DAILY: Chinese spot alumina softens further, futures weaken overnight

On Wednesday, Mysteel assessed the national average spot price for smelter-grade alumina with a purity exceeding 98.6% at Yuan 2,724/tonne ($388.8/t) including the 13% VAT, down by another Yuan 11/t from Tuesday.

Regional prices continued to soften across China's five major alumina production hubs yesterday. In the Guangxi autonomous region, Mysteel's assessed price for the same grade of alumina fell by Yuan 20/t on day to Yuan 2,765/t. Assessed prices in Henan, Shanxi, and Guizhou provinces declined by Yuan 10/t from the prior day to a range of Yuan 2,700-2,805/t, while that in Shandong province edged down by a smaller Yuan 5/t to Yuan 2,635/t.

Meanwhile, domestic alumina futures also weakened overnight after posting gains during the daytime session. The most-traded alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange for May 2026 delivery increased by 0.64% during daytime trading but fell by 1.01% to close the nighttime trading at Yuan 2,638/t as of 1 a.m. on Thursday.

In the physical market, primary aluminum smelters made only sporadic purchases of alumina and pressed for lower buying prices amid ample alumina availability.

On the supply side, despite cash-flow losses at some alumina producers, most refiners that remained profitable continued to operate steadily, either to fulfill existing long-term contracts or to position themselves for new long-term supply agreements in the coming year.

Trading activity for alumina remained limited on December 24, with Mysteel hearing of only one deal concluded, in which a primary aluminum smelter in Yunnan province purchased 2,500 tonnes of Guangxi-origin alumina from a trader at Yuan 2,730/t EXW including VAT. The price was down by Yuan 70/t from a similar transaction completed on December 11, Mysteel Global noted.

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com