Aluminium Ingot Stocks May Have Entered Seasonal Destocking Cycle

SHANGHAI, Mar 20 (SMM) - The aluminium ingot social inventories across China’s eight major markets stood at 1.17 million mt as of March 20, down 38,000 mt from a week ago and 96,000 mt from early March, but up 109,000 mt from the same period last year. Cargoes in transit are limited, and cargo arrivals have returned to normal level. With smelters raising proportion of molten aluminium output, arrivals of ingots will continue to fall. Aluminium ingot outflows from social warehouses added 4,200 mt on a weekly basis to 160,800 mt last week. Seasonal destocking has arrived, even though stocks in some regions are still relatively high.