SMM, December 31:
Aluminum prices rebounded slightly today, with SMM A00 spot aluminum closing at 19,770 yuan/mt, up 70 yuan/mt from the previous trading day. The aluminum scrap market remained stable or saw slight increases, with today's concentrated quotes for baled UBC aluminum scrap rising by 0-50 yuan/mt compared to the previous day, reaching 14,750-15,825 yuan/mt (excluding tax). Shredded aluminum tense scrap continued to be quoted in the range of 16,000-17,300 yuan/mt (liquid aluminum, excluding tax).
As the year-end approaches and many regions will fully implement reverse invoicing starting January 1, individual small traders mostly adopted a wait-and-see attitude, while major traders continued normal transactions. Due to the still tight aluminum scrap supply, the seller's market remained dominant, and reverse invoicing currently had limited impact on traders' shipments, with overall market transactions being moderate. On the import side, many companies ceased shipments at the year-end, and the weekly FOB price for shredded aluminum tense scrap from Malaysia remained unchanged at 2,140-2,170 USD/mt. In the short term, the overall supply in the spot aluminum scrap market remained insufficient, while downstream scrap utilization enterprises actively restocked, providing support for aluminum scrap prices. The price difference between primary metal and scrap mainly saw narrow adjustments.
