Aluminum Prices Surged Higher, Shipment Sentiment Notably Exceeded Procurement [SMM Spot Aluminum Midday Review]

SMM April 16 update:

During the morning session, SHFE aluminum 2605 fluctuated at highs. Driven by the sharp rise in aluminum prices, overall market shipments sentiment was relatively high, and buying sentiment also rose MoM from the previous day. However, as circulating supplies in the market were relatively sufficient, mainstream transactions were concentrated at SMM A00 aluminum minus 20 yuan/mt to minus 10 yuan/mt. The east China market shipments sentiment index was 3.71 today, up 0.13 MoM; the procurement sentiment index was 2.96, up 0.06 MoM.

SHFE aluminum surged rapidly during the night session. The trading atmosphere in the central China market turned sluggish again today. The initial asking price opened lower before the session began and continued to decline afterward. Downstream processing enterprises mostly adopted a wait-and-see approach, with only a few large factories maintaining just-in-time procurement, and buying sentiment weakened further from the previous day. Ultimately, actual transaction prices in the central China market ranged from a discount of 10 yuan to a discount of 50 yuan against the central China price. The central China market shipments sentiment index was 2.85 today, up 0.03 MoM; the purchasing sentiment index was 2.32, down 0.05 MoM.

Inventory side, aluminum ingot inventory in major consumption areas decreased by 500 mt MoM today, with destocking mainly driven by Guangdong and Gongyi.