S&P Global Platts on Tuesday assessed the Chinese auto diecasting, or ADC12, aluminum alloy export price at $1,780-$1,830/mt FOB China, unchanged week on week amid thin trade.
A Chinese producer said ADC12 export prices were steady amid the year-end lull. Japanese consumers have completed their purchases for this year, added Japanese traders.
A major Japanese consumer has suspended spot buying a few days earlier than usual, due to high stocks, said a Japanese trader.
A Chinese trader reported an offer from a North China producer at $1,780/mt CIF Japan, which would be $1,750-$1,760/mt FOB China without freight.
"Prices on the way down in the near term, that is very likely," said the trader.
Other Chinese and Japanese sources put the tradeable level as unchanged from last week.
One Japanese trader said he was not in the market, and was waiting for results of the Hyundai Motor tender for the first half of 2017, as some South Korean sellers may export depending on the Hyundai price.
China's domestic spot aluminum alloy ADC12 prices stood rangebound this week, with offers remaining high in the south on recent environmental inspections, while prices in the north stayed soft on the back of slowing demand and lower domestic metal prices.
The Platts weekly China domestic ADC12 assessment remained at Yuan 14,400-15,000/mt ($2,073-$2,159/mt) ex-works basis, unchanged week on week.
"Offers are all over the place, ranging from Yuan 14,800-15,500/mt ex-works now ... depending on who has stocks and who's desperate to buy," a Guangzhou producer said. "Supply is very tight as it's hard to find scrap for production, as many had to cut output or shut due to the environmental checks," he added.
Another Guangzhou producer agreed: "We're even considering buying ADC12 now due to scrap supply concerns ... we've been offered as low as Yuan 14,500/mt this week, but if we sell, we also want Yuan 15,000/mt and above."
The environmental inspection team is expected to leave Guangzhou on December 28, exactly a month after the checks started on November 28, sources said. So, "we'll have to see what happens after, whether those that have cut or shut will resume operations," the second Guangzhou producer said.
In north and east China, meanwhile, ADC12 prices have held steady and may even soften in the near term on the back of slowing demand, sources said.
A Jiangsu producer said he was still trading around Yuan 14,500/mt currently, while a source close to a Shanghai producer pegged domestic prices at steady levels this week.
"The inspections were in the south, so prices there are more supported," the Jiangsu producer said.
"For us, the environmental checks have impacted demand from our downstream customers, so we've not received any new orders and have not been buying ADC12 as a result," a Wuxi consumer source said.
On Tuesday, the front-month primary aluminum contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at Yuan 12,760/mt, up from Yuan 12,655/mt a week earlier, but down from Yuan 14,400/mt a month ago.
