Aluminium premiums fell across the globe during the past week, on weakened demand due to Covid-19 lockdowns and a wider contango spread between cash and three-month contracts on the London Metal Exchange which is supportive to traders holding the metal.
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European premium drop continues
Aluminium premiums continued to fall throughout Europe in the week to Tuesday April 14, due to poor fundamentals related to Covid-19 containment measures in the region.
Fastmarkets assessed the
aluminium P1020A premium, in-whs dp Rotterdam, at $90-100 per tonne on Tuesday, down from $90-105 per tonne a week ago. This is the lowest level for the premium since December 2009.
Efforts to contain the virus outbreak in Europe have led to lockdowns and the temporary
shutdown of aluminium end consumers which has hurt demand.
But aluminium smelters serving the European market are still operating, and producing P1020A material rather than billet due to
record low premiums in the latter segment, leading to a growing supply of ingot.
"You're seeing a clear impact of...