LME aluminium price dips by US$1/t to come around the previous month’s level; SHFE adds US$14/t

LME aluminum opened at US$2,235 per tonne on Monday, March 4, with high and low at US$2,242 per tonne and US$2,216.50 per tonne, respectively, before closing at US$2,238 per tonne, down 0.31 per cent.

The LME aluminium cash bid price and LME aluminium official settlement price dipped by US$1 per tonne to come around the same prices as the previous month. While the former derived at US$2,182 per tonne on March 4, the latter came in at US$2,182.50 per tonne.

During the same period last year, the LME aluminium benchmark price was at a similar level at US$2,183.50 per tonne. But compared to the same period in January, the benchmark price stood 2.37 per cent lower than US$2,235.50 per tonne.  

On a year-on-year basis, the LME aluminium benchmark price on March 4 marked about a 7.5 per cent fall. Overall, the LME price is on a downtrend, attributed to inventory hikes. In contrast to a year ago, the LME aluminium opening stock stood about 4.32 per cent higher at 586600 tonnes on Monday, March 4.

On the same day, Live Warrants and Cancelled Warrants stood at 356475 tonnes and 230125 tonnes, respectively. The LME aluminium 3-month Asian Reference Price reached US$2,231.64 per tonne, up by 0.67 per cent from US$2,216.75 per tonne on the previous day.

3-month bid price and 3-month offer price closed the day at US$2,225 per tonne and US$2,226 per tonne, up by US$4 per tonne from the earlier day, unlike the LME prices. December 25 bid price and December 25 offer price, on the other hand, stood restrained at US$2,433 per tonne and US$2,438 per tonne.

SHFE aluminium price

On Tuesday, March 5, the SHFE aluminium benchmark price moved up by US$14 per tonne or 0.52 per cent to reach US$2,651 per tonne, after a restraint on the previous day.

The most-traded SHFE 2404 aluminum contract opened at RMB 18,990 per tonne overnight, with its low and high at RMB 18,965 per tonne and RMB 19,080 per tonne before closing at RMB 19,055 per tonne, up RMB 75 per tonne or 0.4 per cent.