Aluminium inventories are set to draw down during the second quarter of 2018, with prices expected to increase to $2,500 per tonne, Tracy Liao, strategist for industrial commodities at Citi Research, said.
Speaking during LME Week Asia, Liao explained that Chinese inventories have increased over 2 million tonnes since the start of 2017 but this year, as capacity expansion slows, inventories are expected to drop."The inventory built up on the back of a rapid smelting build-out and high utilization rates at operating smelters in anticipation of unlicensed capacity shutdown and winter cuts - but we expect these inventories to be worked down...