“No one wants to look too far forward, so business is mostly very nearby at the moment,” a producer said. “People will wait and wait.”
Metal Bulletin’s European
duty-paid aluminium premium stands at $120-140 per tonne, from $180-200 in July and as high as $500 at the start of the year.
High supply levels have been the main reason for the falls, with spiking levels of Chinese "fake semis" - processed aluminium products that are bought only to be remelted rather than for any downstream value - finding their way into the market this year. This trend is expected to continue into 2016 and buyers are not anticipating any problems finding tonnages for next year.
“We’re starting to talk about 2016 but there’s no urgency, and we don’t expect to do anything before [mid-October],” one consumer said.
Buying patterns going into the fourth quarter have varied...
