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Most Al will stay in LME warehouses as deals are rolled over

April 22, 2010 - 13:33 GMT Location: London

KEYWORDS: aluminium , clementine wallop , hydro , premiums

Aluminium financing deals representing hundreds of thousands of tonnes of material have been rolled forward until at least June next year, market sources told MB, even as smaller parcels of the light metal continue to leave London Metal Exchange-bonded warehouses

LME stocks have been falling steadily over the last two months as suppliers start to break financing deals to take advantage of strong spot premiums, but the majority of metal will remain unavailable, sources said. “Although there are people saying they are going to cash in, it’s not in vast swathes,” said one trader, telling MB that some substantial deals have already been rolled forward to next year. “Between 500,000 and 750,000 tonnes has been moved into […] June to September next year,” he said. LME stocks totalled 4,570,575 tonnes on Thursday compared with 4,624,125 tonnes at the start of the year. Of the material in LME warehouses, all but 500,000-600,000 tonnes is held in financing deals, sources said. “I have just unwound a small parcel at $165 ex-warehouse,” a producer said, but told MB that he is expecting the bulk...

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