Trader  quotes  for  Midwest  aluminum  premium  financial  swaps (AUP)  on the CME rose 

on Friday  and Monday back to above 9 cents/lb for all  prompt months in 2017, following a 

recent dip which saw bids move to below 9 cents/lb in early March. 

The rise in  CME  bids  came  after the Platts spot transaction premium sustained at the 10 

cents/lb  delivered  Midwest  despite  the  recent  downwards pressure in financial markets 

which saw offers for all prompt months at below the spot premium. 

As of  Monday  morning, a  broker  report  showed the forward curve was flat across 2017, 

with  bids  for  Q2-Q4, 2017 at 9.20 cents/lb and offers at 9.50 cents/lb. Bids and offers for 

Cal18 were 9.50 cents/lb and 10 cents/lb respectively. 

"We  are  hearing  the  physical  is  well  supported and there might be an uptick this week, 

which was due to a turnaround as consumers waited for the sell-off to lift," a broker said. 

But the  broker added that market perception was that the forward curve was still trading at 

a discount to the spot market. 

Despite  the  Platts  Midwest  premium  remaining  unchanged  for  over  a  month, physical 

market  participants  have  indicated  a  growing  variability  in  physical  deals   with   some 

discounting  being  offset by deals done at close to 11 cents/lb delivered Midwest including 

net-30 payment terms. 

On Friday, 20 lots/month of AUP swaps for H2 2017 traded at 9.20 cents/lb, after the same 

strip of contracts had traded at between 9-9.25 cents/lb on Thursday. 

But  this  represented  a  0.45  cents/lb  rise  from  March 7  when H2, 2017 traded at 8.75 

cents/lb. 

"There  are  a  lot more buyers in the market right now with premiums in Japan moving up," 

a  broker  said. As  of  Monday, the  Platts  Japan spot assessment was $115-$125/mt CIF 

Major Japanese Ports, up 23% from the end of February.