DAILY: Chinese spot alumina prices edge down again

Mysteel assessed the national average spot price for metallurgical-grade alumina with a purity above 98.6% at Yuan 2,691/tonne ($385.8/t) including the 13% VAT on Monday, down by Yuan 2/t from last Friday.
 
Behind the slight decline in the national average were weaker transaction prices in some of China's five major alumina production bases. Regionally, the assessed prices for the same grade of alumina in Shanxi and Henan provinces slipped by Yuan 5/t from the prior working day to Yuan 2,655/t and Yuan 2,675/t respectively, while those in Shandong and Guizhou provinces and in the Guangxi autonomous region stayed flat within the range of Yuan 2,595-2,785/t.
 
In the derivatives market, alumina futures in Shanghai experienced some fluctuations yesterday. The most-traded May 2026 alumina contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange rose by 1.63% during Monday's daytime trading before retreating by 0.63% in the nighttime session, closing at Yuan 2,821/t by 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Market watchers noted that tender-based procurement dominated alumina buying activity in the physical market in the past few days. With primary aluminum smelters holding ample feedstock inventories and spot alumina prices remaining weak, most buyers only purchased the raw material at lower prices. Their stronger bargaining position exerted downward pressure on offers from alumina refiners and traders.
 
Mysteel heard of two deals concluded over the past two days. On January 11, a smelter in Qinghai province purchased 50,000 tonnes of Shanxi-origin alumina via tender from multiple traders at Yuan 2,600–2,630/t EXW including VAT. On January 12, another smelter in the Xinjiang autonomous region bought some North China-origin alumina through a tender at a delivered price of Yuan 2,900–2,910/t inclusive of freight and VAT, with the specific trading volume unknown. 

Written by Iris Pang, pangjunyu@mysteel.com