Shanghai aluminum prices tumbled to their lowest in more than four years on Thursday, on forecasts of falling demand for the metal used in transportation and packaging because of the rising number of coronavirus infections and poor global factory data.
The most-traded aluminum contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) fell as much as 2.6% to 11,250 yuan ($1,580.68) a tonne, its lowest since Feb. 16, 2016.
More than 878,300 people have been infected globally and over 43,400 have died due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Italy extending lockdown restrictions to April 13 and the United States bracing for their worst weeks ahead.
Meanwhile, manufacturing activity fell across much of the world in March, with sharp slowdowns in Germany and Japan overshadowing a modest improvement in China, while new orders in the United States slumped to an 11-year low, signaling the worst is still to come.
FUNDAMENTALS
* PRICES: Three-month aluminum on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 0.8% to $1,487 a tonne by 0204 GMT, copper was down 0.4% to $4,781 a tonne, nickel dropped 2.3% to $11,000 a tonne, while ShFE nickel declined 2.8% to 90,100 yuan a tonne.
豫公网安备41010502003434号