SHANGHAI, Jul. 31 (SMM) –LME aluminum opened at USD 1,656.5/mt on Thursday. The light metal rose to USD 1,667/mt, but then fell back to USD 1,636/mt on a stronger US dollar. Finally, it ended down USD 14/mt or 0.84% at USD 1,645/mt. Trading volumes were up 501 lots to 8,434 lots, and positions were down 120 to 880,000. LME aluminum inventories fell 9,750 mt to 3,443,850 mt.
A stronger US dollar and risk aversion before the weekend should send SHFE 1510 aluminum contract down to RMB 12,200-12,280/mt on Friday. In China’s spot market, downstream consumption will remain sluggish, and spot discounts of RMB 90-130/mt are expected over SHFE 1508 aluminum contract.
