On Thursday, June 9, aluminium billet inventory in China expanded by 12,900 tonnes W-o-W across five major consumption areas to score at 140,000 tonnes. Arrivals were high due to upstream manufacturers' centralised shipment during the Dragon Boat Festival, but downstream manufacturers continued to purchase on rigid demand, which was lower than pre-holiday levels. In light of declining aluminium prices, some extruders with re-melting furnaces acquired aluminium ingot to keep costs down. The weekly cargo from the warehouses dropped from 15,100 tonnes to 52,300 tonnes, which is still within a healthy range. Conversion margins will probably remain low, but consumption is expected to increase M-o-M in June, potentially reducing billet inventories.
The figure below provides further information on the current state of aluminium billet inventories in China:
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The inventory in Foshan soared up by 4,800 tonnes to score at 80,200 tonnes from 75,400 tonnes on June 2. In Wuxi and Changzhou, the inventories recorded a hike of 300 tonnes to settle at 15,900 tonnes and 13,700 tonnes from 15,600 tonnes and 13,400 tonnes last week.
On a W-o-W calculation, the inventory in Huzhou expanded by 6,000 tonnes to come in at 21,000 tonnes from 15,000 tonnes on June 2. In Nanchang also, the inventory witnessed a growth of 1,500 tonnes to peg at 9,200 tonnes from 7,700 tonnes last week.
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