MI aluminium stocks analysis: Shanghai stocks steadily rising

Stocks of primary aluminium registered with the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) rose by 4,811t to 41,042t in the week to Thursday. It was the fifth consecutive weekly rise, bringing the cumulative build over that period to 18,610t. SHFE stocks are now showing a net year-to-date increase of 22,460t but that masks the fact that they are still low by historical standards and still a long way off the early 2007 peak up at 100,000t. LME stocks continue to track broadly sideways, Thursday’s net decline still leaving the headline figure showing a week-to-date net rise of 2,625t. Cancellation activity improved—with all the action at Asian locations—resulting in a slight rise in the ratio of cancelled tonnage to 3.0%.