked the trend and strengthened.