LME aluminium price dips by $2/t but stands 1% higher M-o-M; SHFE market resumes after CNY with a 0.5% price fall

LME aluminium opened at US$2,220 per tonne last Friday, with its high and low at US$2,238 per tonne and US$2,214 per tonne, respectively, before closing at US$2,217.35 per tonne, down by US$6.50 per tonne or 0.29 per cent.

On Friday, February 16, LME aluminium cash bid price and LME aluminium official settlement price stood at US$2,202 per tonne and US$2,203 per tonne, respectively, experiencing a dip of US$2.50 per tonne and US$2 per tonne from the previous day. 

However, on a week-on-week basis, the LME aluminium benchmark price stood US$22.50 per tonne or 1.03 per cent higher than US$2,180.50 per tonne, and on a month-on-month calculation, edged a hike of US$ 44.50 per tonne or 2.06 per cent from US$2,158.50 per tonne. 

On the same day, 3-month bid price and 3-month offer price grew by US$4.50 per tonne and US$6 per tonne to close the week at US$2,230 per tonne and US$2,232 per tonne, respectively. Both December 25 bid price and December 25 offer price increased by US$7 per tonne to stand at US$2,452 per tonne and US$2,457 per tonne. 

LME aluminium opening stock price amounted to 534,925 tonnes on February 16, down by 0.59 per cent from 538,075 tonnes on February 15. Live Warrants and Cancelled Warrants closed at 534,925 tonnes and 195450 tonnes on February 16.

LME aluminium 3-month Asian Reference Price settled at US$2,223.70 per tonne on February 16 versus US$2,240.36 per tonne on February 15.

SHFE aluminium 

The SHFE aluminium benchmark price decreased over the Chinese New Year Holiday by US$14 per tonne or 0.53 per cent to start the week at US$2,622 per tonne as of February 19. On a month-on-month basis, the price is down by US$4 per tonne from US$2,626 per tonne. 

The price fall could be attributed to aluminium ingot inventory accumulation after the CNY holiday as upstream smelters continued to produce while buying and selling transactions were halted during the holiday. However, the accumulation of aluminium ingots during CNY was less than expected, with a significant year-on-year decrease and a historical low in the past six years.