WEEKLY: Chinese spot alumina price decline eases

As of November 13, the national average spot price for metallurgical-grade alumina with purity exceeding 98.6% dipped by 0.3% on week to Yuan 2,867/tonne ($403/t), according to Mysteel's price assessment. The decline was smaller than the 1.1% drop recorded the previous week, Mysteel Global noted.

The narrowed price decrease was largely because of firm transaction prices in alumina tenders in North China, where some primary aluminum smelters with immediate restocking needs agreed to accept higher offers from alumina traders holding tighter stockpiles, according to market sources.

On the supply side, alumina production remained largely stable last week. While recent suspensions of calciners at several alumina producers in North China, along with maintenance stoppages at two refiners each in the Guangxi autonomous region and Shanxi province during the past week, impacted local alumina production, the impact on nationwide alumina output was limited.

During the week of November 7-13, total smelter-grade alumina output from the 44 Chinese producers regularly tracked by Mysteel reached 1.84 million tonnes, marking a slight 0.2% increase from a week ago, Mysteel's latest survey showed.

Demand for alumina was also steady. The 89 primary aluminum smelters sampled in the survey consumed a total of 1.64 million tonnes of alumina during the same survey week, up by a tiny 0.04% on week.

Total alumina inventories continued to build for over five months straight. As of November 13, combined stocks across China's ten major ports, 44 refiners, 89 smelters, and rail yards or in transit under Mysteel's tracking had risen by another 1.1% to 4.84 million tonnes, the highest level since Mysteel began its survey in January 2022.

The inventory buildup last week mainly came from the increase in stocks held by primary aluminum smelters, which also hit a more than three-year high. By November 13, the volume of alumina stockpiled at the 89 surveyed smelters increased by 51,000 tonnes on week to 3.3 million tonnes, the highest level since early 2022.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com