Against the backdrop of aluminium billet production costs generally maintained at RMB 200–300 per tonne, why did "negative processing fees" occur? To understand this anomaly, it is necessary to analyse from the perspectives of both aluminium billet producers and traders.
First, from the perspective of aluminium billet producers, they can be categorised into two types:
One type consists of enterprises with their own aluminium capacity, capable of directly using self-produced liquid aluminium to cast aluminium billets; the other type needs to purchase aluminium externally as raw material, typically adopting a settlement model of "monthly average aluminium price + local liquid aluminium discount."
For the former, according to SMM calculations, the current national weighted full cost of aluminium is approximately RMB 16,000–16,500 yuan per tonne. Based on the post-holiday A00 aluminium price, the profit per ton is as high as RMB 7,000–8,500. Even after deducting RMB 200–300 per tonne processing cost, there is still substantial profit. Therefore, these enterprises have a strong incentive to lower processing fees to accelerate sales, quickly recover funds, and lock in profits.
