On February 23, the week started with a rise in the London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium price. However, the 3-month Asian Reference Price reflected a downturn in the price with the opening of the week and the previous day’s close. The LME inventory also declined, while the alumina platts price remained the same from the previous close.
The LME cash bid inched up by USD 16 per tonne or 0.5 per cent, shifting from USD 3,052 per tonne to USD 3,068 per tonne. The LME cash offer also showed an increase of USD 17 per tonne or 0.6 per cent, reaching USD 3,070 per tonne from USD 3,053 per tonne.
A similar trend followed the forward contracts, where the LME 3-month bid and offer inched up by USD 18 per tonne or 0.6 per cent. The bid changed from USD 3,078 per tonne to USD 3,096 per tonne. After this, the 3-month offer settled at USD 3,097 per tonne, which on the previous day was recorded at USD 3,079 per tonne.
Looking at the futures contract, the LME December 27 bid and offer showed a slight change of USD 1 per tonne or 0.03 per cent. In this scenario, the bid inched up from USD 3,042 per tonne to USD 3,043 per tonne and the offer from USD 3,047 per tonne to USD 3,048 per tonne.