DAILY: Chinese alumina prices remain weak

The national average spot price assessed by Mysteel for metallurgical-grade alumina with purity exceeding 98.6% continued to inch down by Yuan 1/tonne ($0.1/t) on day to register Yuan 2,851/t on Wednesday, primarily reflecting softer offering prices recorded in one of China's five key alumina-producing regions, Mysteel Global noted.

Mysteel's assessed prices for the same grade of alumina in Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi provinces and in the Guangxi autonomous region remained flat on day, ranging between Yuan 2,770/t and Yuan 2,895/t. In contrast, the price in Guizhou province slid by another Yuan 5/t on day to Yuan 2,905/t.

On the supply side, while some alumina producers and traders attempted to maintain stable quotations as they sensed tighter alumina availability in the spot market, those under greater inventory and sales pressure continued to clip their offers.

For primary aluminum smelters, they largely stayed on the sidelines, with many remaining hesitant to finalize feedstock purchases amid expectations for further price drops. As a result, trading activity was sparse in the spot market on Wednesday, with Mysteel not hearing of concluded deals.

The same day, domestic alumina futures weakened further. The most-traded alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for January 2026 delivery decreased by 0.37% during Wednesday's daytime trading session, and it experienced another 0.37% drop to close the nighttime session at Yuan 2,710/t by 1 a.m. Thursday, the lowest level in more than six months.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com