DAILY: Chinese alumina prices fall further as sentiment weakens

China's alumina prices for both spot sales and futures contracts continued their retreat on September 8, as a cautious wait-and-see sentiment prevailed in the domestic market.

Mysteel assessed the national average spot price of smelter-grade alumina with purity above 98.6% at Yuan 3,150/tonne ($442/t) on Monday, down by Yuan 17/t from last Friday and marking the fifth straight working-day drop.

The persistent downtrend reflected the bearish mood taking hold in the country's five major alumina production hubs, where producers and traders felt pressure to cut offers amid increasing alumina supplies.

Regionally, Shandong province saw the sharpest on-day fall yesterday, with prices there decreasing by Yuan 25/t on day to Yuan 3,055/t. In Shanxi province and the Guangxi autonomous region, prices slipped by Yuan 20/t from the previous working day to Yuan 3,075/t and Yuan 3,245/t, respectively. Henan and Guizhou provinces registered smaller declines, with each easing by Yuan 10/t to Yuan 3,120/t and Yuan 3,255/t on September 8.

In the domestic physical market, most buyers remained cautious at the start of the week, holding off purchases of the raw material in anticipation of further price declines. Only some primary aluminum smelters with immediate inventory replenishment needs were relatively active, sourcing the material mainly through tenders.

For example, Mysteel heard of only one deal concluded on September 8 where a smelter in the Xinjiang autonomous region purchased 10,000 tonnes via tender at a delivered price of Yuan 3,270-3,280/t including the 13% VAT and freight. The cargo was sourced from North China, market sources said.

Overseas, Mysteel also learned of a deal done on the same day involving 35,000-45,000 tonnes of alumina traded at $346/t FOB Indonesia for shipment in early October.

Meanwhile, the domestic futures market mirrored the spot market's weakness. On Monday, the most-traded January 2026 alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange had declined 0.84% by the close of the daytime session, before recording a further 0.34% drop by the end of the nighttime session, the exchange's data showed.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com