DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices track lower, futures rebound

Mysteel assessed the national average spot price for smelter-grade alumina with a purity exceeding 98.6% at Yuan 2,779/tonne ($394/t) including the 13% VAT last Friday, down by Yuan 17/t from Thursday. Spot prices extended their decline as transaction prices dropped further across China's five major alumina production bases. 

By region, prices for the same grade of alumina in Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi provinces fell by the same Yuan 20/t from last Thursday to a range of Yuan 2,680-2,765/t. Prices in the Guangxi autonomous region declined by Yuan 15/t on day to average Yuan 2,830/t, while those in Guizhou province dropped by a smaller Yuan 10/t to Yuan 2,855/t on average.

In contrast, domestic alumina futures gained ground overnight on Friday after the daytime losses. The most-traded January 2026 alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange jumped by 3.6% to close last Friday's nighttime trading session at Yuan 2,552/t, following a 0.8% decrease during daytime trading. 

The sharp rebound in futures prices at night on December 12 followed the Central Economic Work Conference held in Beijing on December 10-11, which outlined priorities for China's economic development next year. The meeting emphasized expanding domestic demand and curbing "involution" in the business and industrial sectors, goals which helped to boost sentiment among participants in the domestic alumina futures market.

In the spot market last Friday, while some primary aluminum smelters took advantage of lower prices to replenish raw material inventories through tenders, some alumina producers and traders continued to cut offers to speed up sales, which generated some trading activity during the day.

Mysteel heard of two deals totalling 15,000 tonnes both concluded via tender on December 12. A primary aluminum smelter in the Xinjiang autonomous region purchased 10,000 tonnes of North China-origin alumina at a delivered price of Yuan 2,948/t including freight costs and VAT. The same day, a Yunnan-based smelter procured 5,000 tonnes of Guangxi-origin alumina at Yuan 2,815/t EXW including VAT.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com