SMM: Alumina and aluminium continue at a sluggish yet unstable price trend path

The price of a00 primary aluminium ingot, on Tuesday, December 10, has descended a diminutive amount to its yesterday's pricing. On December 11, 2023, the Shanghai Metals Market closed with the metal's average pricing being listed at RMB 18,380 per tonne, and on Tuesday, as the week progressed, the pricing stood at RMB 20,350 per tonne with a minus of 60 RMB from December 9 pricing. The Y-o-Y price of the primary aluminium ingot's average price index has seen a 10.7 per cent surge.

Image Source: Flickr (Courtesy - Michael Vroegop)

The spot contract is set to be traded on December 10 from a discount of RMB 20 to a premium of RMB 20 per tonne, decreasing by another RMB 20 per tonne.

The average A00 aluminium ingot pricing had overall downslope trend in all the provinces, with prices depicted as RMB 20,190 per tonne in Gongyi (-90), RMB 20,360 per tonne (-30) in Foshan, RMB 20,300 per tonne (-60) in Wuxi, RMB 20,300 per tonne (-110) in Hangzhou, and RMB RMB 20,330 per tonne in Chongqing (-60). The a00 aluminium ingot pricing in the provinces of Shenyang, Tianjin and Linyi this time stooped low and was listed as 20,380 per tonne (-60), RMB 20,370 per tonne (-60), and RMB 20,260 per tonne (-80), respectively. The price range in the provinces has varied on Monday between RMB 20,280 per tonne to RMB 20,450 per tonne.

On Tuesday, December 10, as the week and the month moved forward, the average price of alumina gained RMB 4 per tonne and stood at RMB 5,761 per tonne. Today, the nearly colourless crystalline substance, alumina, stood at a 5.8 per cent hike M-o-M hiked price range (price on November 11, 2024 stood at RMB 5,441 per tonne).

The prices in some provinces crossed 6000 bucks, wherein Lianyungang and Bayuquan witnessed alumina's average cost of RMB 6,200 per tonne (the massive price stood stagnant for the past five days) and a range between RMB 6,160 and 6,240 per tonne on Tuesday.

Other average provincial prices include Shandong, Guizhou and Guangxi with RMB 5,720 per tonne, Henan with RMB 5,765 per tonne and Shanxi with RMB 5,825 per tonne.

Prices of 99.99 per cent and 99.96 per cent high purity aluminium ingots have seen no further changes compared to the market price listed on December 6. Only low-carbon primary aluminium ingot gained an additional RMB 21 per tonne, reaching a cumulative average of RMB 21,440 per tonne.

In the stance of aluminium alloys, ADC12 and A380 prices remain unchanged. Meanwhile, the A356 variant has lost RMB 50 and averaged at RMB 20,800 per tonne on China's Tuesday market. The A360 variant also lost 50 bucks and was listed at RMB 20,950 per tonne.