DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices mark time, futures retreat

Mysteel assessed the national average spot price for metallurgical-grade alumina with a purity exceeding 98.6% at Yuan 2,851/tonne ($402.9/t) last Friday, remaining unchanged for a second consecutive working day.

Likewise, Mysteel's daily assessments for the same grade of alumina in Shandong, Henan, Shanxi, and Guizhou provinces and in the Guangxi autonomous region also held steady on day within the range of Yuan 2,770-2,905/t.

Behind the price steadiness was light trading activity in the spot market toward the end of the week. On the demand side, many primary aluminum smelters stayed on the sidelines, reluctant to restock amid rising feedstock inventories. As a result, both price inquiries and concluded transactions were scarce during the day.

The lack of buying interest left alumina sellers with little scope to adjust their quotations for spot goods, keeping the spot market quiet on Friday.

In contrast, major alumina futures in Shanghai lost ground. The most-traded January 2026 alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange had fallen 0.29% by the end of last Friday's daytime session and slipped a further 1.7% during nighttime trading, ending at Yuan 2,671/t as of 1 a.m. last Saturday.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com