LME aluminium continued to drop as US dollar increased for the third day in a row; SHFE extended growth

The US dollar increased for a third straight day to two-week highs against a basket its rivals on Thursday; investor sentiment improved on the back of easing US-Iran tensions and ahead of the signing of the phase one US-China trade deal.

Three-month LME aluminium rallied to an intraday high of US$1,817 per tonne on Thursday, before it gave back much of those gains to close just 0.19 per cent higher at US$ 1,804 per tonne. It was likely to move at US$1,790-1,820 per tonne.

As on Thursday, January 9, LME aluminium cash (bid) price dropped marginally from US$ 1771.50 per tonne to US$1770.50 per tonne, while LME official settlement price to US$1771 after inching down from US$1771.50 per tonne on January 8. 3-months bid price stood at US$ 1799 per tonne and 3-months offer price US$ 1799.50 per tonne. Dec 20 bid price clocked at US$ 1937 per tonne and Dec 20 offer price at US$ 1942 per tonne.

The LME aluminium opening stock decreased further to 1425575 tonnes, compared with 1439300 tonnes on January 8. Live Warrants totalled at 814825 tonnes and Cancelled Warrants were 610750 tonnes.

LME aluminium 3-months Asian Reference Price hovered at US$ 1797.86 per tonne.

 SHFE Aluminium Price Trend

Benchmark aluminium price for SHFE (Shanghai Future Exchange) continued to extend growth on Friday, January 10 to come in at US$2089 per tonne.

The most-traded SHFE 2003 contract retreated on Thursday as it relinquished gains from the early session and ended 0.29 per cent lower on the day at RMB 13,990 per tonne, losing gains from the previous three days. Open interest shrank 505 lots to 103,000 lots as investors cut long position. The price spread between the SHFE 2001 and 2002 contracts continued to widen to around RMB 370 per tonne. Price range of the contract was seen between RMB 13,970-14,100 per tonne on the same night.

An aggressive load-up of long positions lifted the SHFE 2003 contract overnight. SHFE aluminium is expected to trade between RMB 14,000-14,100 per tonne today. Spot prices are seen at a discount of RMB 20 per tonne to a premium of RMB 20 per tonne over the SHFE 2001 contract.

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