The aluminium billet premium in Germany has risen for the first time in more than a year, with participants starting to see more bullish sentiment for the second quarter of 2020.
Higher P1020 premiums, a slightly less bearish macroeconomic outlook in Europe and higher consumer demand helped boost the premium.
"The demand is good. There are consumers that didn't buy a single tonne in the last quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020 coming out for big tonnages... so there is good competition," a trader in Europe said.
The manufacturing purchasing managers' index in Germany was revised to 45.3 in January from 43.7 in December. A reading below 50 shows contraction in the sector, but January's index showed the least contraction since February 2019.
"There's a pick-up in activity on our side for billet. It's the complete opposite sentiment from before," a second trader said.
Fastmarkets assessed the...