MJP spot premium struggles to find direction after quarterly negotiations

Spot premiums for P1020 aluminium ingot into main Japanese Ports (MJP) have struggled to find clear direction since the settlement of fourth-quarter MJP premiums on Tuesday October 5, despite quarterly negotiations ending on a strong note.

A combination of slow buying, poor LME spreads and a closed arbitrage into China capped the rise in spot premiums since the settlement.
Fastmarkets reported a fourth-quarter producer offer at $230 per tonne on August 24 and, consequently, spot premiums picked up from the year-to-date low of $150-180 per tonne with four hikes leading to a year-to-date high of $190-200 per tonne in the week to 1 October. However, the short-term uptrend has since slowed with the assessment widening in the week to October 8.

Fastmarkets' quarterly premium for the supply of aluminium to main Japanese ports (MJP) was settled at $215-220 per tonne over the London Metal Exchange cash price for the fourth quarter of 2021 - 21.8% higher than the third-quarter benchmark of $172-185 per tonne and...

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