DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices slip, futures recover overnight

Mysteel assessed the national average spot price for smelter-grade alumina with a purity exceeding 98.6% at Yuan 2,745/tonne ($390/t) including the 13% VAT on Monday, lower by another Yuan 7/t from last Friday.

By region, assessed spot prices for the same grade of alumina in the Guangxi autonomous region and Guizhou province fell by another Yuan 10/t from the previous working day to Yuan 2,790/t and Yuan 2,820/t respectively, while those in Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi provinces also edged down by another Yuan 5/t from the prior day to average between Yuan 2,650/t and Yuan 2,735/t.

In contrast, the alumina derivatives market recovered overnight after weakening during the daytime session on December 22. The most-traded January 2026 alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose by 0.56% to end Monday's nighttime trading at Yuan 2,515/t by 1 a.m. Tuesday, mostly offsetting the 1.03% daytime-trading decline.

In the physical market, some buyers continued to replenish raw material inventories at lower prices at the start of the week, while most remained on the sidelines as their feedstock levels were still adequate, market sources said.

Amid lukewarm demand from smelters, alumina sellers under heavy inventory pressure lowered their quotations further to stimulate transactions. Mysteel learned of one deal concluded in the Xinjiang autonomous region, where a primary aluminum smelter awarded a tender for spot alumina at a delivered price of Yuan 2,940–2,950/t including freight costs and VAT. Though the transaction volume was unknown, the cargo was sourced from North China.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com

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