LME price closes month at 30-month low avg; US PFA spot market demand remains subdued

1. LME price continues to hover around short-term resistance levels amid easing manufacturing contraction intensity in China.

2. ALERT! – US PFA. WEAKENING TREND: US offshore PFA imports weakened in August to lowest level in four months.

3. ALERT! – US FOIL MILL. ABOUT TO CRACK: Bearish pressure on semi-rigid container stock conversion prices.

For more details, please subscribe to HARBOR’s specialized “Aluminum Rolled Products Intelligence” Report.

4. ALERT! – US UBC. UBC discounts expected to remain wide in H1 2024.

For more details, subscribe to HARBOR’s specialized “US and Mexico Aluminum Scrap Intelligence” report.

5. GREEN ALUMINUM MONITOR. Latest aluminum scrap technologies and applications.

Spot and term demand remains exceptionally weak, next year contractual agreements will likely be quarterly rather than annual. Early discussions of 2024 UBC contracts so far entail little change beyond today’s spot spreads, as consumers are not expecting any meaningful demand change until at least the second half of next year.

For more details, subscribe to HARBOR’s specialized “Green Aluminum Monitor” reports.

6. LME Cash-3M contango widens to one-week highs amid ample metal availability, supportive of financing deals.

7. SHFE aluminum prices testing resistance at the upper end of their trading range.