Strong demand from the Chinese automotive industry, combined with rising aluminium scrap values, pushed aluminium ingot ADC 12 prices to a record high this week.
ADC 12 is widely used in the production of alloy wheels.
Fastmarkets'
weekly price assessment for aluminium ingot ADC12, exw dp China was 19,000-19,300 yuan($2,947-2,993) per tonne on Wednesday May 12, up 5.8% or 1,000-1,300 yuan per tonne from 17,900-18,300 yuan per tonne on May 5. The price is now at its highest level since Fastmarkets first started assessing the price in in October 2017.
"Chinese car manufacturers have been running at high operational rates since March and demand from them has been strong," one ADC 12 producer in southern China said.
China sold 1.608 million passenger cars in April, up 12.4%...