LME aluminium closed yesterday's trading slightly higher; pulled down overnight by rising dollar; SHFE follows trend

The US dollar rose to the highest in two weeks after Federal Reserve vice chairman Richard Clarida said that the US central bank’s interest-rate policy should be aimed at sustaining economic expansion and that gradual interest-rate hikes are the best way forward. Base metals fell across the board, aluminium dropped 1.26%

The contract closed Tuesday’s trading at US$1925 per tonne, slightly higher than last closing. After the gain, LME aluminium settled below all moving averages at US$1,924.5 per tonne overnight. As the US dollar remains at highs, the contract is expected to trade US$1,920-1,940 per tonne today.

As on November 27, Tuesday, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stood at US$ 1924.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1925 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1935 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1935.50 per tonne; Dec 19 bid price stands at US$ 2003 per tonne, and Dec 19 offer price stands at US$ 2004 per tonne.

The LME aluminium opening stock dropped to 1061700 tonnes. Live Warrants totalled at 796675 tonnes, and Cancelled Warrants were 265025 tonnes.

LME aluminium 3-months Asian Reference Price is hovering at US$ 1941per tonne.

SME and SHFE Aluminium Price Trend

The benchmark aluminium price on Shanghai Metal Exchange dropped slightly to US$ 1961 per tonne today from US$ 1973 per tonne on November 27.

The SHFE 1901 contract fell to the day’s lows of RMB 13,740 per tonne after the contract climbed to an intraday high of RMB 13,810 per tonne in early morning trade. The contract then traded rangebound to finish at RMB 13,760 per tonne yesterday.

Recent supply cuts and the newly issued winter production curbs across Shandong’s Binzhou city are likely to provide a lift to aluminium prices in the short term, but we see limited upside room as the impact from Binzhou’s winter curbs is expected to be limited.

Lower costs of raw materials and poorer downstream demand continued to weigh on the contract, despite details of winter cuts on Shandong aluminium producers released Tuesday. The contract closed at RMB 13,705 per tonne overnight, after exiting longs pulled it down to a low of RMB 13,695 per tonne. The contract is likely to trade at RMB 13,650-13,750 per tonne with spot discounts at RMB 80-20 per tonne.

Copyright and Exemption Declaration :¢ÙAll articles, pictures and videos that are marked with "China Aluminum Network" on this website are copyright and belong to China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn). When transshipment, any media, website or individual must list the source from "China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn)". We seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÚArticles that marked as copy from others are for transferring more information to readers, do not represent or endorse their opinions or accuracy and reliability. When other media, website or individuals copy from our website, must keep the source. Anyone that changes the articles' sources will hold the responsibilities for copyright and law problems. We also seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÛIf any articles copied by our website concern the copyright and other problems, please contact us within one week.