China’s aluminium ingot inventory, after hitting a peak not seen in nearly three years in 2026, accelerated its pullback this week. According to SMM statistics, as of June 11, aluminium ingot inventory in major Chinese consumption areas was reported at 1.312 million tonnes, having cumulatively destocked by nearly 160,000 tonnes from the early-May high of around 1.47 million tonnes. The single-week decline this week reached 48,000 tonnes, clearly steepening the destocking slope.
From a seasonal pattern perspective, over the past three years, aluminium ingot inventory has shown a cyclical pattern of “building up around Chinese New Year, peaking around April-May, and gradually destocking in Q2.” The peak was around 880,000 tonnes in 2024 and also around 880,000 in 2025 (basically flat vs. 2024), while the 2026 peak reached approximately 1.48 million tonnes, about 600,000 tonnes higher than the previous two years, placing Y-o-Y inventory at a historically high level and indicating that supply accumulation pressure has significantly amplified since the start of this year.