Aluminium climbs for 6th straight session as inventory draw continues

Aluminium rose for a sixth straight day on Monday, striking its highest in almost seven weeks, as exchange inventories of the lightweight metal continue to be depleted. Benchmark three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange was up 1.4% at $3,326.50 per metric ton as of 0900 GMT. It earlier touched $3,336.50, its highest since June 23. ING commodities strategist Ewa Manthey said the recent rally in copper, which hit a six-month high last week, had reinforced the broader bullish sentiment across industrial metals. "Aluminium's own fundamentals remain supportive, with exchange inventories still low and the market expected to remain in deficit this year," she added. Overall LME aluminium inventories are the lowest this century at 254,900 tons, with available or on-warrant stocks the lowest since April 2025. In top metals consumer China, meanwhile, there was a 13,000-ton draw on Shanghai Futures Exchange aluminium stocks last week. Chinese end-user demand was weak in the first half of the year but further downside risks appear limited, Citi wrote in a note on Friday. "Low inventory levels leave the market increasingly sensitive to changes in underlying physical demand and demand expectations," the bank said. Unlike with copper, there is no huge aluminium exchange inventory cushion in the U.S., with just 5 tons sitting in Owensboro, Kentucky on the COMEX. LME copper, meanwhile, gained 0.5% to $14,150.50 a ton, consolidating above $14,000 after posting its strongest weekly gain since May last week. China's imports of unwrought copper fell 11.5% year-on-year to 425,000 tons in July, while the Yangshan premium , a gauge of China's appetite for imported copper, fell to $101 a ton on Friday, its lowest since July 20. "Copper continues to be supported by tight physical markets, low inventories, and ongoing supply concerns," Manthey said. Elsewhere, zinc added 0.5% to $3,278.50, lead gained 0.7% to $1,900, nickel nudged up 0.2% to $17,030 and tin climbed 0.9% to $56,030.