A delivery of over 100,000 tonnes of aluminium into warehouses across the London Metal Exchange network should be supportive of wider contangos and higher premiums, market participants told Fastmarkets.
A total of 112,400 tonnes was delivered into LME warehouses across Asia on January 18. The biggest delivery was in Gwangyang, South Korea where 62,500 tonnes were delivered in.
This is the first-time total aluminium stocks have risen over 100,000 tonnes in one day since 2018.
The delivery in Gwangyang comprised 20,075 tonnes of ingots, 40,875 tonnes of t-bars and just 1,550 tonnes of sows. On Friday January 15 there was just 66,875 tonnes listed in LME-approved warehouses in the region.
In Johor, Malaysia, 28,675 tonnes were delivered, 22,425 tonnes of which was aluminium ingot. While just 12,100 tonnes were delivered into the aluminium hub of Port Klang, Malaysia and 5,350 tonnes into Singapore.
"There are clearly a lot of shorts out there who have been paying up for the backwardation and may not be willing to continue... I...