DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices soften further, futures recover overnight

Mysteel assessed the national average spot price for smelter-grade alumina with a purity exceeding 98.6% at Yuan 2,802/tonne ($397/t) including the 13% VAT on Wednesday, down by Yuan 8/t from the previous day and marking the fifth consecutive working day of drop.

Behind the price downturn were lower alumina offers seen in China's five major alumina production hubs. The assessed regional prices for the same grade of alumina in Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi provinces fell by Yuan 10/t on day to average between Yuan 2,710/t and Yuan 2,795/t, while those in the Guangxi autonomous region and Guizhou province slipped by a smaller Yuan 5/t from Tuesday to Yuan 2,845/t and Yuan 2,870/t respectively.

Some alumina suppliers continued to clip their offering prices, but most buyers chose to stay on the sidelines in anticipation of further price reductions, leading to subdued trading in the spot market. Mysteel did not hear of any finalized deals on Wednesday.

In the derivatives market, major alumina futures in Shanghai modestly rebounded overnight after posting sharp losses during yesterday's daytime trading. For instance, the most-traded January 2026 alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange edged up by 0.2% to end the nighttime session at Yuan 2,509/t, recovering slightly after touching a new record low of Yuan 2,477/t during Wednesday's daytime session. 

The slight uptick in alumina futures occurred just ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to cut key benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of 3.5%-3.75% at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting in the early morning on Thursday, Beijing time, Mysteel Global noted.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com