Recently, the aluminum market has shown a strong upward momentum, LME aluminium recorded its biggest weekly gain this week since mid-April. The Shanghai Metal Exchange of aluminum alloy also ushered in a sharp rise, he rally mainly benefited from tight raw material supplies and market expectations of a U. S. rate cut in September.
As of Friday (August 23) at 15:09 Beijing time, the LME three-month aluminum contract rose 0.7%, and at $2496.50 per ton, up 5.5% for the week.at the same time, the Shanghai Metal Exchange’s main October-month aluminum contract despite a slight correction at the close, down 0.1% to US $19,795 (US $2,774.16) per tonne, but the weekly increase was still reached 2.5%.
The rise in aluminum prices was first helped by tensions on the supply side. Recently, continued tight global supplies of alumina and bauxite, this directly drives up the cost of producing aluminum and underpins market prices. Especially in the alumina market, supply shortages,Inventories in several major producing areas are close to record lows.
If the tensions in the alumina and bauxite markets continue, aluminum price is likely to rise further. While the discount for LME spot aluminum from the three-month futures contract has narrowed to $17.08 per tonne. Is the lowest level since May 1, but that doesn’t mean aluminum is short. In fact, LME aluminum inventories fell to 877,950 tonnes, the lowest since May 8, but they are still 65% higher than in the same period last year.