Special Note: HARBOR’s Daily Aluminum Commentary will not be published on Wednesday and Thursday (December 25-26, 2024) as the LME will be closed due to the Christmas and Boxing Day Holidays.
1. LME Cash price rallies 2% amid spike in canceled warrants and thin trading volumes. Support holds at the low end of the $2,500-2,700 per mton trading range.
LME Cash aluminum prices increased today by 2.0% or $… per mton, closing at $… per mton. Meanwhile, LME 3M prices increased by 1.3% to $… per mton, regaining further ground after reaching yesterday a five-week intraday low of $…per mton.
2. China’s aluminum price hovers around three-month lows.
SHFE front-month prices closed today’s session down 0.6% at…yuan per mton, remaining near three-month lows amid pessimism about domestic end-user demand. However, China’s aluminum prices found support during after-hours as…
3. ALERT! – EUROPEAN BILLET. BILLET PREMIUM FALLS TO $…: February billet premiums decline to as low as $500.
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4. ALERT! – US UBC. RALLYING INTO THE NEW YEAR: UBC spreads break 7.5-year high.
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5. UPDATE! – ALUMINA PRICE. DECLINE CONTINUES: Alumina price drops to $… per mton.
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6. LME Cash-3M contango tightens to three-week lows amid a spike in LME canceled warrants (bearish P1020 premiums).
The Cash-3M contango tightened sharply to $…per mton from $…per mton previously. Conditions tightened significantly amid narrowing contangos through February and a steeper backwardation just ahead of the 3M contract.