Aluminum Prices Retreat on Low Buying Interest

Trade remains quiet for aluminum, with the commodity moving with a slight downside bias with many traders, buyers, and sellers already on holiday. On Wednesday, aluminum edged higher, but on Thursday the metal was down by $1 at $1,724 per ton on the London Metal Exchange, and traded in a very narrow range of $1,713-$1,726.

Aluminum is closing out the year up about 15%, an impressive performance for a commodity that was trading near 7-year lows at the beginning of the year. While the commodity’s price trajectory has been positive, aluminum’s price improvement has lagged behind its base metal counterparts also used in steelmaking.

Aluminum, nickel, and zinc have all benefited from increased demand for stainless steel, but aluminum’s supply chain is not as tight as zinc and nickel. Even though aluminum’s supply/demand fundamentals are not out of balance as much as the other metals, aluminum should finish the year in a deficit.

While aluminum’s gains are at about 15%, alumina, which is used to make aluminum, is set to finish the year about 60% higher. Alumina trade has also dried up the past few weeks but before this typical slow period hit, alumina took a late season run higher on increased purchases of seaborne material from China.

China stockpiled the metal to ensure plentiful supplies for aluminum production early next year. Aluminum is needed for the country’s infrastructure development plans. Meanwhile, according to Metal Bulletin, Chinese alumina is in tight supply as coal transportation has been given priority in order to meet winter demand for heating in northern China.