DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices slip

On Thursday, the national average price for metallurgical-grade alumina with a purity exceeding 98.6% eased by Yuan 5/tonne ($0.7/t) from Wednesday to Yuan 2,860/t including the 13% VAT, according to Mysteel's daily assessment.

Behind the slight decline was mainly the reduction in offering prices across the country's five major alumina production regions. Mysteel's assessed prices in Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Guizhou provinces and in the Guangxi autonomous region all dropped by Yuan 5/t on day to sit between Yuan 2,775/t and Yuan 2,935/t.

Although some alumina sellers held firm to their offers, market sources remarked that some primary aluminum smelters continued to push for discounts during purchase negotiations as mounting inventories of the raw material are exerting downward pressure on spot quotations.

Trading activity remained limited in the spot market yesterday, with Mysteel not hearing of any concluded deals.

In contrast, alumina futures prices in Shanghai rebounded overnight after daytime losses. The most-traded January 2026 contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed Thursday's nighttime session 0.18% higher at Yuan 2,737/t by 1 a.m. Friday, after the 1.26% fall recorded by the end of Thursday's daytime trading.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com

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