DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices largely hold steady

This stability in prices reflected subdued trading activity across the country's five major alumina production bases – namely Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Guizhou provinces and the Guangxi autonomous region – where prices averaged between Yuan 2,780/t and Yuan 2,945/t last Friday, flat from the previous day.

Supplies of spot alumina remain ample overall yet at the end of the week, some alumina traders with limited availability opted to hold firm on their price quotes, expecting some alumina buyers to enter the market to secure tonnage ahead of their weekend production, market sources explained. 

However, most primary aluminum smelters that regularly rely on alumina they've secured through long-term contracts stayed on the sidelines, while others chose to delay concluding deals when faced with higher-priced offers. This led to a temporary stalemate in the spot alumina market on Friday, with little trading activity observed. Mysteel reported that no deals were finalized during the day.    

Meanwhile, domestic alumina futures lost ground. The most-traded January 2026 contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell by 1.6% to close Friday's nighttime trading session at Yuan 2,791/t, extending the 0.32% decline recorded by the end of the daytime session.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com

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