Aluminium slips as near-term supply pinch expected to ease

Melbourne/Beijing: London aluminium prices slipped on Thursday from near one-month highs hit in the previous session on expectations that a period of tight supply will soon come to an end. Cancelled aluminium warrants, or metal earmarked for removal from London Metal Exchange warehouses, have surged in the past 10 days to nearly 400,000 tonnes from 235,000 tonnes in the middle of January, supporting prices. ■ ShFE: On the Shanghai Futures Exchange, aluminium closed up 0.5% at ¥13,550, having made modest gains in six of the last seven days since hitting a two-year low on 15 January. ■ Open interest: Market open interest in ShFE aluminium exceeded 750,000 lots on Wednesday, its highest since 15 November, on short covering ahead of the week-long shutdown in China in early February for Lunar New Year. ■ China growth: China's economy can maintain sustainable rates of growth despite global uncertainties, Vice President Wang Qishan said on Wednesday, days after the world's second-largest economy posted its weakest expansion in nearly three decades.