LME aluminium cash and three months contract registered gain yesterday on weak dollar; SHFE traded higher

The US dollar fell to its lowest in more than four months against its rivals on Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and indicated it will likely not raise rates in 2020. LME base metals trended higher on Wednesday. Aluminium rose 0.4% and SHFE aluminium gained 0.1%.

LME aluminium cash and three months contract registered gain on weak dollar yesterday. Three-month LME aluminium recovered from earlier losses to end 0.37% firmer at US$1,759.5 per tonne on Wednesday night. It is expected to move between US$1,740-1,780 per tonne today.

As on December 11, Wednesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1751 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1751.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1757.50 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1758 per tonne; Dec 20 bid price stands at US$ 1818 per tonne, and Dec 20 offer price stands at US$ 1823 per tonne.

The LME aluminium opening stock increased again to 1330825 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at 1195050 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 135775 tonnes.

LME aluminium 3-months Asian Reference Price is hovering at US$ 1759 per tonne.

SHFE Aluminium Price Trend

Benchmark aluminium price for SHFE (Shanghai Future Exchange) increased to US$ 2003 per tonne on Thursday, December 12, 2019.

Short-covering sent the most-traded SHFE 2001 contract above RMB 4,000 per tonne on Wednesday, to an intraday high of RMB14,055 per tonne. The contract ended the trading day 0.29% higher on the day at RMB14,000 per tonne. The SHFE 2002 contract hovered around the five-day moving average overnight, and closed 0.11% higher at RMB13,935 per tonne. Resistance appeared strong at the RMB 14,000 per tonne level. SHFE aluminium is likely to waver between RMB 13,750-13,900 per tonne today. Spot premiums are seen at RMB 10-30 per tonne over the SHFE 1912 contract. SMM weekly data of aluminium inventories is due on tomorrow, which may point to a continued decline in social stocks as consumption came in better than expected while supply growth slowed.