WEEKLY: China's alumina stocks rise above 5 million tonnes

The result marked a 1.3% rise from the prior week and a 33.5% jump from a year ago, setting a fresh record since the survey began in January 2022, Mysteel Global noted.

The persistent inventory build-up was mainly driven by raw material replenishment by domestic primary aluminum smelters. In anticipation of potential transportation disruptions around the Chinese New Year holiday starting in mid-February 2026, some smelters showed a stronger intention to build up their alumina stocks, while several alumina producers and traders accelerated their deliveries of the feed material to ease inventory pressure. 

As a result, stockpiles at smelters and at rail yards or in transit both hit new highs last week. By December 4, alumina stocks at the 89 surveyed smelters increased by another 1.5% on week to 3.5 million tonnes, renewing records for the fourth straight week. Meanwhile, inventories at rail yards or in transit also rose by 1.7% from a week ago to reach another high of 1.14 million tonnes.

On the supply side, although a few alumina refiners temporarily reduced or halted production last week due to heavy air pollution and maintenance stoppages, the overall alumina output remained steady. Total smelter-grade alumina production among the 44 refiners ticked up by 0.2% from the previous week to 1.9 million tonnes over November 28-December 4, the highest level in six straight weeks.

Demand from primary aluminum smelters was largely unchanged during the same survey week, with alumina consumption among the 89 smelters Mysteel tracks totalling 1.64 million tonnes, a slight 0.04% uptick from the previous week.

As mounting alumina inventories continued to exert pressure, Mysteel assessed the national average spot price for metallurgical-grade alumina with purity above 98.6% at Yuan 2,845/tonne ($402.4/t) on December 4, down by a marginal 0.2% on week.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com