DAILY: Chinese alumina prices weaken further in spot, futures markets

Last Friday, Mysteel's assessed spot prices for the same grade of alumina in the Guangxi autonomous and Guizhou province lower by Yuan 10/t from last Thursday at Yuan 2,800/t and Yuan 2,830/t respectively, while prices in Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi provinces slipped by Yuan 5/t from the prior day to range between Yuan 2,655/t and Yuan 2,740/t.

The same day, domestic alumina futures prices stumbled again. The most-traded January 2026 alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange decreased by 2.08% during last Friday's daytime trading session, before falling by a further 0.4% in nighttime trading to close at Yuan 2,514/t as of 1 a.m. last Saturday.

Despite a slight drop in alumina output recently due to more frequent and prolonged maintenance stoppages at some alumina refineries, overall spot market supply remained ample. As a result, many refiners, facing mounting inventory pressure, cut their offers to clear stocks and accelerate sales.

On the demand side, most primary aluminum smelters maintained a low-price procurement strategy on Friday and remained cautious about concluding transactions at the end of last week.

Reflecting the supply-demand imbalance, buying activity in the spot market was thin last Friday, with Mysteel not hearing any deals being concluded.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com

Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com