SHFE aluminium fluctuates at high levels, spot aluminium transactions moderate

In the early trading session today, SHFE aluminium front-month contract fluctuated, pulling back slightly compared to the night session, but the price centre moved higher, with overall market transactions remaining moderate. Specifically, trading in East China continued to recover.

After discussions on today's futures market centre, market transactions did not weaken, and downstream buyers also expressed bullish sentiment, supporting spot premiums/discounts to stand firm on quotes. Today, SMM A00 aluminium ingot premiums/discounts against the SHFE 2502 contract stood at a discount of RMB 40 per tonne, flat from the previous trading day. SMM A00 aluminium ingot prices recorded RMB 20,590 per tonne, up RMB 180 per tonne from the previous trading day.

In the central China market, overall trading activity still awaited recovery, with some traders intending to stand firm on quotes. Actual market transactions were mainly at SMM central China minus 20 yuan/mt. Today, the Henan-Shanghai price spread was around a discount of RMB 150 per tonne. SMM central China A00 aluminium ingot prices against SHFE 2502 contract recorded RMB 20,440 per tonne, up RMB 160 per tonne from the previous trading day.

Inventory side, according to SMM data on aluminium ingot social inventory across three regions, as of February 11, inventory buildup reached 20,100 tonnes to a total of 601,100 tonnes. In the short term, downstream aluminium processing consumption has not fully recovered, and the market remains in a continuous inventory buildup phase. Under the oversupply situation, the spot is expected to maintain a discount in the short term. Moving forward, attention should be paid to the resumption progress of downstream aluminium production and disruptions on the aluminium supply side.

Source: SMM