DAILY: China's alumina prices slide to fresh lows in spot, futures markets

Mysteel's daily price assessment of the national average spot price for metallurgical-grade alumina with a purity above 98.6% slipped by another Yuan 6/tonne ($0.9/t) from the previous day to sit at Yuan 2,796/t including the 13% VAT on Thursday.

This marks the first time the price has dropped below Yuan 2,800/t since December 2022, and several alumina producers using imported bauxite in production have already suffered losses as spot alumina prices fall below their cash-flow cost lines, Mysteel Global noted.

The overall price decline was largely the result of weaker offering and trading prices across China's five major alumina production hubs. Mysteel's assessed regional prices for the same grade of alumina in Shandong and Henan provinces decreased by another Yuan 10/t on day to Yuan 2,700/t and Yuan 2,785/t, respectively, while those in Shanxi and Guizhou provinces dipped by Yuan 5/t to Yuan 2,785/t and Yuan 2,865/t. In contrast, the price in the Guangxi autonomous region remained unchanged at Yuan 2,845/t.

Meanwhile, domestic alumina futures also posted losses the same day. The most-traded January 2026 alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) slumped by 1.4% during Thursday's daytime session and extended the downtrend with a further 1.97% drop in the nighttime session. The contract finally closed at Yuan 2,441/t as of 1 a.m. Friday, hitting a new low since alumina futures were introduced on the SHFE in June 2023. 

Given high inventories of the feed material piled at primary aluminum smelters, alumina buyers preferred to replenish their stocks at lower price levels and refrained from purchasing when prices showed signs of increasing, market watchers noted. This cautious stance prompted alumina sellers facing sales pressure to cut offers further, exerting more downward pressure on spot alumina prices.

Trading activity in the spot market remained subdued on Thursday, with Mysteel hearing of only one transaction finalized. A primary aluminum smelter in Yunnan province purchased 3,000 tonnes of spot alumina from a trader at Yuan 2,800/t EXW including VAT.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com